Act now: a national toll-free number to report movie piracy
With an aim to involve common man in the fight against piracy of movies, the Alliance Against Copyright Theft (AACT), a joint initiative against piracy by the Hindi and Hollywood studios, have come up with a national toll free number where people can complain about sale of pirated video content and related activities.
The toll free number — 1800 103 1919— which was launched early this month, has already received a good response with over 100 calls being received on the first day itself, claimed an official connected with the initiative. “Earlier, the whole anti-piracy operation was one way with our operatives gathering intelligence and raiding the places with the help of the police. A need was felt to involve the local public in our efforts so that they could themselves become aware of the problem and also be our eyes and ears on the ground. From day one, the response of the public has been enormous. We have got close to 600 such calls till now from the Mumbai and Thane area, and many raids were conducted on the information received over the phone. Besides, as the identity of the callers remains confidential, complainants are also encouraged to call without any fear,” the official said.
Over the past few days, a joint team of the Mumbai Police and A A Khan & Associates have conducted three consecutive raids and seized more than 5,300 discs of the latest Hollywood and Bollywood films worth over Rs 5.3 lakh. Most of these raids were based on the tip-off provided by common people on the toll free number.
Sanjay Tondon, vice president, Reliance Big Entertainment, said, “The purpose of AACT is to seriously go after the pirates and make them understand that AACT members are no more going to tolerate this menace. It is dealing with this menace seriously with great positive support from the Social Service Branch of the Mumbai Police. Over the past 3 months of their operations in Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai, piracy has seen a drop of 20 to 30 per cent. Moreover, since the time the toll-free number is launched, even the common man can actively participate in curbing this crime.”