The Malayalam film industry is leaving no stone unturned to check the menace of video piracy. Producers have joined hands with the police to step up the vigil against video piracy. DVDs of latest Malayalam and Tamil films are sold like hot cakes across various shops in the city. The authorities are yet to develop a mechanism to prevent their sale.
Sabu Cherian, general secretary of the Kerala Film Producers' Association, said that the spread of pirated versions of latest flicks online had become a major headache. Movies like Salt and Pepper , Rathinirvedam and Three Kings were available for free download, he said.
The Kochi City Police had recently written to the system administrator of Torrents, a search engine, in connection with the availability of Malayalam films for free download, after a complaint from the producers of Prithviraj-starrer Urumi that pirated versions of the movie were available online.
G. Suresh Kumar, president of the Film Producers' Association, said that the law would entitle producers to make claims of up to Rs.5 crore as compensation and the accused would be booked under non-bailable charges.
The police said that the source of the leak could be tracked as each of the companies had unique encryption stamps. Cyber cell personnel will be trained to track the pirated movies to the source.
