News For India

[GhostShip]

Here is some news from India regarding the state of play there and the actions of the Cartels representatives.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/07/11/stories/2005071102380100.htm

More than one billion songs are exchanged each month around the world, and in India the losses due to Internet piracy are estimated to be anything between Rs 50 crore-100 crore per annum. But efforts to curb piracy seem to be paying off.
Last year, the music industry did not make any cash losses, but it has been losing over Rs 200 crore each year for the last three years. The turnover of the industry has also shrunk from Rs 1,000 crore some years ago to Rs 650 crore.

It seems the Cartel are everywhere, like cockroaches  

[GhostShip]

Hmm more propaganda and activity from the Cartels lackies

http://www.indiantelevision.com/headlines/y2k5/july/july302.htm

NEW DELHI: The government today said that it has taken several steps to curb piracy, which is resulting in heavy losses for the entertainment industry. Information and broadcasting minister Jaipal Reddy informed the Rajya Sabha (Upper House) in a written statement that the ministry is consulting Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) to explore the possibility of enacting an optical disc law.

However, sources in the government added the I&B ministry is hamstrung by the fact that the issue of piracy technically falls under the human resources development ministry and I&B can only influence the menace indirectly.
According to FICCI, the revenue loss from film piracy is about Rs 12 billion annually. As far as the music Industry is concerned, the Indian Music Industry (IMI) has informed that the size of the music industry has fallen from Rs 10 billion in 1999 to Rs 5 billion in 2004 due to piracy

Also this was noticed

http://news.webindia123.com/news/showdetails.asp?id=101302&cat=Entertainment

The Motion Picture Association Wednesday announced it had obtained a court order to facilitate its war against film piracy in New Delhi.
The general search and seizure warrants will let police open and immediately search any place suspected of storing pirated products, the California-based MPA said in a news release from its Hong Kong office.

The MPA said the order is expected to help stem the flow of pirated movies being sold in the Palika Bazaar, where details of impending police raids are routinely leaked before they can happen. The MPA estimates more than 70 shops in the Palika Bazaar are selling pirated films, primarily Indian titles produced in Bollywood.
New Delhi police and MPA investigators have conducted 26 raids so far this year that netted more than 200 burners used to make the illegal copies and more than 66,000 titles.

This is one of the biggest areas beside China for the Cartel to get to grips with and they are attacking it (at least on paper) with some speed.
what needs to be observed here is the usual loss of rights for consumers in the rush to give new powers to those that are paying for them  

I,m sure we will hear more from this sector of the globe, there is an excellent market oppurtunity for all, if handled correctly, and that is not normally the way they are currently choosing of  sledge hammer and police action .
I,m sure the "General Search And Seizure" warrants are coming in very handy to some corrupt police officers, and they claim to be a democracy ??

[GhostShip]

Seems we didnt have to wait long..

http://www.aunty-spam.com/early-movie-dvd-releases-contemplated-while-mpa-gets-warrant-for-all-of-new-delhi/

The MPA has obtained a search warrant to allow it to conduct searches for pirated movies and related materials in New Delhi, India. Now, there is nothing unusual about the MPA obtaining a search warrant, however this search warrant is unusually broad. In fact, it couldn’t be broader. Actually, I believe that it may be unprecedented.

The MPA has obtained an open search warrant for the entire city of New Delhi, India.

In a statement, the MPA explained that the order “permits police to search any premises suspected of containing pirated products, and permits officers to open locked premises without delay. The order is expected to be especially useful in facilitating raids on the notorious Palika Bazaar, where information about imminent raids often leaks before police can effect arrest and seizures.”

"Open locked premises without delay" ?  This sounds like a hand over of democracy to the file nazis  

Any police excess can now be described as a "legitimate police action" fully authorised by the Cartel, what happened to justice and production of evidence before the granting of such wide-ranging court orders ?

Hopefully the range of this order will be challenged as it sets a bad precedent for democracy.