News

By Garrett Randall

Just over a week after applying for a second IPO here in the U.S., China’s Xunlei video and music peer-to-peer site has agreed to a content protection agreement with the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), in an effort to promote legitimate TV and film content via the service.

The Google-funded Xunlei — which is the 12th largest Internet company in China based on monthly users — attempted an IPO in 2011, but withdrew following piracy concerns, and had already been sued in 2008 by the international arm of the MPAA, the Motion Picture Association, before withdrawing the suit.

“The online video sector in China is moving purposefully toward an environment that will help sustain a viable, long- term online video business, ensure the creative work of rights holders is sufficiently protected, and provide audiences with a quality, legitimate viewing experience,” Steven Fabrizio, senior EVP and global general counsel for the MPAA, said in a statement.

“With the largest number of Internet users in the world, the Chinese market offers tremendous potential for content creators to make their works available online to hundreds of millions of consumers. This agreement is an important step forward in carrying out the MPAA’s mission in this significant market.”

The MPAA agreement calls for Xunlei parent company Shenzhen Xunlei Networking Technologies “to implement a comprehensive system of measures to prevent unauthorized downloading of and access to MPAA member company copyrighted works,” which includes implementing an established content recognition system to ensure content is licensed.

Xunlei says it had more than 300 million unique visitors in March, and that it’s quickly accelerating access to its platform to mobile devices, set-top boxes and IPTV. It’s streaming platform — Xunlei Kankan — is the sixth largest online video service of its kind in China, and its PPV service (featuring approximately 800 movies) is ramping up, with more than 150,000 subscribers as of April.

“We aspire to deliver superior user experience in ease of access, management and consumption of digital media content anywhere, anytime, and on any device,” the company’s prospectus reads. “We believe our living room strategy combined with our success on PC Internet will provide a seamless user experience to access digital media content from any device.”

In 2013 the company brought in $175 million in revenue.