Clean Feed Policy Will be Implemented Soon:
Nepal's advertising industry, Nepali artists, Nepal's television broadcasting institutions, and foreign channels that are being implemented for the benefit of the country's media industry as a whole have become obstacles in the way of Clean Feed. Illegal broadcasting of Indian DTHs in Nepal and non-existent foreign video content producers and broadcasters in Nepal, OTT apps, and Internet-based video content.
The Department of Information and Broadcasting has instructed the service providers to monitor and inspect the clean feed to the channels broadcast by the concerned organizations within 15 days of opening the last IP before QAM through Dark Core Fiber.
The Clean Feed Advertising Act has been passed by the Parliament. Indian channel distributors are also ready to come to Cleanfeed from the businessmen who protested at the beginning of Cleanfeed. But they have the same question - is the government ready to stop illegal video content?
Illegal video content, billions of rupees going abroad
Entrepreneurs have put pressure on the government to control the flow of illegal video content while implementing Cleanfeed on foreign television channels. Otherwise, Cleanfeed will benefit the money changers more than the media and advertising agencies and artists in the country.
Foreign video content producers who are not registered in Nepal such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hotstar, G5, Sony Live, Alt Balaji are taking billions of rupees abroad by making customers in Nepal through the internet. They are adding Nepali customers by making offers on Facebook and Instagram. Those who become customers have to pay the fee illegally.
It is estimated that the access of various web-based sites and foreign OTT mobile apps has reached around four lakh in Nepal. With a minimum fee of Rs 800 and other additional fees, tens of millions of Nepali rupees have gone abroad illegally in a month. Because these companies do not have any business in Nepal, in a way, it is like the money is being traded.
During the lockdown period alone, video content producers and distributors, including Netflix, have been found to be making more than four lakh subscribers and illegally taking crores of rupees monthly in various packages ranging from a minimum of Rs 800. Customers are sending money to such video content producers and distributors using Nepali online payment gateways including Daraj Nepal and debit/credit cards of various companies issued by Nepali banks.
The government is under pressure to stop broadcasting programs illegally through websites and mobile applications in Nepal and all illegal broadcasts on social networks Facebook and Instagram under different names. Otherwise, there would be no justification for implementing Cleanfeed, says Dhruv Sharma, managing director of Mega Max TV Network.
Sharma says that if the concerned bodies are not able to stop it before the implementation of Cleanfeed, illegal videos coming through the internet including Netflix will take place in every Nepali's house and mobile like a locust and illegally send billions of rupees annually to the Nepali government without any revenue.
According to Shiva Niraula, Chief Executive Officer of Digital System of Nepal (DSN), billions of Nepali currency will flow out illegally if the government fails to fully ban foreign OTT mobile apps and illegally broadcast content videos in Nepal to fully implement Cleanfeed. Which is still going on.
Video content like Netflix, Amazon Private Videos, Alt Balaji, Spotify, Sony Live, Hotstar, Bhut, iFlix is being broadcast illegally on TV and mobile in Nepal. To prevent that, the government will shut down Internet service providers through the Telecommunications Authority.
Niraula says that this is a kind of check. Such broadcasts are being made by a much bigger gang than the VoIP scandals that bypassed telephone calls yesterday. Even if the minimum fee they put on Facebook is calculated, tens of millions of Nepali rupees are being illegally withdrawn from the pockets of individuals every month.
A senior ministry official said the government was discussing the possibility of shutting down illegal video broadcasts so that Nepali cable networks and TV operators could survive in the long run, Cleanfeed could be fully implemented and the business of advertising and other Nepali media could grow.
What is the government's preparation?
Before the implementation of Cleanfeed, the government has demanded that the video content of foreign companies being broadcast illegally in Nepal should be stopped at the source so that it cannot be seen in Nepal. Minister for Communications and Information Technology Dr. Yuvraj Khatiwada, who is also the Finance Minister, also agreed that on the one hand, Nepali currency should be taken out illegally and on the other hand, the source of illegal broadcasts affecting Clean Feed should be stopped.
The government should instruct the Nepal Telecommunications Authority to make such video content based on web and apps unavailable in Nepal. NEA spokesperson Meen Prasad Aryal said that the NEA itself has included in the annual program of this fiscal year to purchase the necessary software to filter such illegal channels.
"We are still trying to persuade Internet service providers not to allow the government and the Press Council to stop broadcasting," he said. In order to implement Cleanfeed, the illegal broadcasting of such video content must be stopped from entering Nepal. We will make such videos invisible in Nepal after the government gives instructions.
The Ministry of Communications, including Internet service providers, is preparing to discuss the cap on the entry of all types of video apps and video content producers into Nepal before Cleanfeed is implemented. Lekhnath Sharma, director-general of the Department of Information and Broadcasting, said that the work of recovering illegal DTH and stopping such broadcasts was still going on and would be tightened after the clean feed.
