Internet piracy is today a major issue worldwide, more so in India with its technology growth and a booming economy. According to recent reports, India boasts of 355 million Internet users and the rate of growth is astonishing.
Piracy is intrinsically connected to the internet in India and more and more Indians are getting embroiled in the piracy game. This is especially true in the case of movies. There are many large sites and prominent release groups operating out of India, some of them targeting the international market.
India is today a pirate force in its own right, with local torrent and streaming sites pumping out the latest movies at an alarming rate. This has caused an outcry from many in the movie industry who are determined to do something to stem the tide.
One of these is actor and producer Vishal Krishna from the Tamil film industry. He has been a crusader against piracy in films and has taken it up at many forums.
In May, he lashed out at the operators of the hugely popular torrent site TamilRockers as ‘Internet Mafias’ while demanding their arrest for leaking the blockbuster Baahubali 2.
Recently reports began to surface of an arrest at Chennai airport. According to sources, Gauri Shankar, an alleged administrator of Tamilrockers.co, was detained by Triplicane police.
Vishal had been warning Tamilrockers to close down for the past three years. He even claimed to know the identity of the main perpetrator behind the site, noting that it was only a matter of time before he was brought to justice.
Soon after the initial reports, however, other media outlets claimed that Gauri Shankar is actually an operator at Tamilgun, another popular pirate portal currently blocked by ISPs on the orders of the central government.
So to check out, Vishal rushed to the scene in Chennai to find out.
What followed were quite extraordinary scenes outside the Triplicane police station. Emerging from the building flanked by close to 20 men, some in uniform, Vishal addressed an excited crowd of reporters. A swathe of microphones from various news outlets greeted him as he held up his hands urging the crowd to calm down.
“Just give us some time, I will give you the details,” Vishal said.
“Just give us some time. It is too early. I’ll just give it to you in a bit. It’s something connected to website piracy. Just give me some time. I have to give you all the details, proper details.”
So, even after all the excitement, it’s unclear who the police have in custody. Nevertheless, the attention this event is getting from the press is on a level rarely seen in a piracy case, so more news is bound to follow soon.
In the meantime, both TamilRockers and TamilGun remain online, operating as normal. Clearly, there is much more work to be done.
—Courtesy agency reports