MANILA, Philippines ? Senator Edgardo Angara is again calling for amendments to the Intellectual Property Code (IPC) to protect against Internet piracy.

Angara who authored Senate Bill 880 in 2007 said the IPC should be amended to respond to increasing Internet piracy of movies, music, and software.

Under SB 880, heavier penalties would be imposed against Internet pirates that include fines and imprisonments.

Angara cited incidences of copyright infringement through digital means in the Philippines, as well as the country?s ratification of the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO) Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty.

He also noted that the Philippines is a signatory to several other intellectual property treaties, which include the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, Berne Convention for the Protection of Literacy and Artistic, Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, among others.

"The overriding goal of this proposal is to provide an Internet environment where it is safe to distribute and license protected material,? Angara said.

There is no data pertaining to the size of Internet piracy in the Philippines, but in May this year Business Software Alliance Asia Pacific Vice President Jeffrey Hardee said Internet piracy in the country for 2008 is just less than 1 percent of the overall losses from piracy.

Losses due to software piracy in the Philippines amount to $202 million in 2008 or 69 percent over the overall software business.