On 18 April, the World Intellectual Property rights Organisation (WIPO) hosted discussions between industry and governments on how best to police the Internet against (copyright) pirates. The IFHA made its contribution, in light of the various betting websites that use racing data without authorization of the racing authorities and/or right holders.

The discussions come in a changing climate where the issue is no longer whether, but rather how and where to regulate the Internet. Old Internet concerns that law and enforcement would only hamper the development of this medium have been replaced by a new approach based on (international) law on the one hand and industry cooperation on the other.

Although Internet piracy remains widespread (for example, the net hosts illegal copies of around 10 thousand books, but also thousands of betting websites with stolen racing data), there are a number of developments that prove to be successful in fighting it, like: