MTG ATTACKS PAY-TV PIRACY Modern Times Group MTG AB, the international media group, today announced that its Viasat pay-TV broadcasting division has initiated a major technical programme of counter-measures to eliminate the use of illegal pirate smart cards to access its pay-TV channels in Scandinavia. The indications, following today's implementation of the technical change to the encryption of the Viasat smart cards, are that a very high proportion of the illegal cards have been successfully blocked. Furthermore, Viasat has substantially increased the frequency with which it changes the encryption codes for its broadcasts, resulting in a dramatic reduction in the ability of pirate cardholders to view the channels. Viasat is also considering launching the ultimate anti-piracy measure in the near future - the replacement of the entire existing pay- TV digital smart card stock. This latter measure would have the effect of rendering all existing pirate cards useless. Viasat also continues to hunt down and prosecute the criminal manufacturers and distributors of pirate cards, and the number of successful raids against pirate operators in Scandinavia has increased significantly in recent weeks. At the same time, Viasat has launched a special offer to convert those viewers holding pirate cards into legitimate Viasat subscribers. These viewers have been misled by pirates into buying cards, which will be worthless following the actions taken by Viasat. Consumers buying 12- month subscriptions to Viasat's premium pay-TV service, the Viasat Gold package, before the end of Wednesday of this week will receive free access to the 'pay-per-view' event of the year - the World Heavyweight championship clash between Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis. For further information, please visit www.mtg.se, email info@mtg.se, or contact: Hans-Holger Albrecht, President & CEO tel: +46 (0) 8 562 000 50 Matthew Hooper, Investor & Press Relations tel: +44 (0) 20 7321 5010 Modern Times Group, MTG AB has six business areas: Viasat Broadcasting (Free-to-air and pay-TV channels in nine countries, and the new media businesses - teletext operations and the Everyday interactive TV, internet and mobile portals), Radio (local and national networks in five countries), Publishing (financial news and information services), Modern Interactive (home shopping, e-commerce and logistics), SDI Media (subtitling and dubbing services), and Modern Studios (content production and rights library). Modern Times Group MTG AB's class A and B shares are listed on the Stockholmsbörsen O-list (symbols: MTGA and MTGB) and ADRs are listed on the NASDAQ National Market (symbol: MTGNY). ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2002/05/27/20020527BIT00800/wkr0001.doc http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2002/05/27/20020527BIT00800/wkr0002.pdf