FORGED smart cards and other equipment enabling illegal access to pay television services accounts for between 5 and 20 per cent of the total market, according to the European Commission.
The value of the pirate television industry is estimated to be worth "several million ECUs" according to a report before the European Parliament yesterday.
The report, from the Parliament's Legal Affairs and Citizens' Rights Committee, recommends that laws dealing with television piracy be harmonised throughout the Union.
The report says the growth of pay television, made possible by the development of digital services, is being jeopardised by piracy. Quoting a Green Paper from the Commission on the same issue, it says: "A flourishing unofficial decoder manufacturing industry is emerging in parallel to that of authorised manufacturers. Devices enabling access to a service without payment of the subscription or fee are produced and marketed without the permission of service operators. This results in considerable losses for the service provider and indirectly adversely affects the potential market of programme suppliers and official manufacturers."
The value of pay television has led to a growth in the value of unauthorised decoding equipment. Not alone has this meant huge losses for pay and subscription television, but a specialised press has developed around the pirate market to help sell the devices.
Yesterday, Mr Georgios Anastassopoulos MEP, of Greece, noted the crossborder nature of satellite TV and called for national legislation to be brought into line through an EU directive and for mandatory sanctions.
Not all members of the Parliament are keen on simply harmonising legislation. The Parliament's Committee on Consumer Affairs prefers to develop specific technology to combat the problem, while running an information programme telling consumers of the dangers of purchasing pirate products.
The committee responsible for media matters stressed that any directive should apply to all encoded services and not be confined to broadcasting. The report will be voted on later this week.