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Filmdom expects DTH to curb piracy
By MSM Desai
The film industry has welcomed the Union Government’s
Direct To Home (DTH) policy as it feels it will help curb
cable piracy once it becomes affordable to the common man.
However, the industry is also looking forward to the Convergence
Bill, which will usher in broadband which is cheaper than
DTH. The Convergence Bill is expected to be tabled in the
Winter Session of Parliament.
According to Amit Khanna, co-chairman of the Entertainment
Committee of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce
and Industries (FICCI), DTH is one progressive step though
it has come too late in the day.
“DTH should have come three years ago. Nevertheless it
is one step forward. But what the entertainment industry needs
most is the Convergence Bill, which will bring in the convergence
of voice, data and video. Pramod Mahajan, Minister for Information
Technology, Ram Vilas Paswan, Minister of Telecommunication
and Sushma Swaraj, Minister for Information and Broadcasting
have already been working on the convergence of technologies,
which would usher in the broadband era. If that bill is passed,
it will spell the Government’s policy on the entertainment
industry. DTH will help to eliminate cable piracy to some
extent. But once broadband is introduced, it will not only
be cheaper than DTH but also work cheaper and be affordable
to the common man,” he pointed out.
Pahlaj Nihalani, president of the Association of Motion Picture
& TV Programme Producers, said the new DTH policy was
one step ahead to help the film industry tide over the menace
of cable piracy.
“First the government amended the Cable Act by stopping
cable operators from showing illegal films on its cable network
and now, by giving the green signal DTH, it will further curb
the cable piracy menace. At present, DTH is an expensive proposition,
which should be made cheaper so that it becomes affordable
for the common man. There can be no piracy of films on DTH
and that will gradually eliminate the pirates,” he said.
Shakti Samanta, president of the Indian Motion Picture Producers
Association, said the benefits of DTH for the film industry
will only be known after two months.
“The operators of DTH cannot show films illegally. In
course of time, DTH should become affordable as more people
opt for it. Installment schemes for subscribers should be
an attractive proposition,” he said.
Meanwhile Sushma Swaraj, minister for Information and Broadcasting,
said in Mumbai on November 4 that the reason why the government
had decided to allow DTH after due consideration with the
cabinet group was that television should be fit for family
viewing, in keeping with the cultural and moral values of
the country.
“The government has provided enough laws to arm itself
and punish operators who flout these laws, by cancelling their
licences. DTH licenses would not be exclusive to any agency
whether private or public, so as to avoid monopoly in sensitive
areas of information and programme distribution. The total
foreign direct investment of non-resident Indians (NRIs),
overseas corporations and foreign investment institutions
in DTH broadcasting cannot be more than 49 per cent, in which
the share of FDI will not exceed 20 per cent. No broadcast
company or cable network shall be eligible to own more than
20 per cent of the total equity of an applicant company at
any time during the licence period,” she said.
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