HYDERABAD: A first of its kind exclusive cell to tackle piracy and theft of intellectual property- Telangana Intellectual Property Crime Unit(TIPCU)- was launched in Hyderabad on Friday. The cell would function from within the cyber crime wing of state police’ Crime Investigation Department(CID) and a government order to this effect was issued a couple of days ago.
The special wing was launched by the United States ambassador to India Richard Rahul Verma and minister for information technology KT Rama Rao at an event in the city, in the presence of D Suresh Babu,
president, Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce, Uday Singh, managing director of Motion Picture Association and Abhishek Chaubey, director, Udta Punjab.
Richard Rahul Varma assured the state a strong partner in the US on fighting piracy. “The threat from piracy has been affecting livelihood of thousands. If we do not protect the art forms, culture and
creativity, how can they produce great works,” he asked. He stressed on the need for a patent copyright and trademark protection for innovators needs without the complications of red tape.
Speaking on the occasion, the minister said that industry was losing nearly Rs 1000 cr to piracy every year. He said the Intellectual Property Rights(IPR) policy of the state is inspired from the UK. “We
are the first in the country to implement such a concept. There is a lot of information online that are uncalled for and we hope to crackdown on child pornographic sites as well,” he said.
Uday Singh, on his part, said that in the place of 3000 movie theaters earlier, there exists only 700. Instead of growing in numbers, it has plummeted, he pointed out. On piracy, Abhishek Chaubey added that the West has taken stern measures to prevent privacy and wished the same to come up in India.