Artists campaign against piracy

BANDUNG: At least 17 singers and music bands have confirmed their participation in an antipiracy concert on Jl. Dago in Bandung, West Java, on Saturday from 8 p.m. through 11 p.m.

"We have to continue conducting antipiracy campaigns like this even though the Indonesian Ulemas Council has issued a religious edict declaring piracy as haram (unlawful under Islamic law). Laws and law enforcement as well as religious edicts cannot put an end to piracy," said singer Franky Sihalatua on Friday.

Singers Katon Bagaskara, Tere and music bands RIF, GIGI, The Fly and Pass Band have confirmed their participation in the concert.

Franky said similar concerts would be held in other big cities in the country such as Surabaya in East Java, Medan in North Sumatra and Makassar in South Sulawesi.

Bandung was chosen as the starting point for the campaign because the city is considered one of the main hubs of pirated goods, including VCDs and CDs.

Last week, the police in Bandung destroyed 10 million pirated VCDs confiscated from vendors along Jl. Dalem Kaum, Jl. Kapatihan and Jl. Merdeka. --JP