PIRACY: Scourge or Windfall for the modern society

Let me begin by wishing you all a Merry Xmas and looking forward to a Happy New Year 2010. I would also like to apologise for my long absence due to various personal and technical factors.

However today I am going to touch a topic which is very close to my heart. The contents of this blog may sound pretty offending rather the ideas expressed may seem real crazy at times but this is my space and I being a free countryman have the right to express my views.

How do we buy vegetables? Especially in today’s world where prices have gone through the roof and people everywhere are crying recession (though nobody has actually seen one) and moaning the loss of jobs. Go to the hotels on any given day and you would understand the meaning of the term recession!!!! The answer to this question is very important from the point of view of the subject on which I am going to delve into and plunge headlong with my theory and cast my vote on.

Coming back to my question, these days I may get answers which may range from buying from the supermarket, shopping online – the latest fad these days and everything else. I am talking about the middle class consumer who till date is unaffected by the mall culture and still visits the neighbourhood bhajiwalla and buys his vegetables. He visits a few shops searching for the vegetable of his choice, makes a mental note of the prices, compares the quality in certain cases and finally buys from the vendor who as per the consumer is able to strike the right chord between quality and price. In case the goods on display are for some reason or the other not to his liking either due to any of the two aspects mentioned above, the consumer more often than not buys a substitute or reserves the purchase for a later date. He may buy the required vegetable at the given price on only a day when it is of utmost importance to him.

In this economy, we can see the following variables: buyer (many), seller (too few), goods (quality) and price (too high, too low or just right). This obviously means that the customer has the choice to pick up the goods he wants at his price.

Now what is PIRACY? A classic example of Piracy is well documented by the film industry on which I would like to base my theory on. In this case, everyone from the actors, producers and directors cry out that Piracy is the one thing leading to a loss in business and income for them. Though they may never be able to gather evidence to make their point. I got the following definitions for Piracy on the net other than the obvious and correct one of “hijacking on the high seas”

Piracy is the unauthorized duplication of an original recording for commercial gain without the consent of the rights owner.
Piracy is a theft of intellectual property - in other words, stealing what does not belong to you.

In order to understand Piracy, one must strive to understand the reasons behind Piracy. What is presently happening in the film industry? Movies on which hundreds of crores of rupees are spent are released in select theatres at high costs to retain the uniqueness and the thrill of the movie so that it may draw more crowds. To the despair of the producers and directors, the movie is in most case available on the net or in other electronic forms at a fraction of the price (many a times free of cost) within 24 hours of the release of the film or in certain cases even before the release of the movie. This is being attributed to a rise in leakage of prints which are being sent for overseas viewing especially the Middle East countries where such leaks occur with amazing regularity due to low or no security.

However all those people screaming at the top of their voice about piracy may do well to go back in time a few decades when there were much more meaningful movies being made and actors and actresses were treated as normal human being rather than stars. These were the days of VCRs and VHS’s and this era was when movies were made for the masses rather than for the classes as is the case nowadays. These movies were showcased at most theatres at prices which were affordable by what one calls R.K Laxman’s common man. Most people especially mill workers and other daily wage earners saved for this day at the end of the week when they would come out with their large families (no nuclear families at that time) and enjoy some much needed family time and go back refreshed. Also if you wanted to watch the movie in the comforts of your home, a copy of the same used to be available at innumerable video parlours near your house. It is important to note that inspite of all this, the same producers, directors and actors made profit and name and fame.

What then has changed from that day to this date? What has changed are values. It is these very values which make men run after money trying to beat ten others in the process. Time was when actors and actresses were placed on a pedestal basis their name, fame and their acting skills. Spare a thought for the present day actors whose photos grace newspapers almost on a daily basis on topics ranging from payment of taxes to price paid for a film or the attendance at a premier party. These are people who have the entire ocean in front of them when only a handful is enough for generations. However they are never satisfied till they conquer the oceans, high seas and will stop at nothing till there remains nothing worth conquering.
And what happened to the common man on the street? He finds it difficult to buy tickets to the movie since it is pricey. The movie theatre where the movie is run is miles away from his home. He does not even have the luxury of watching it in the confines of his home along with his loved ones. Out comes RobinHood who provides the same pleasure at a fraction of the cost & no additional burden. He makes copies of the movies, uploads it onto free sites for the common man to download, and makes duplicate copies which are sold at every other shop selling CDs. The common man is ecstatic. He can rejoice. He can finally watch the latest movie in the confines of his home on his PC or Home theatre at his convienience. If this is termed Piracy so be it.

As regards the definitions of Piracy, So far as the unauthorized duplication for commercial gain is concerned, it is definite that the commercial gain is many times lesser than what is extracted by the original owner. This in itself is like traveling in the same plane except for one being in an economy class and another in the business class.
No Idea is one man’s own intellectual property. Every man dreams of things that are put by another into action. This may be because of the original dreamer’s inactiveness or lack of resources or pursuit of a totally different goal. Also almost 80% of the movies produced today are either remakes or copies of the original from other languages!!!! Talk of originality.

I would like a healthy discussion on this topic from all members since I do sincerely believe that Piracy is only a façade by the people involved to extract more money than the value of the product dished out by them. Also most people have pretty definite views on the subject. So Repondez Vous!!!!