Outgoing Nationalist Party treasurer Antoine Zammit said he was naive when he recorded a YouTube video complaining that adult films could no longer be accessed on IPTV.

Mr Zammit, who resigned on Sunday when the video surfaced, told Times of Malta that his only intention was to seek technical assistance on behalf of a client of his computer shop in Qormi.  

He said that his mistake dictated that he should resign in the party’s best interests from a position he was appointed to in August.

In the video which went viral on social media, Mr Zammit complains that access to adult content was blocked.

He told Times of Malta the video was shot before he was made treasurer. 

“The video was shot by my wife around five months ago for a particular client who was encountering problems to access this content," he said.

"I came up with the idea to shoot a video and upload it on YouTube in order for the German supplier of the IPTV box to understand better the nature of the problem.  

“Unfortunately, I forgot to take the video down. The fault is mine, and I will not allow the party to be dragged into such matter.  I owned up to my mistake and resigned,” he added.

In a five-line statement, the PN said it had received Mr Zammit's resignation and "in the context of the going-ons of the last hours" had accepted it.

Mr Zammit was appointed by the party's executive committee on August 1, succeeding David Camilleri who resigned in June, also after a short term, when he found himself embroiled in a party internal power struggle.

He contested the last local elections as a PN candidate in Zabbar but failed to get elected.

In the video, Mr Zammit can be seen trying to browse adult film channels on an IPTV - internet-based television - service and saying that he is unable to do so following a recent software update. 

Mr Zammit runs a computer repair store in Qormi which captured attention when it first opened for its amusing tagline 'Mater Dei tal-Computers' [Mater Dei of computers]. 

IPTV services operate in a legal grey area. While the technology that underpins them is legal, they are often used to stream TV channels illegally.  

The service Mr Zammit appears to be using in the video, Kodi, is one such service. In 2017 the European Court of Justice ruled that Kodi services which come pre-loaded with access to pirated films and TV shows are illegal.

The video, which made the rounds of social media, elicited mockery and especially angry comments from PN exponents, some of whom claimed the party had sunk to a new low.

 

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