The United States Trade Representative claims that film piracy is rampant in Indonesia (see our post on the 301 report here). And by all accounts this is a true reflection of the market, for Hollywood movies. Interestingly, not so with the local film industry.
An article in the Jakarta post yesterday claims that the Association of Indonesian Film Producers (APROFI) has been taking action against pirated content online (see here). The Association has apparently been reporting websites to the National Police's Criminal Investigations Directorate (Bareskrim), under which is a cybercrime sub-division. Regional police units also have a cybercrime division.
These cybercrime divisions deal with crimes in the online space, and as the number of users coming online in Indonesia grows is expected to play an increasingly active role. If infringing websites are based in Indonesia, the cybercrime divisions can take criminal action which can lead to penalties of up to 10 year’s imprisonment. They can also take action against websites targeting Indonesian consumers - by blocking the sites, and/or pursing local connections.
Increased activity from associations like APROFI, and the government’s Creative Economy Agency, is good news for both local and foreign business interests alike. The more investment domestic businesses have in intellectual property, the more we can expect improvements in Indonesia’s IP infrastructure.