Helpline clicks; pirated discs worth 5 lakh seized in month……Jaidev Hemmady
Mumbai The toll free anti-piracy helpline, set up by the Alliance Against Copyright Theft (AACT) in July, has helped enforcement authorities in seizing pirated material worth Rs 5 lakh in the very first month of its launch.
The helpline allows people to register their piracy complaints without revealing their identity. According to sources, 600 complaints were received in July alone, and acting on those the authorities seized 50,000 pirated CDs and DVDs.
Based on the intelligence received from citizens, raids were conducted at places including Andheri, Santacruz, Kandivli and Kurla in July. “Moreover, since the launch of the helpline, teams comprising anti-piracy organisations and officials from the Social Service department of the Mumbai Police are now able to crack down on individual vendors who were not traceable earlier,” said a police officer from the Social Service branch.
Based on the information received from the callers, the anti-piracy team also initiated a drive with a BMC squad last month as a part of which, the team, along with a BMC van, conducted a series of raids on sellers of pirated discs between Bandra and Andheri.
Launched by a coalition of Hollywood and Bollywood studios, the helpline (1800-103-1919) enables common man to complain about activities related to sale of pirated video content and other related activities. The helpline had also promised to treat the name of the informer as confidential so as to encourage citizens to approach them without any hesitation.
Speaking on behalf of AACT, Prakash Nathan, Vice President-Operations, UTV Motion Pictures said, “We have already begun to see the effect of conducting regular raids across the city. We have been able to reduce the availability of pirated copies of new movies being sold by vendors in the city. We are also pleased with the proactive approach of the people in reporting instances of piracy. The participation from the common man is helping us curb piracy in the city.”