India a safe haven for online pirates

India ranks eighth among countries with the highest incidence of online piracy, says a report by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). Mumbai, followed by Delhi and Bengaluru, is the city where the most number of illegal downloads take place in the country.

The report says Hindi films are the most downloaded content in India, with Kaminey estimated to have been downloaded over 350,000 times. An MPAA statement said its piracy studies show that online copyright infringement is a major problem in the country. The Kaminey example proves this: if Rs100 is the average ticket price of the film, the number of downloads means the producers have lost Rs3.5 crore.

Tamil films, followed by Telugu ones, are next in popularity for illegal downloading, the activity being most frequent in Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. According to a US India Business Council, Ernst & Young 2008 report, India’s entertainment industry lost $959 million and 571,896 jobs to counterfeiting and piracy.

“There is a danger that as the Internet continues to grow in India, it will power a community of users who will view piracy as an activity without consequence and who will engage in such an activity with ease,” said filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt.

“The movie industry around the world is facing the problem,” said Rajiv Dalal, managing director, MPAA (India). “We need strong laws to support copyright and strong enforcement.”