Drive against gaming piracy soon

Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, November 4
The Indian Music Industry (IMI) and Sony Playstation is all set to start their drive against gaming piracy in the city with the help of school and college students.
While an original Playstation disk costs between Rs 2500 and Rs 499 the pirated version is available for Rs 100 or less. Titles like Superman, Spiderman, car races and cricket are some of the best selling pirated disks. One of the reasons for their popularity with students is that the pirated versions are cheap and these CDs and DVDs can run on computers and do not need a separate gaming console.
The console and PC games market in India is worth $ 45 million and over 90 per cent ninety percent of it is pirated. IMI and Sony have already conducted more than 30 raids all over the country.
IMI will also make students aware about piracy. “Students are mostly in the habit of buying pirated disks as they face pocket money crunch and are addicted to gaming. In such a scenario we feel that making students and their institutions aware is important,” said Savio D’Souza spokesperson of IMI.
IMI is also writing to principals of schools and colleges asking them to discourage students from buying pirated stuff. A team of IMI officials will also visit prominent institutions and interact with students. They will also try to get the name of people who are selling these items from the students who their main customers.
IMI feels that parents should also be educated about the harmful affects of piracy. “Today’s parents are too busy to think about all these things and do not mind giving their child Rs 100 to pick up a playstation disk. They do not care if the product is pirated or not. But they should realise that by doing this they are encouraging their child to steal, rob and cheat, as this hurts gaming companies. Parents should also desist from gifting kids pirated CDs in Diwali,” D’Souza added.
IMI has already spotted shops in Vardan Market, AC Market, Shreeram Arcade, New Market and Metro Plaza selling pirated games disks. “Kolkata is an area to watch out for. Our anti piracy team along with the Kolkata Police will soon conduct raids,” D’Souza said.
The Indian Music Industry (IMI) is a consortium of over 75 music companies. It strives to protect the rights of producers by conducting anti piracy drives. Vijay Lazarus, President, IMI, said, “The copyright act isn’t restrictive to music industry only. IMI is working with Sony Playstation to clamp down on unauthorized use of their content.”
Mou.Chakroborty@hindustantimes.com