The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Low price enables piracy to continue unabated Law & order

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jun 28, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Low price enables piracy to continue unabated Law & order

Despite periodic anti-piracy drives, pirated CDs do the rounds with impunity, writes
R. Rajaram

— Photo: R.M. Rajarathinam

Rampant: The counterfeit CDs of Tamil films seized by Video Piracy Cell in Tiruchi.

In a recent surprise raid, the Fort Police seized over 1,000 pirated compact discs of latest Tamil films and obscene movies and brought to book three persons. The raid was conducted in the commercial hub of Teppakulam in the city.

A few weeks before that raid, a similar anti-piracy drive in Fort, Thillai Nagar and Srirangam police station limits led to the seizure of over 2,500 pirated CDs of latest Tamil films. A chunk of the CDs were found in shops at Singarathope and Burma Bazaar areas and cases were registered against the accused.

These incidents and several such seizures on earlier occasions only points to the persistence of video piracy, despite the periodic anti-piracy drives by the City Police and the Video Piracy Cell.

Though there is a temporary lull in the immediate aftermath of such raids, sale of pirated CDs of latest Tamil films takes off soon after.

While some indulge in the shady business keeping other main trading activities as a front, there are shops that openly sell pirated CDs of recent Tamil releases right under the nose of the police personnel in the city limits.

Police sources here say pirated CDs mostly come from Pondicherry and Chennai to Tiruchi and dispatched through various modes including by omni buses. Advancement of technology has come in very handy today for the sellers to take several copies of CDs using one ‘mother’ CD, say the investigators, adding that with DVD players hitting the market at an affordable price, the gadget now finds place in very many households these days.

The pirated CDs containing latest Tamil films are sold anywhere between Rs.20 and Rs.30 making it very economical for a family to watch a new movie instead of going to the theatre where they would have to shell out more from their wallet, says a film exhibitor in the city.

While the piracy network is quite deep keeping the shady business alive on the one side, there is also a growing clientele for the pirated CDs only because of its low price.

There have been occasions when the pirated versions have been sold even on the second and third days of the release of a movie leaving behind a debilitating impact on the film industry, says a film exhibitor.

Such has been the entrenchment of pirated CDs in the market that they are found to be sold even in petty shops these days, say the police.

Film exhibitors insist that sincere and strict enforcement is certain to have a deterring effect, pointing to the positive impact of the raids that were conducted in the city after the release of a new Tamil film last month.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu