You will all realise that this is prompted by today's news item that a new legislation has been approved in Maharashtra to prosecute sellers as well as buyers of pirated content. And that Mr Karan Johar has opined that the film industry is suffering huge losses due to this menace. However, please believe me when I say that this has been something I wanted to write about since I started downloading music about 10 years back.
Now, before you start hammering on your keyboards writing crap like 'stealing is stealing, whether its a car or a movie' and all such nonsense drilled into your brains by the owners of content - PLEASE! Lets leave the morality part out of this discussion. Piracy is banned by 'LAW' not by 'GOD'. A very interesting angle was presented in 'The Reader' where a lawyer argues for a Nazi camp gaurd saying that she was only following what was the law at that point in time. No Vedas say piracy is a crime. So all our Vedas and epics were copied and read out in festivals and ceremonies and none of the rishi-s and muni-s earned a single red cent out of the deal. If Mr Johar had written the Mahabharata...well that would have been a different story right?
Anyway, so leaving out the moral and legal aspect of the discussion here are a few additional laws I would like to be implemented along with the anti piracy crackdown laws:
1) Arrest all directors, producers, writers, music directors and lyricists for copying any idea or content without acknowledging and paying the source.
2) Declare all earnings and let the government do Tax Deduction at Source.
3) Mandate part of the money earned goes back into the industry. So music labels should produce x number of new artists per year, film producers should open y number of acting schools etc etc.
4) Provide money back facility to the consumer. If the viewer/listener feels that shit is being dished out, he returns the shit and gets his money back.
5) Provide breakup and pricing justification to a central board or commitee to explain why a particular DVD costs Rs 500 in some label and Rs 29 in another label after 3 months.
Into this land of freedom let my country awake.
Mar 26, 2009
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9 comments:
clap clap clap!! i agree. knowledge, creativity, are deep wells which everyone should be able to draw from. putting ridiculous price tags on these actually cheapen them. share, let share and acknowledge.
Well, I saw two movies in the theater this time in India, and if I did not face the prospect of facing brilliant and insightful comments like "Well, you have to be ready to pay for quality" and "Why do you have to always be so negative?" and "Life is for enjoying" (you have to pinch your nose and move your head from side to side as you read that) from some of the people I was supposed to go with, I would NEVER have paid (actually I did not pay for both, just one) roughly Rs.400 to watch TWO movies (that's per person). I am definitely stuck in a middle class mindset and I work hard for my money. But as long as people keep on supporting these (f)arts, then we will NEVER learn the difference between price and value! In my opinion, the lack of that one skill among the common citizenry has led to the wonderful world we live in today.
By the way, I bought a bunch of those pirated CD's and DVD's this time from an asshole, sister-loving dickwipe. Half of them didn't work.
dear shuv,you will be surprised to hear this..i'm completely in agreement with you..!
Piracy is not making copies of a movie and selling it at a lower price.(thats 'chota mota chori'..)
piracy is trying to sell SRK or for that matter a 'slumdog..' for 500/- per dvd..!!..thats piracy.
i think Moserbaer has done a great job and has emerged as the only rational answer to this nonsense...
for the new movies ..well, we have to depend on the multiplexes ..i guess.
dear DD,thats the price one pays for opting for a cheap facility..it might work or it might not..
..but they do replace it everytime a dvd is found not working...thats not too bad u know...
..may b for u its a problem since u dont stay here..better luck next time dude..!
s: i also want to share lara dutt.
dd: u need a pirated dvd player.
rip: will wonders never cease!! we have agreed on something!
Shuv,
Just a clarification of your "u need a pirated dvd player" suggestion. Is that a pirated-DVD player or pirated DVD-player? Does that same guy in Gariahat sell those? May be on my next trip ...
amar bhai shob kota choleche..and i bought the same set from the same guy..i guess 'roton e roton chene'.
bravo!
in fact my friend and i were discussing your point number one about a month back. the talk about piracy but they are the biggest pirates of all. bloody they dish out copied content (in a distorted manner) and tells us to be honest and pay for that crap.
rip van winkle still alive?
Hi ghetu!!...its real nice to hear from u..how's life bro..?
unfortunately..rip van winkle survived the test of time and is still very much alive..ha!ha!
i am fine rip. nice to see you again. although, it would have been real nice if you would have come to my blog.
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