The Hindu : National : `Government committed to curbing film, music piracy'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Dec 26, 2004

National

National

`Government committed to curbing film, music piracy'

By S. Dorairaj

Navin B. Chawla

CHENNAI, DEC. 25. The Centre will take a decision on the frequency modulation (FM) radio operators' licensing fee issue in a few weeks, according to the Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I and B), Navin B. Chawla. He also reiterated the Ministry's commitment to curb film and music piracy.

Mr. Chawla told The Hindu here that the Amit Mitra Committee's recommendations on FM radios and the recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) "are now at an advanced stage of examination and we hope to finalise this within a matter of weeks."

Asked if the Ministry was able to meet the daunting challenge of Conditional Access System (CAS) and find a breakthrough, he said, "We have examined the report submitted by the TRAI and we have written to different State Governments to elicit their views, which are awaited."

On his recent letters to the Chief Secretaries asking the States to share all information related to music and film piracy as part of efforts to curb the menace by ground level law enforcement authorities, he said: "At the moment we have not received any response from State Governments." However, the Ministry received a number of representations both from the music and film industry. "We have realised that it is a major problem because almost Rs. 400 crores worth of piracy is taking place in the music industry alone." Representatives of major British music companies, who visited the country recently, had also felt that "India could become a destination but they were also afraid of piracy," he said.

Alternative solutions

Stating that the Government was looking at the problem "very closely," he said the possibility of strengthening the Copy Rights Act with special provisions, taking into account the recent developments with regard to film and music piracy, was being examined even while probing the prospects of bringing about a stand-alone legislation as an alternative, particularly on optical disc issues. The Government had also been trying to find out how the legislation on optical discs was working in some ASEAN countries, besides seeking the opinion of various legal fora on amending the existing legislation or introducing a fresh one to curb the menace, he pointed out.

DTH service

Doordarshan's free direct-to-home (DTH) television service had a tremendous potential and it would cover hitherto uncovered areas, particularly the hilly regions, he said. The cost of set-top box and dish antenna would come down below Rs. 3,000 as the "common man's DTH catches up."

To a query, he said the process of giving licences to community radios had been speeded up. He said the experience gained by Anna University in community radio broadcasting should be shared by other educational institutions in the country.

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