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Hyderabad-Dec 4 (Shoukat-PMI NEWS) Member of Parliament Dr. K Laxman on Wednesday raised serious concerns in the Rajya Sabha about the escalating menace of online piracy, describing it as a significant and fast-growing threat to India’s cultural economy, creative industries, and intellectual property rights. He called on the Government to take urgent measures to strengthen legislation, enhance enforcement mechanisms, and raise public awareness in order to protect the country’s digital creative economy.
Dr. Laxman highlighted the alarming spread of pirated content, including films, OTT shows, sports broadcasts, and even educational materials, which are being illegally circulated across websites, messaging platforms, and social media channels. According to him, such piracy has resulted in massive financial losses for producers, digital platforms, and the entertainment sector, amounting to thousands of crores annually. These losses, he warned, not only undermine the livelihoods of creative professionals but also erode investor confidence and reduce government revenue.
Emphasizing the human cost of piracy, Dr. Laxman pointed out that it exploits the intellectual labor of millions of creative workers—including artists, writers, technicians, and producers—violating copyright laws and devaluing original work. Despite the existence of legal provisions, piracy continues to thrive, largely due to online anonymity, cross-border hosting of websites, and the ease of replication through mirror sites.
On the challenges of enforcement, he noted that cloned sites and re-uploads of pirated content often appear almost immediately after courts issue blocking orders. He also highlighted the role of public perception, observing that a large section of consumers still view pirated content as harmless, which fuels demand. To address this, Dr. Laxman urged the government to undertake targeted awareness campaigns and implement stronger penalties to change consumer behavior.
He further stressed the importance of technological interventions, advocating for the adoption of digital watermarking, AI-assisted content tracking, and expedited takedown procedures in close cooperation with Internet Service Providers. Coordinated action between digital platforms and law enforcement agencies, he added, is crucial for rapidly dismantling piracy networks.
Citing a specific case from Hyderabad, Dr. Laxman referred to the arrest of a man who allegedly earned around Rs 20 crore through large-scale piracy, distributing over 21,000 films. Authorities also froze assets worth Rs 3.5 crore linked to the individual. He argued that such cases illustrate both the scale of piracy operations and the need for comprehensive investigation, including financial tracking, to effectively combat such crimes.
Concluding his statement, Dr. Laxman urged the Government to focus on stronger laws, enhanced enforcement capacity, and widespread public awareness. He asserted that only a combination of legislative measures, technological tools, and an informed citizenry can effectively safeguard India’s digital creative economy from the persistent and evolving threat of online piracy. (pressmediaofindia.com)
