Philippines: Adopted IPOPHL Site Blocking Rules for Intellectual Property Infringements

On 20 September 2023, the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) adopted Memorandum Circular 23-025, establishing rules on voluntary administrative site blocking. This order allows blocking access to pirated sites, addressing the Philippines' high piracy rate in East and Southeast Asia. The Circular 23-025 was developed in collaboration with the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) and various internet service providers (ISPs) and establishes a framework for rights holders to request the blocking of websites infringing on intellectual property rights. Once filed, IPOPHL evaluates the request and issues a site-blocking order to ISPs if no protest is received from the site administrators. ISPs must block access within 48 hours, using methods such as disabling domain names, IP addresses, or URLs.