India: Anti-piracy cell blames ISP for online piracy

[Len]

'Jio has't even blocked one piracy site'

...claims Shiva, the head of TFPC anti-piracy cell, which has been named the country's best by the Department of Industrial Promotion and Policy.

The anti-piracy cell of the Tamil Nadu Producer's Council (TFPC), which was recently in the news for its measures in saving Kaala from piracy, has got a feather in its cap. The Department of Industrial Promotion and Policy (DIPP) has named the team the best in the country and has requested it to come up with implementations of cyber laws to counter piracy.

Speaking about the recognition, Shiva, the head of TFPC's anti-piracy cell, says, "We are going to submit a comprehensive report, comprising of different methodologies to completely eradicate piracy, next week. The record will also comprise the strategies which we haven't been able to implement until now due to lack of governmental support." He feels that long-drawn-out procedures to block a domain with the aid of government is the reason why they aren't able to eradicate piracy completely. "Once we spot a domain and register a complaint with the Intellectual Property Recovery (IPR) department of police, it has to go through several steps before Telephone Regulations Authority (TRA) requests all the Internet Service Providers to block the malicious site. We are going to request the central government create a panel for each state and grant them the powers of TRA to block a piracy site as soon as it is reported. Once this is implemented, it will take only five minutes to take a domain down. And ultimately the culprits running such sites will run out of money and domain names."

He also claims that the negligence of the ISP Jio is another major cause of widespread piracy. "Whenever the TRA asks the ISPs to take down a site, both the cell phone and landline network providers have to oblige. It is very disheartening to know that, despite being the largest network provider in India, Jio hasn't even blocked one piracy site."

Shiva signs off saying, "During the pre-independence era, foreigners invaded our country and looted our wealth. But now Indians with foreign servers are looting the tax of the government and revenue of producers. By putting an end to this injustice I believe we can transform the entire entertainment industry."