First successful case in a Chinese court in relation to TPMs in the entertainment industry.
Our client, an international entertainment company, faced significant issues in China concerning a breach of technological protection measures (TPM), impacting its business worldwide. In one matter, the defendant belonged to an international syndicate that had cracked the code of our client's products. It produced circumvention devices, exported over 250,000 units, and supplied the China market. This case and criminal enforcement action in the US, Hong Kong, UK, and Europe successfully brought down the syndicate. Our team in China brought a rare civil action relying on a breach of TPM. The Court decided in our client's favour, and the defendant received a prison sentence and a significant fine. The precedent-setting case was the first in a Chinese court relating to TPM circumvention affecting the entertainment industry.
Anti-piracy programme for a Japanese video game and entertainment MNC.
Rouse played a crucial role in online intelligence gathering, investigation, enforcement, and litigation actions for this client in the last few years, combatting the supply and distribution of "mod chips" across Asia. These "mod chips" allowed pirate games and other unauthorised software to run on our client's console. Our adversary was a complex community of software and hardware tinkerers who released new iterations of their modification devices and software to take advantage of discovered exploits that allow custom firmware and piracy.
Successful enforcement actions in Thailand and Indonesia for a sports rights owner for game broadcasts.
Our client requested Rouse to investigate and coordinate enforcement action against websites that illegally stream sports and earn money by selling advertising space. Such acts usually constitute unauthorised communication to the public under copyright laws. However, the task is often challenging as the individual operators behind these sites hide their identities. After conducting successful investigations in Thailand, we collaborated with the Department of Special Investigation to raid several illegal streaming sites. In Indonesia, we targeted one of the individuals behind a longstanding illegal streaming site and used a "knock-and-talk" strategy. After finding the operator, we delivered a warning letter and persuaded him to stop streaming. Civil action such as this is typically a last resort.