Hollywood helps Bollywood
p2pnet.net News- Following Hollywood’s announcement that its MPA (Motion Picture Association) pseudo kops are being allowed to run rampant in Delhi, Indiantelevision.com reports the government has “taken several steps to curb piracy, which is resulting in heavy losses for the entertainment industry”.
Information and broadcasting minister Jaipal Reddy intends to do what he can to give the movie studio cartel some help, says the story, but there’s apparently a problem. It appears 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,” says the story.
Nonetheless, Reddy is giving it his best shot.
Indiantelevision.com says steps I&B is taking to fall in with Hollywood’s plans include “considering the on-going amendments to the Copyright Act” and appointing “senior police officers in States to work in coordination with the entertainment industry, as “nodal officers”,
In addition:
The National Film Development Corp Ltd. has been commissioned to make spots for running an anti-piracy campaign on prominent national and satellite channels. This Ministry has requested industry associations to persuade films stars to work on this campaign in order to make it an effective one.
The Ministry has initiated action to formulate appropriate training modules for police officers to train them for anti-piracy.
Recognising that high levels of entertainment tax lead to piracy, the Committee for Development of the Entertainment Sector, a sub-committee of the 24th State Information Ministers’ Conference (Simcon) , recommended that the rate of entertainment tax be lowered to a ceiling of 45 per cent. In the recent SImcon it was felt that the ceiling should be further lowered to 25-30 per cent.
The Public Service Broadcasting Trust has been entrusted with the task of making a film on piracy.
The Cable Television Networks Regulation Act has been amended to prohibit a cable operator from transmitting or re-transmitting any programme or channel for which the copyright holder has not granted him a licence.
The story doesn’t say who’s going to pay for it all.
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See:-
run rampant – MPA’s Bollywood search warrants, p2pnet, July 28, 2005
Indiantelevision.com – I&B ministry & FICCI to work towards ending piracy menace, July 28, 2005
