Piracy

Entertainment industry loses Rs 22,400 cr due to piracy in 2023: EY-IAMAI

The Indian entertainment industry suffered a staggering loss of Rs 22,400 crore in 2023 due to piracy, according to a report released on Wednesday, that advocated for stronger regulations and collaborative efforts to effectively mitigate piracy risks. According to "The Rob Report" by EY and the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), 51 per cent of media consumers in India access content from pirated sources, with streaming services being the most significant contributor at 63 per cent. "The size of India's piracy economy was Rs 22,400 crore in 2023, ranking fourth against the segment-wise revenue generated by India's Media and Entertainment industry. "Of this, Rs 13,700 crore was generated from pirated content from movie theatres while Rs 8,700 crore was generated from OTT platforms' content. The potential GST losses of up to Rs 4,300 crore were estimated to have been incurred," it said. Piracy refers to the unauthorized copying, distribution, or use of copyrighted ...

Two armed robberies reported in Indian ports, anchorages in H1 2024

The situation in India's ports and anchorages has remained relatively stable, with two incidents of armed robbery against ships reported from January to June 2024, a regional maritime agency said on Wednesday. Comparatively, there were three incidents in the Indian ports and anchorages last year, said Krishnaswamy Natarajan, executive director of the Singapore-based Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against ships in Asia. He pointed out that all such robberies involved stealing nominal items and in some cases engine spares and scrap metals which are in demand in the black market. A total of 12 incidents of armed robbery against ships took place in the Indian Ocean Region from January to June 2024, he told PTI on Wednesday at the released Half-Year Report (JanuaryJune 2024) on Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships (ARAS) in Asia by the ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre (ISC). The majority of these incidents, 10, happened in Bangladesh ports and ..

Navy chief awards unit citation to INS Sharda for anti-piracy operations

Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar has awarded an 'On-the-spot Unit Citation' to INS Sharda for successful conduct of anti-piracy operations at sea, officials on Saturday said. The ship was involved in the safe release of all 19 crew members (11 Iranian and 8 Pakistani) of Iranian fishing vessel "Omari" which was held hostage by pirates off the east coast of Somalia, the Indian Navy said in a statement issued by its spokesperson. Admiral Kumar, during his visit to Southern Naval Command, Kochi, awarded the 'On-the-spot Unit Citation' to INS Sharda for successful conduct of anti-piracy operations, it said. The ship was tasked to investigate the Iranian fishing vessel "Omari" that was likely hijacked by pirates, the Navy said. "Based on surveillance inputs of naval RPA, the ship intercepted the vessel and maintained a covert trail throughout the night. During early morning hours of February 2, the ship's integral helo and subsequently Prahar team was launched," the statement said. The

More risk of malware infection while accessing pirated websites: Study

Accessing pirated websites carries a higher risk of malware infection for Indian consumers compared to other platforms like those of adult content and gambling advertisements, says a study conducted by cybersecurity experts. Indian consumers underestimate their true cyber risk when using piracy sites, and there is an urgent need to address cybersecurity threats associated with these websites, as per the study by experts at the Indian School of Business (ISB). The 18-24 age group exhibits low awareness levels of cyber risks despite frequent engagement with these platforms, said 'The Piracy-Malware Nexus in India: A Perceptions and Experience and Empirical Analysis' report released here on Tuesday. It has been co-authored by Professor Manish Gangwar and Dr Shruti Mantri from the ISB Institute of Data Science and Dr Paul Watters, adjunct professor of cybersecurity at the La Trobe University, Melbourne. According to the report, "accessing pirated websites carries a higher risk of malwa

Piracy websites pose greater risk of malware, surpassing adult sites: Study

Piracy websites pose a higher threat of malware to Indian consumers, surpassing the risk from adult sites and gambling advertisements, a study said on Tuesday. Accessing piracy sites carries a higher risk of malware (59 per cent) compared to the adult industry (57 per cent) and gambling advertisements (53 per cent), the study -- The Piracy-Malware Nexus in India: A Perceptions and Experience and Empirical Analysis -- conducted by the Indian School of Business (ISB) said. The study is based on a survey conducted during May 23-29, 2023 among 1,037 respondents aged over 18 in India as part of the YouGov National Omnibus. Digital piracy poses significant risks to India's cultural outputs across various entertainment sectors, which refer to unauthorised copying, distribution, or sharing of copyrighted content, including movies, music, TV shows, books, software, and other forms of creative works, the study said. Piracy impacts the revenue streams of the Indian entertainment industry, ...

Bulgarian President thanks PM Modi on Indian Navy rescue operation

The Indian navy successfully carried out a rescue operation for a hijacked Bulgarian ship and its crew in the Arabian Sea, resulting in the capture of 35 pirates

Indian Navy ship, commandos force pirates to surrender, rescue MV Ruen crew

Merchant vessel MV Ruen was hijacked by Somali pirates on December 14

EAM Jaishankar bats for deeper ties among Indian Ocean region nations

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday called for shoring up engagement among countries of Indian Ocean region to confront challenges like safeguarding sovereignty, dealing with cases of disregard to maritime laws and flouting of long-standing pacts, in remarks seen as an oblique reference to China's military assertiveness including along the Line of Actual Control. In an address at the seventh Indian Ocean Conference in Perth, he also flagged concerns over unsustainable debt, opaque lending practices, unviable projects and "injudicious" choices, in thinly-veiled comments that came amid concerns over many countries falling into the Chinese 'debt trap'. Jaishankar also said the Quad supports a larger architecture in "this part" of the world and those who mischievously suggest that the four-nation coalition questions the centrality of the ASEAN are "playing their own". "As we gaze at the Indian Ocean, the challenges besetting the world are on full display there. At one ...

Dynamic shift: Indian Navy in the Red Sea

The navy has been undertaking anti-piracy operations in the region with significantly greater purpose than at any time since 2008

New India won't tolerate piracy, smuggling at any cost: Rajnath Singh

Maritime piracy and smuggling will not be tolerated under any circumstances, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said in Visakhapatnam on Saturday, adding that this was the promise of a 'New India'

Indian Navy rescues 19 Pakistanis, vessel hijacked by Somali pirates

Indian Navy rescue mission: The Indian Navy's operation followed a day after INS Sumitra had successfully rescued a hijacked Iranian-flagged vessel MV Iman from Somali pirates

LIVE: NTPC net profit rises 7.3% in Q3 FY24, revenue decreases 4%

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Indian Navy 'proactively' keeping pirates at bay: Admiral Hari Kumar

He expressed confidence that 'Drishti' would play a pivotal role in shaping future naval operations towards safeguarding India's national maritime interests in the Indian ocean region

Govt aims to increase warships in Arabian Sea to combat piracy risk

India permanently deploys warships at five choke points in the Indian Ocean, stretching from the Gulf of Aden in the west to the Malacca Strait in the east

Ship robberies rise 19% in Southeast Asia, no piracy in Asian seas: Report

No report of piracy incidents occurred on the Asian high seas but 99 actual incidents and one attempted armed robbery against ships occurred in Southeast Asian waters in 2023, a Singapore based maritime organisation reported said on Tuesday. Though the 100 incidents in 2023 increased by 19 per cent over 2022, these were small-time robberies, with theft of items such as nominal value wires, brass ship products, engine spares and scraps, Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery (ReCAAP) executive director Krishnaswamy Natarajan said at the annual press conference. Such incidents were five in India in 2023, the same as those in 2022, while Bangladesh and Malaysia reported one incident each, compared to five and two incidents in 2022, respectively. Reviewing the year, Natarajan pointed out that the increase in incidents occurred in Indonesia, the Philippines, the Straits of Malacca and Singapore (SOMS), Thailand and Vietnam. Of concern was the occurrence of

US intelligence suggests Iran 'deeply involved' in Red Sea attacks on ships

On Tuesday, a senior US military official said the Iranians are operating in the Red Sea when asked whether Iran is helping the Houthis select targets

Govt appoints nodal officers to issue direction against film piracy

In a bid to curb film piracy, the government on Friday said it has appointed nodal officers who have been empowered to issue directions to take down pirated content from digital platforms. This move by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has provided an institutional mechanism to take action against film piracy which is estimated to cause the entertainment industry losses to the tune of Rs 20,000 crore every year. "We have fulfilled a big demand of the industry," Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur told reporters here. He said the government has appointed 12 nodal officers in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Central Bureau of Film Certification (CBFC) with whom complaints related to film piracy can be lodged and action will be taken within 48 hours. "Piracy is a big menace not only for the film industry, but for the entire world. Now, action against it is just a complaint away," Thakur said. Officials said any original copyright holder or a

Rajya Sabha passes bill with stringent provisions to curb film piracy

Rajya Sabha on Thursday passed the Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill which has provisions for up to three-year jail term and a fine of up to five per cent of the production cost of a film for persons making pirated copies of movies. The bill also has provisions to introduce three age-based certifications under the 'UA' category, namely 'UA 7+', 'UA 13+' and 'UA 16+', and to empower the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to sanction a film with a separate certificate for its exhibition on television or other media. "The film industry is facing a loss of Rs 20,000 crore annually because of piracy," Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said, responding to a brief debate on the bill in Rajya Sabha. The opposition staged a walkout over its demand for a discussion on the situation in ethnic strife-torn Manipur when the bill was taken up for discussion. Thakur said, "The bill has been brought to stop the loss of Rs 20,000 crore which occurs due to piracy. The ...

Penguin India launches campaign against book piracy with anti-piracy tool

To raise awareness on the growing menace of book piracy, Penguin Random House India has launched a campaign with the support of many of its authors. The publishing house has also introduced a new tool, developed in collaboration with anti-piracy service provider Link-Busters, to report instances of digital book piracy. The initiative is a part of Penguin's ongoing efforts to fight book piracy and promote respect for intellectual property rights. By leveraging the power of social media and technology, the campaign hopes to raise awareness about the issue and encourage readers to support authors and publishers by purchasing books legally, a statement said. Led by the hashtag #SayNoToBookPiracy, this campaign was launched ahead of UNESCO's World Book and Copyright Day celebrated every year on April 23. Several authors including Lt Gen KJS Dhillon, Anand Neelakantan, Meghna Pant and Novoneel Chakraborty have come together to highlight the time and effort that goes into the publication

Govt mulling blocking websites transmitting pirated content: Official

The government is mulling blocking websites transmitting pirated content, Union Information and Broadcasting Secretary Apurva Chandra said on Thursday. Stressing that the government is serious about curbing piracy, Chandra said it has already proposed to make filming of content for piracy as an offence, and is now looking to add another provision on transmitting such pirated content. " now, we want to add another provision where transmission of (pirated) content on the internet also we want to make (it as) an offence. "So, if that happens, it will go a long way in protecting copyright as we will be able to block those websites where such content is being transmitted," he said while speaking at an industry event here. He said the changes will be proposed in the Cinematograph Act, where the government is proposing some amendments. The amended draft will be introduced in Parliament "very soon" to be passed and made into a law, he added. He also urged the industry to be "more cogniza