Story & photo by Rizal Raoul Reyes
MILLENNIALS have a negative reputation of being freeloaders, especially in downloading music and videos from popular web sites, so Globe Telecom Inc. believes.
As far as the Ayala family-led telecommunications firm is concerned, this thinking must change, as an executive said this is not good for the development and protection of intellectual property.
“Millennials think they are entitled and believe they can download almost anything for free. But it is not and they should pay for it,” Globe Telecom Content Consumer Business Vice President Jil Bausa-Go told the BusinessMirror. “Millennials also believe they are very self-entitled. That is the thing we want to change.”
Bausa-Go spoke to the BusinessMirror on the launch of a campaign that aims to educate the millennial generation on the value and importance of intellectual property. She added these young people must be aware that producing content is very expensive.
Economics is the reason a lot of millennials and other Filipinos love to download or buy pirated videos, according to her. The other root of the problem is the lack of outlets where they can download the materials they want. The tendency is to go to the illegal services.
“But if you have services like Hooq, you can choose among the 10,000 movie titles for P149 per month. Moreover, you can share it with your family,” Bausa-Go explained. “With one account, you can use five devices. We are giving the consumer value for their money.”
Hooq is the video-on-demand platform by eponymous Singapore-based partner firm of Globe Telecom, Hooq Digital Holdings Pte. Ltd.
“You can stop viewing when it is needed. Nevertheless, you can continue watching it from where you stopped. That is the behavior we want to support,” Bausa-Go said.
Through a production venture called “OTJ: The Series,” she said Globe Telecom and Hooq seek to jump-start a campaign to educate millennials that content with quality has a price because companies have invested a lot of money and effort in producing the film.
“There is strength in the value proposition of the service,” she said. “Sometimes it is making the people pay attention because it is on the early stages.”
Bausa-Go noted the antifreeloading campaign makes sense, because Globe Telecom generates huge income from the Internet services provided to the market. There is a disservice to the intellectual-property rights when people steal content, according to her.
“A way to do that is conveniently use content legitimately, and this is one way Globe is using to do that.”