A commendable step

When this column began a couple of years ago, my very first topic was movie and software piracy. This week, I return to the same subject, though things are changing a bit - for the better. And that is worthy of celebrating.

Just one month back, Apple decided to make movies and songs available on its iTunes platform to customers in Sri Lanka. This is a landmark decision from Apple and US movie studios. What’s the big deal about it, you may ask.

It is very significant because this is the first time that movie lovers in Sri Lanka (and indeed, in many other Asian countries) can legally download Hollywood and certain foreign movies at somewhat reasonable prices.

This means that if you have a PC, Pac, iPad, iPod Touch or similar device, you will be able to legally download good quality, latest music and movie files on either a rent or buy basis. If you have a little more money and if you really like a movie, it is best to buy because you can keep it and play it again and again depending on your storage limitations.

It is a sign of the times that Hollywood and other content providers are slowly but surely realising that keeping Asia out of the legal download sphere is a recipe for disaster. It is time they stopped thinking that all Asian consumers are potential pirates.

When it started way back in 2007, Amazon’s Kindle virtual bookstore was limited to the US only. Today, you can download the latest bestseller to your Kindle in just 60 seconds anywhere in Sri Lanka. Similarly, Hollywood is now releasing the latest movies simultaneously all over the world including Sri Lanka and in fact, some movies have been released here even before they were released in the US. Moreover, the window between theatrical exhibition and blu-ray/DVD release is getting narrower, which gives only a little time for pirates to peddle their wares. That is the way to beat piracy.

Piracy

Let’s face it, Asia is still a hotbed of movie and music piracy. Walk along the crowded sidewalks of the Pettah and you will see dingy huts selling DVDs containing several movies for just Rs.100. Sheathed in plastic, with a cover note ripped straight from the original DVD, these DVDs (usually a recorded no-brand DVD-R with no disc art) sometimes contain up to eight movies. What you get is lower than 240-line VHS resolution.

The same goes for music, with MP3 CDs containing hundreds of copyrighted songs in all three languages going literally for a song. It is not only Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie who are ripped into MP3, but also Amaradeva and Victor Ratnayake. Clearly, the pirates are not leaving anyone alone from Hollywood to Bollywood to Kollywood.

So, this ugly scene must be limited to the pavement, right? Wrong. Go to any shopping mall in the city and the so-called ‘Original DVD’ shops openly sell counterfeit DVDs for a more respectable amount of money, say, Rs.200 for a movie with a DVD case.

It is very easy to spot these fakes - wrong spellings on the cover is the number one give away, but there are many other indications as well, apart from the price.It is a scene that angers me every time I see it. Why cannot the authorities clamp down on this manifestly illegal business?

Pirates are always one step ahead. They moved swiftly from VCD to DVD and now, they have invaded Blu-Ray. There are seemingly genuine Blu-ray discs at viedo stores in shopping malls for around Rs.500. However, one can differentiate between the genuine article and the fake one in just 10 seconds. The cover art is wrong in every one of them, for starters.

These DVDs are usually of very bad quality that will ‘crack’ after a number of playings (you will just see MPEG artefacts on the screen as the picture breaks up), the so-called ‘DTS Digital Surround’ soundtrack is very, very poor and the subtitles are horribly wrong. These discs can ruin your player as it tries to read them. Thanks to a diet of genuine DVDs, my DVD player, now 13 years old, still runs like new.

Police regularly raid video dens and confiscate hundreds of porn DVDs. We must commend the Police for taking action against these video store owners as they are a prime source for contaminating young minds. But doesn’t it occur to them that the entire collections of these dubious video shacks are 100 percent illegal?

Allowing intellectual property piracy on this scale is positively damaging to our economy and image. First, almost all of these discs are smuggled in, depriving the Government of revenue.

Our stand with regard to international copyright conventions can also be called into question, thanks to the open display and sale of fake DVDs.

Alternative

But there is one thing that still prevents people from going for the legal alternative. Price. Genuine software, movies and music on physical discs still cost a hefty sum, if you can find them locally. (There are only a very few places in the entire country that sell genuine discs).

However, our neighbour India has shown the way in this regard. Indian companies have tied up with major film studios to release VCDs (yes, the format still survives in this part of the world), DVDs and blu rays at very reasonable prices.

This has affected the pirates to a great extent. We wonder whether Sri Lankan entertainment companies could do the same to make entertainment options more affordable. The other alternative is to import more genuine discs from India and South East Asia. In this case, any existing taxes and duties on genuine physical media must either be reduced or removed. The authorities must intercept shipments of counterfeit DVDs and destroy them. Those duplicating such DVDs locally should be apprehended. Copyright laws must be respected and implemented.

There should be a dialogue between the (Hollywood/Bollywood) movie studios and Sri Lankan authorities on this issue. Hollywood must be more pro-active.

If iTunes can go near-global, why not Netflix/LoveFilm/Amazon Video (video streaming services)? Why cannot UltraViolet, the new ‘in the cloud’ movie storage system that makes movies available to any device of your choice, go global? If legal downloads can be made more affordable, many people will opt out of illegal downloads from the Net.

Hollywood should also forge deals with more companies to turn out Region C blu-rays (our blu ray region) in greater numbers or else, abandon region coding altogether (many studios have already done this).

Video shops do provide employment to youth all over the country. They do not necessarily have to go out of business if piracy is stopped. They can become legal outlets for copyrighted content. Preventing piracy can thus become a win-win situation.

Governments and law enforcement authorities around the world must get together to tackle audio-visual and software piracy.

The piracy of intellectual property is a serious crime. It should have no place in our society.