Despite stringent anti piracy measures by the government,the sale of pirated CDs continues unabated in Chandigarh. From the busy Sector 17 plaza,to the less frequented Sectors 35 and 26,almost all sectors in the city have vendors squatting on pavements or settled in small shops in narrow lanes,selling the very latest CDs. Whats more,not only can you get your favorite music CD or a DVD of a latest English or Hindi movie at almost one third the price it legally sells at,you can even try your bargaining skills to further reduce the prices to almost nothing. For example,the CD of a recent Hindi movie that comes at a price of Rs 450 can be bought for as little as Rs 50,depending on the marketplace you are buying it from. The search for just such a CD of a recently released Hindi movie led this correspondent to a shop in Sector 23,where the shopkeeper offered the CD for a mere Rs 100. The original price of the CD is no less than Rs 500. The shopkeeper said that most of his stock of pirated CDs comes from Delhi and the rest is downloaded from a software he and others like him purchase every year. He sells an average of 40 to 70 of these CDs every day. There is a police booth barely a few meters away from this shop,but the knowledge does not perturb him. Indeed,the policemen seen to be blissfully ignorant of the violations taking place right under their nose. People from middle class families cannot afford to buy original CDs from showrooms every time a movie is released. It is therefore convenient and economical to purchase pirated CDs from such shops, a customer purchasing one of the CDs said. According to the law,a copyright violation under Section 63 B of the Copyright Act,1957 is a cognizable criminal offense. Upon receiving a complaint,the police can raid and arrest officials of an infringing company and seize all evidence.
