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Anti-piracy war: good measures, yet lacking coordination

Published

19 years ago

April 27, 2007

NEW DELHI:The inadequacies in the war against piracy and counterfeit became evident at the Ficci seminar on the issue when the Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy, H K Dua clarified that an inter-ministerial group to combat piracy has been formed two months ago, though the chairperson of the government‘s Core Group, film actress Shabana Azmi was unaware of it till then.

Delivering her key note address, Azmi had expressed sadness that the Core Group‘s recommendations – especially that of setting up the inter-ministerial group – had been made months ago but nothing has been heard of that.

A little later, addressing the audience, Dua said it has in fact been set up and work was going on, though he admitted: “Work has started, but it remains incomplete.”

Central to a proposed action plan presented by Azmi was involving children, which has paid off very well in tackling issues like global warming and fight against plastics. Azmi said that during a school presentation against piracy, she had symbolically crushed hundreds of fake DVDs under a bulldozer she drove herself.

“Children loved that, but unfortunately, when the same students were asked to write an essay on the subject, they responded very poorly,” Azmi despaired.

She explained that the children could not be faulted because neither teachers nor parents adequately understood the issue, and said that the need was to underline the word counterfeit as an act of theft and as vile an act as any other criminal offence.

Azmi made an emotional approach that would work if children understood that parents buying counterfeit material were encouraging thieves, and called for a widespread campaign on these lines.

Azmi was candid, however, to mention that though creative artists like her, music makers, lyricists and filmmakers and producers are the hardest hit by counterfeit, yet, Bollywood was guilty of never making a concerted and sustained campaign on the issue.

Azmi revealed also that among the other measures suggested by the Core Group were setting up a complete digital cinema environment, and that the Group had demanded tax holidays and 100 per cent depreciation for the digital cinema industry.

It may be recalled that Ficci itself had in its prebudget wish list had stressed creating digital cinema environment and demanded several benign tax measures for that, but after the budget proposals, slammed them as “There is nothing in it for us”.

Thus far goes the finance ministries commitment to protect Indian media industry against piracy, for nothing has been done so far in remodelling tax structures to incorporate the demands of the industry.

Azmi said that another recommendation of the Group was that copyright laws must embrace digital download access, so that people could access legitimate content at affordable prices.

Dua did not clarify the government position on these other two issues.

However, he said that while there was once a situation when India did not have adequate legal teeth to tackle the problem of piracy, this is not the case today.

Listing the various recent legislations and amendments to older ones tackling piracy, Dua said: “There are adequate laws but not adequate action.”

He stressed that the action has to be at the states level, where the illegal activities take place, and regretted that even now, state police forces treat piracy complaints as a civil matter and comes last in their prioritisation, after maintaining law and order and dealing with crime.

Piracy is not taken as a serious offence by the police, though it is killing off legitimate industries and hurting people employed in them.

“This is murder, but economic murder, theft, but not of property, but something even deeper, the source of property,” he said, adding that if a mere 10 per cent of piracy in the IT sector could be reduced, it would save the country five billion dollars and protect 1,15,000 jobs.

He spoke also of the indirect and not so visible implications of piracy. “Once black money is generated, it has to be sued somewhere, so there is more counterfeiting and the link of all sorts of illegal activities add up to funding for terrorism as well.

Dua said that the major charter of the inter-ministerial group has been enforcement at the state level.

Dua also revealed that though US and other countries are accusing India, China, etc., of pirating their IPR products, the government had pointed out to the US trade representative during her recent visit to India that Indian films were getting pirated in the US too, and they need to do something about it.

There was a demand that dedicated cells to tackle piracy issues must be set up within the police forces in the states because the regular forces are too stretched to handle this specialised criminal offence.

Dua clarified on this issue that the inter-ministerial group had stressed an Intellectual Property Cell in every state, to be headed by the IP secretary concerned, and added that programmes for piracy-related.training of judicial officials and police personnel have been started already.

Speaking for Ficci, V K Topa said that workshops for judges have already been held at Kolkata, Delhi and Bhopal and there is another one coming up in June in Bangalore.

Ficci is also working with Kolkata High Court to probe the possibilities of setting up special anti-piracy courts which could fast-track the judicial process and hand out swift and exemplary punishments to offenders.

In his vote of thanks, V J Lazarus of India Music Industry said that the government has been extraordinary in its support for the movement, and it is now time for industry to do whatever it could to make the war a complete victory.

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Moltbook, the AI-only social network, sparks hype, doubt and fear

Published

1 month ago

February 3, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

CALIFORNIA: Moltbook, a Reddit-style social platform built exclusively for artificial intelligence agents, has emerged as the latest obsession in Silicon Valley, drawing intense attention for its explosive growth and surreal bot-driven interactions.

The platform hosts more than 100 communities where AI agents post, argue and joke about topics ranging from governance theory to esoteric “crayfish debugging” concepts. Within days of launch, Moltbook recorded tens of thousands of posts, nearly 200,000 comments and more than 1 million human visitors observing the activity.

Yet the numbers and the autonomy are under scrutiny, as per media reports. A security researcher has suggested as many as 500,000 accounts may trace back to a single address, raising doubts about Moltbook’s membership claims. Many posts could also be the result of humans instructing their AI tools to publish content, rather than bots acting independently.

The platform runs on agentic AI, powered by an open-source tool called OpenClaw, formerly known as Moltbot. Unlike chatbots such as ChatGPT or Gemini, these agents are designed to perform tasks on users’ devices, from sending messages to managing calendars, with minimal human input. Once authorised, they can interact freely on Moltbook.

Some tech figures have hailed the platform as a glimpse of a post-human internet. Head of crypto custody firm BitGo Bill Lees, called it evidence that “we’re in the singularity”.

Academics are less convinced. Petar Radanliev, an AI and cybersecurity expert at the University of Oxford, said the idea of agents acting independently was “misleading”, describing Moltbook instead as automated coordination within human-set constraints. Columbia Business School assistant professor David Holtz, dismissed the spectacle as “thousands of bots yelling into the void and repeating themselves”.

Beyond hype, security worries loom large. ESET global cybersecurity advisor Jake Moore, warned that granting AI agents access to emails, private messages and files risks prioritising efficiency over privacy. Andrew Rogoyski of the University of Surrey said high-level system access could lead to serious damage, from erased data to compromised company accounts.

Even OpenClaw’s founder Peter Steinberger, has felt the darker side of attention, with scammers hijacking his old social media handles after the platform’s rebrand.

For now, Moltbook remains a strange digital zoo: part experiment, part spectacle, where AI agents banter about philosophy, productivity and, occasionally, their fondness for their human operators.

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Apple appoints Avtar Ram Singh as head of international marketing

Published

1 month ago

February 2, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

CALIFORNIA: Apple has handed a bigger global brief to a long-time insider. Avtar Ram Singh has taken over as head of international marketing for the App Store, Apple Arcade and the Apple Games app, deepening his remit across one of the company’s fastest-growing businesses.

“I’m happy to share that I’m starting a new position as head of international marketing, App Store, Apple Arcade and Games App at Apple,” Singh said while announcing the move.

The promotion crowns nearly seven years at Apple, where Singh has led services marketing across Southeast Asia and India and previously served as head of marketing for Southeast Asia content and services, business lead for Apple Podcasts in the region and interim marketing lead for the App Store internationally.

His new portfolio spans three pillars of Apple’s services push. The App Store, which Apple positions as a safe and trusted discovery platform, now attracts more than 850 million average weekly users globally. Since 2008, developers have earned over $550 billion on the platform.

Apple Arcade, the company’s gaming subscription service, offers unlimited access to a catalogue ranging from brain teasers to big-name franchises. The recent addition of Sid Meier’s Civilization VII Arcade Edition brings a AAA PC title to iPhone, iPad and Mac from 5 February.

Then there is the Apple Games app, unveiled at WWDC as a unified destination for games from the App Store and Arcade. It aggregates titles in one place, surfaces personalised recommendations, tracks events and achievements, and lets users compete with friends or connect controllers for a console-like experience.

Singh arrives with a hybrid background in strategy, data and creativity. His career spans digital and social media marketing, business intelligence, content, editorial and analytics across culturally diverse markets. He has worked on brands including P&G, Accor, Audi, UBS, Nikon, Samsung, Sony, Pizza Hut, HBO and Singapore Airlines-linked businesses such as Scoot.

Before Apple, Singh led strategy at Falcon Agency, focusing on performance marketing and ROI-driven digital frameworks. He earlier ran the social practice at Publicis Singapore, where he oversaw operations, business development and regional social strategy for multinational clients. His career also includes roles at Ogilvy-linked Circus Social, Rocket Internet ventures Lazada and Zalora, and research firm IDC in Bangkok, where he analysed technology markets and won early awards for collaboration and client retention.

At Apple, he has been close to several service launches and expansions, including Apple Fitness+ in Singapore, Apple Creator Studio, global podcast subscriptions and new App Store marketing tools.

The timing is notable. Apple’s services business has posted record years, and gaming is becoming a sharper battleground as platforms chase engagement and recurring revenue. Singh’s brief sits at the intersection of content, community and commerce.

In a market where attention is scarce and loyalty scarcer, Apple is betting that sharper storytelling and smarter marketing can keep users inside its ecosystem. Singh now holds the megaphone. The real test will be how loudly the world listens.

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Cloud nine in the capital Bharathcloud plugs Delhi into its AI plans

Published

1 month ago

January 30, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: Bharathcloud is bringing its cloud closer to power. The Hyderabad-based sovereign AI cloud services provider has opened its Delhi office, marking its formal entry into North India and setting the stage for its next phase of growth.

The expansion comes as India’s digital transformation fuels rising demand for AI-ready cloud infrastructure, driven by wider adoption of artificial intelligence, machine learning, the Internet of Things and data-heavy applications. With the new office, Bharathcloud plans to onboard more than 100 employees in 2026, strengthening its workforce to support customers across government, enterprises, MSMEs and social sectors.

The Delhi presence is expected to sharpen the company’s engagement with organisations seeking secure, scalable and cost-efficient cloud platforms that comply with India’s data sovereignty requirements. It also positions Bharathcloud closer to policy, public sector and enterprise decision-makers in the region.

Founded in Hyderabad, Bharathcloud offers AI-ready cloud infrastructure including Kubernetes-as-a-Service, zero-trust security architecture and multi-level data protection frameworks. Its platform supports AI and ML workloads, blockchain application migration from hyperscalers and distributed data management, with an emphasis on reliability, low latency and operational continuity.

“With the Delhi expansion, we are positioning Bharathcloud to engage more closely with AI-driven enterprises and technology hubs in North India,” said Bharathcloud co-founder Rahul Takallapally. He added that the move would help nurture local cloud and AI talent while accelerating the adoption of secure and resilient AI infrastructure across sectors.

The company currently operates in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Kolkata, Lucknow and Chennai, employing over 200 people and serving more than 1,500 clients across manufacturing, healthcare, financial services, IT and media. Aligned with national initiatives such as Digital India and Make in India, Bharathcloud continues to focus on building indigenous AI-cloud infrastructure to support data localisation and the country’s growing appetite for next-generation digital solutions.

With its Delhi office now live, the company is signalling a clear intent: to make sovereign, AI-ready cloud infrastructure not just an alternative, but a mainstream choice for India’s north as well as its tech capitals.