Piracy Under the shadow of legitimate shops                                                                       Go Back to Front Page  
The IMI taskforce has expressed growing concern over the bold defiance of pirates in setting up shops in close proximity to the legitimate shops. Needless to say, the primary hunt is launched in and around these shops in various cities. Here’s a list of some illegal shops operating in the shadows of legitimacy.

2 shops in Burma Bazaar and a vendor in T Nagar were raided barely 6 kms from a legitimate shop. Later in the week a shop at Burma Bazaar once again came under the scanner.

A residential area at Dilsukhnagar, Hyderabad saw a surprise raid on a shop.

Kormangala in Bangalore, one of the poshest areas with its own branches of legitimate music shops saw a surprise raid conducted

City Market in Bangalore saw a mass raid on three vendors on 12th October. 

Surprise raid on a shop in Jalandhar City was conducted  on 1st October barely 5 kms from a legitimate music shop

Chitrapuri Cinema, barely 5 kms away from a music shop saw a surprise raid on  a vendor on 27th September. 

 Chandni Chowk in  Kolkata was witness to a raid on a vendor barely 5 kms away from a legitimate shop.

2 vendors in Beliaghata, Kolkata were raided on 11th October. Thei shops were situated barely 4 kms away from a popular music store.

Grant Road in Mumbai is another area known for nefarious activities.A raid on a vendor in Grant Road on 17th October was conducted hardly 5  kms from legitimate outlet

Kodambakkkam in  Chennai saw a surprise raid on a shop barely 3 kms away from a legitimate music store on 30th October. 

3 shops and 3 godowns in Delhi were raided on consecutive days-26th and 27th October. These shops were situated very close to legitimate music shops.

IMI conducts Training Programs
Training programmes are conducted for police officers across the country to spread awareness and bring about a common platform to stop piracy. This month, the training programme was attended by 60 Public Prosecutors and 40 Police officers. The programme was held in Ahmedabad on the 14th of October.

IMI review meeting throws up new ideas

Measure of Success

With the Kerala model well in place, another state down South swung into action to bring piraters to task. The Tamil Nadu police carried out 55 raids in Chennai, Madurai, Vellore, Trichy, Salem, Coimbatore, Cuddalore and Dindigul.  3 Computers, 21 CD Writers, 7621 MP3 CDs and 10661 pirated VCDs were recovered.  A remarkable 55 persons were arrested. A resounding success for the champions of anti piracy.

In Kerala, the police in Calicut, Trivandrum, Chalakkudy and Thrissur Dist. conducted 13 raids during the month.  1 Computer, 4 CD Writers and 37740 pirated CDs were seized. 18 persons were also arrested.

As the tally of arrests and seized goods amass, one can be sure that anti piracy may be on the rise but the people have also become alert to this criminal activity. Models and theories are being seriously considered to weed it out of the system.

Huge Raids In Small Towns

Kancheepuram under the scanner: In simultaneous rides in two shops at Kancheepuram, over 1860 MP3 CDs and 1381 pirated CDs were seized from 2 vendors on 1st October. The cache was valued at 3.2 lac rupees.

THIRUVALLUR: While Chennai has seen a high propensity of anti piracy activity, the menace has been spreading across to smaller towns and districts as well In Thiruvallur 4 CD Writers, 750 MP3 CDs and 1274 pirated VCDs were seized from a shop in Thirumalivasal area on 31st October. Goods seized were valued at approx 2.5 lac rupees.

UTTARANCHAL:The temple town of Haridwar was in for a rude shock as goods worth 9.8 lac rupees were seized from a godown. The items included 9880 pirated VCDs and MP3 CDs.

CD Plant Activity

Rhythm Technologies and Dugobh Replication, two Delhi based CD plants came under the IMI scanner in October. There were reports that the two CD plants were churning out unauthorised duplicate CDs. Investigations continue even as a strict watch is being maintained over other CD plants in the region.The Gujarat State Co-ordinator visited the company, Multimedia Frontiers Ltd in Gandhinagar to check if the CD plant is adhering to regulatory compliances.

PR Activity

It is quite clear that IMI, the Local Press, PR Agencies and the police task force is in no mood to let any accused go scott free. The local press has done a brilliant job in the month of October, highlihting the various raids conducted in the state of Punjab. Raids on the 1st of October 2006 in Phillour and Phagwara region were covered extensively by the press. Onthe 11th of October PR agencies were informed about the raid on a godown in Rattanpura, Phagwara. On the 29th of October PR agencies were informed about a raid in Daridwar. IMI along with the police task force is bent upon bringing these offenders to justice.