[Commons-Law] INDIA: Will religious leaders help in fighting "piracy" and porn?

[Anivar Aravind]

Kerala <http://www.thehindu.com/2008/05/12/25hdline.htm> -
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* Piracy: religious leaders back police *

G. Anand
/ To be present when shops are raided /

Also see the figure 
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/05/12/images/2008051258970301.jpg

Thiruvananthapuram: Taking a cue from how the Church helped
law-enforcers stop illegal brewing in the coastal areas of the district
in the 1980s, the police's anti-piracy cell is seeking the support of
religious leaders to curb the sale of pirated videos of films and
pornography in neighbourhoods known for trade in smuggled goods in the city.

The police and community leaders will form grassroots-level committees
in such places to persuade traders to stop selling such DVDs and VCDs,
officials said.

Inspector-General of Police (Crime Branch) K. Padmakumar, who
coordinates anti-piracy operations, has met certain community leaders.
The traders will be given sufficient time for destroying their stock of
pirated movies and pornographic films, following which the police will
search their shops in the presence of community members.

The Crime Branch is also investigating a Madurai-based businessman
suspected to be one of the biggest suppliers of pirated movies in South
India. The police will focus more on curbing the sale of pirated
versions of the latest Malayalam films.

Much of the high-quality pirated versions of the latest Malayalam movies
are reaching Kerala from the Gulf.

The police said Gulf-based racketeers used modern "telecine machines"
for converting the theatrical prints of new releases into digital form.

The top-quality digital prints are then smuggled into Kerala in laptop
computers or portable hard discs. The movies are then copied on a large
scale on DVDs and VCDs for sale in the black market.

Film industry sources said that producers had scarce control over
theatrical prints of movies released in the Gulf.

In Kerala, film representatives are fiercely protective of the prints of
new releases and they take away the reels containing key sequences after
late-night shows to ensure that films are not illegally copied in entirety.

In the Gulf, theatrical prints are not so protected and copyright
violators are known to bribe courier service agents and movie hall staff
for getting their hands on the original reels.

Malayalam film producers often mark certain frames of the prints they
distribute in an attempt to find out from which theatre they have been
copied. Film exhibitors in some areas are now checking suspicious
characters for handheld video cameras before allowing them into theatres.

Video piracy, if unchecked, can make the nearly Rs.200-crore Malayalam
movie industry unsustainable. The industry provides direct and indirect
employment to nearly 25,000 people, including artistes and technicians.

Lack of business, partly due to cable television and easy availability
of pirated VCDs and DVDs, has forced the closure of nearly 700 movie
halls in Kerala.

Several young computer and Internet hobbyists are turning to video
piracy for earning a quick income. The film industry is trying to combat
this trend by simultaneously releasing films in rural and urban centres.

http://www.thehindu.com/2008/05/12/stories/2008051258970300.htm

-- 
Frederick FN Noronha * Independent Journalist
http://fn.goa-india.org * Phone +91-832-2409490
Cell +91-9970157402 (sometimes out of range)
http://www.youtube.com/user/fredericknoronha

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