Mobile app to curb video piracy launched

Indian film industry is estimated to have lost 571,000 jobs and $959 mn to piracy

Countries that fail to enforce intellectual property rights unwittingly push themselves and their companies down the competitive ladder and get pushed out of the innovation networks, said US ambassador to India Nancy J Powell on Sunday.

She was here to launch an anti-video piracy mobile application-Indian Movie Cop- developed by the Andhra Pradesh Film Chamber of Commerce in association with the Economic Bureau of the US Department of State and the US Consulate General, Hyderabad.

Speaking at the event hosted by the AP Police, Powell said, "When a trademark, copy right, or patent is violated in any country we all lose: entrepreneurs are less inclined to take risks, the incentive to create quality products is diminished, and opportunities to create higher-wage jobs fade."

Citing a report, she said the Indian film industry is estimated to have lost 571,000 jobs and $ 959 million to piracy.

The Andhra Pradesh film chamber created its own anti-video piracy cell in 2005 with a 60-strong contingent of retired police officers to register complaints by phone, search and seize counterfeit discs and videos. With piracy becoming an online menace, the chamber has also launched a 24/7 online  film piracy team to monitor and shut-down the so-called rogue sites.

The new mobile app is supported by IOS, Android and other popular mobile operating systems. A registered user can give information about the piracy using the application whereas a non-registered user can only have acces to movie-related news and trailers of movies, according to AP police.

AP Police director general V Dinesh Reddy said the Rs14,400-crore Indian film industry was losing about 14 per cent in revenues on account of video piracy.

According to Telugu films producer Shyam Prasada Reddy, the Telugu film industry was hit hard by the illegal vidio piracy activities resulting in the closure of 800 theatres in the last 5-6 years.

Besides, the number of movies being made in Tollywood had come down to just 70 feature films from an average of 120 films in the past.