Apropos Vanita Kohli-Khandekar’s column “Pirates of the celluloid” (August 30), copyright protected material can be downloaded anonymously from the Internet. This makes the act a seemingly victimless crime and that is why we are seeing an increase in piracy the world over. Unlike a tangible asset like a diamond with definitive intrinsic value, movies – especially the ones that are hyped – may eventually disappoint the buyer after viewing, leading to “perceived price fairness” issues. This is the reason for the absence of guilt among audio-video pirates. Industry’s experience in curbing piracy by conventional methods seems to indicate that they are never going to win this war. And it is unlikely that raising the terrorist-piracy nexus bogey or drilling guilt into viewers’ conscience will help check piracy.
Ajay Tyagi, Mumbai
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