Content piracy: India is fourth largest illegal downloader
According to two reports released on Tuesday by the Motion Picture Distributors Association (MPDA), India is the fourth largest illegal downloader of film and television content, trailing only behind the US, Britain and Canada in online copyright infringement.
The report says the online piracy of film and television content in India is mainly through file-sharing networks like BitTorrent and cyberlockers, or web-based file hosts such as RapidShare or HotFile.
The reports were prepared on behalf of MPDA by Envisional and DtecNet, two global firms engaged in providing software solutions to track and prevent piracy of digital content and online business.
The reports claim that Hindi films are the most widely-available domestic Indian content with most downloaders in Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai. Vishal Bhardwaj’s Kaminey is estimated to have been downloaded over 350,000 times on BitTorrent with around two-third of downloaders located in India. Tamil films are mostly downloaded in Chennai and Bangalore, while Telugu films are targeted in Hyderabad and Bangalore.
"We are aware that more needs to be done to help people understand that when they take unauthorized content off the Internet, or pay next to nothing from a pirate street vendor, they are indulging in online theft and therefore damage the very movie-making community that has been bringing them entertainment," said Michael Ellis, president and managing director of Motion Pictures Association (Asia-Pacific), in a statement. Rajiv Dalal, managing director, MPDA (India) said strict laws are needed to end unauthorized downloading.
