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India among top 5 nations in video piracy

Published

13 years ago

November 5, 2012

NEW DELHI: Ninety per cent of the DVDs of films available in the market were the result of illegal camcording in theatres, and Ahmedabad, Ghaziabad and Indore appear to be primary markets for such illegal camcording.

Motion Pictures Distributors Association â€“ India Managing Director Uday Singh told indiantelevision.com that India was among the five top nations in the world in terms of video piracy.

Singh said that the in the first nine months of this year, the Motion Pictures Association had identified 53 forensic matches to camcording incidents, a 77 per cent increase as compared to 2011 which had 30 camcording incidents for the same period. This figure accounts for 54 per cent of all forensic matches to the entire Asia-Pacific region during the first nine months of 2012.

Video camcords from India have been redistributed globally at least 32 times in 2012 alone, and paired with audio tracks in 12 different languages

A study conducted by MPDA (India) in 2009 had revealed that camcorded versions of Hindi titles hit the pirate market on an average of 2.15 days after the first legitimate theatrical showing in India. Countries in Asia -ÂPacific such as Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia and Philippines had successfully included â€?Anti-Camcording‘ provisions as part of their legislation, thus reducing the number of camcording incidents significantly.

Singh was speaking after unveiling the anti-camcording DVD â€?Make A Difference 3‘ (MAD 3), in Hindi language at a roundtable to discuss â€?Content Theft at Source‘ organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry‘s Intellectual Property Rights (FICCI â€“IPR) division in association with the Information and Broadcasting Ministry and supported by MPDA-India organised to address the significant increase of camcording incidents in cinemas across India. MAD 3 is the latest training video produced by the MPA that provides guidelines to cinema staff on how to prevent illegal recordings.

He said the unauthorised recordings often appear online within hours or days of a movie release, triggering an avalanche of illegal downloads that can significantly impact a film‘s performance at the box office and throughout its distribution cycle. Content theft in India through camcording in cinemas has been significantly increasing over the past few years.

He said: “We urge the Government to include specific provisions for anti-camcord regulations in the draft Indian Cinematograph Act (2010) which will provide new law enforcement tools to combat this form of piracy. Countries such as Hong Kong, Malaysia and Japan are examples where anti-camcord legislation has significantly reduced the number of camcording incidents in cinemas.”

When asked whether the lack of unity in the film fraternity or lack of implementation of laws resulted in such camcording, he said the Andhra Pradesh Film Chamber of Commerce had set a very good example by doing â€?spectacular‘ work which had heightened awareness and also checked persons indulging in such practices.

When it was put to him that one of the reasons for people buying such illegal DVDs was the fact that ticket rates were very high, he said taxation was a major problem and was as high as 38 per cent of every ticket. However, this was the only reason and the availability and access of such pirated material on websites or in retail stores was a major problem.

He said Courts could also act by issuing the John Doe order since one could not identify the pirates. (The term ‘John Doe Injunction‘ (or John Doe Order) is used UK to describe an injunction sought against someone whose identity is not known at the time it is issued:

The fact that 1200 theatres had gone digital also helped as camcorded copies could easily be identified, though it was not always easy to catch the culprits. He said the police was not coming forwarding to help in nabbing such culprits who indulged in camcording in cinema houses.

In the roundtable, FICCI Â IPR Division Head Sheetal Chopra said, “We appreciate the efforts of Motion Picture Association (India) in bringing out MAD 3 DVD. We are confident, this video tool will help movie theatre owners to take suo moto preventive measures to control any illegal recording which might occur at the time of a movie screening, thereby bringing down the piracy level thus contributing in country‘s economy.”

The roundtable discussion was attended by prominent Government and industry personalities including I&B Director (Films) Nirupama Kotru, Director and Registrar of Copyrights G R Raghavender, FICCI Director General Arbind Prasad, United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO Attorney Advisor Jennifer Ness, producer Mahesh Bhatt, APFCC Anti-Video Piracy Cell Chairman A. Rajkumar, Film Federation of India Secretary General Supran Sen, Alok Tandon of Inox Multiplex chain, Film and Television Producers Guild of India CEO Kulmeet Makkar, Big Cinemas COO Ashish Saxena, Cinepolis Head of Strategy Devang Sampat, Multiplex Association of India Vice President Deven Chachra, and filmmaker Ramesh Tekwani.

In his address, Bhatt said: “The Film industry needs to shed apathy and deal with piracy issues urgently. All stakeholders of the industry must partner with the Government on an ongoing basis to address this virus which gets deadlier day by day. As of now it is -Advantage Pirate.”

“With content theft becoming a global menace it is imperative to educate theatre staff and movie going audiences about camcording in cinemas. We at Big Cinemas support the Make a Difference 3 training programme by MPDA (India) which has helped our staff to further understand security procedures and has helped deter camcording incidents in our cinemas”, said Saksena.

“The Make A Difference 3 training video is a great tool to educate theatre staff about camcording in cinemas. We support and appreciate MPDA (India) for this initiative which will add value to our corporate training programme”, said Cinemax multiplex chain COO Arpan Dutta.

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

Published

2 weeks 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

2 weeks 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

2 weeks 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.