TIRANA, Aug 22 /ATA/ The Audiovisual Media Authority (AMA) has taken a new step in the fight against piracy. On Friday, the AMA Board unanimously approved the proposed changes to the regulation “On the Criteria and Procedures for Granting Authorizations.”
These changes are designed to tighten compliance measures, requiring all audiovisual entities to sell only the products they are officially licensed for.
Authorization for repeaters does not include access to free-to-air channels for the public. AMA teams have flagged this as a recent form of abuse. Some operators have been offering free channels alongside their licensed products, which violates the law and exploits gaps in the previous authorization regulations.
This measure to reinforce legal compliance is not intended to restrict technology, but to prevent past abuses in which some operators included free-to-air channels in their packages. With today’s approval of changes to the regulation “On the Criteria and Procedures for Granting Authorizations,” this practice comes to an end. Going forward, all entities are legally required to configure the decoders they sell to carry only the channels and programs for which they are authorized. Free-to-air channels will remain freely accessible to the public.
The approved changes also include measures to simplify the documentation required from OSHMA operators when applying for a new authorization or renewing an existing one.
To discuss the proposed changes, AMA Chairwoman Armela Krasniqi conducted roundtable consultations in every county, securing support from the majority of stakeholders.
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