Govt vows to wipe out pirated VCD industry

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian government has vowed, starting Friday, to clean up the multi-billion dollar pirated CD trade here.

"The deadline of Feb. 25 to produce, distribute and sell pirated VCDs is already final."

"Beginning Friday, officials from the Ministry of Information and related institutions, such as the police, will carry out a massive nationwide operation against any shops or parties that produce, distribute, sell or rent illegal VCDs," the ministry's director for film and video recording supervision, Suryanto, told a press meeting on Wednesday.

He said anyone found violating these rules will be charged in accordance with Article 40 of Law No. 8 issued in 1992 concerning the distribution and showing of films which have been banned by the Film Censorship Board.

According to the article, those who violated the law could be sentenced to five years in jail and a maximum fine of Rp 50 million.

The decision was made public through a circular issued by the ministry starting last November to all video recording distributors, shops and video libraries, Suryanto said.

In another circular, dated Feb. 15, issued by the ministry's director general for radio, television and film, the ministry stated that the distribution, sale and rental of illegal VCDs would be permitted until Feb. 25, he said.

Both circulars were formulated based on suggestions from the Indonesian representative of the Los Angeles-based Motion Picture Association (MPA), local copyright holders and police, he added.

Starting on Friday, only VCDs labeled with the name of the producers are allowed to be distributed, traded or rented in the country.

"The operation will be carried out first in big cities in Java," he said.

He said the government also plans to start collecting tax from the sale of VCDs.

He gave no further explanation.

Suryanto did not guarantee that the operation would satisfy the copyright holders, which include all the big names from Hollywood as well as local licensed VCD producers.

"I don't even know who will contribute money to finance the operation. We from the ministry have no budget for that kind of work," he told The Jakarta Post shortly after the meeting, which was also attended by MPA representatives, executives of the Association of Indonesian Recording Companies (ASIRI), several copyright holders and a number of VCD suppliers and rental shop owners.

MPA resident manager Farouk Cader insisted that his association would not provide any funding for the operation.

"We have no money for that. It's our policy," he said.

Farouk believed that the campaign would not fully stop piracy in Indonesia.

"But the main target of this operation is the big producers of the pirated VCDs," he said.

Election

When asked to comment, Ardian C., a trader and an owner of a rental shop for both legal and pirated VCDs strongly opposed the plan.

"I'm not alone to oppose the government's massive operation. We need more time to adopt to the plan, say, after the June general election," he said.

He said many traders and renters of pirated VCDs were those who had recently lost their jobs due to the economic turmoil.

"The government should also understand the overall situation. Don't let other people force us to contribute money to them while we're suffering here to buy their expensive products," added Ardian, who chairs Bogor's association of video rental shop owners.

"But I bet that it won't work again because many Indonesians still need cheap VCDs for entertainment," he said.

Jakarta has been dubbed the heaven of pirated VCD traders and producers.

Street traders can be found in mushrooming numbers in many of the city's popular shopping areas, such as Blok M in South Jakarta and Glodok in West Jakarta.

At prices averaging between Rp 10,000 and Rp 15,000 each, the pirated VCDs attract not only local enthusiasts but also foreign visitors, including those from Europe, the United States and the Middle East.

In comparison, the originals cost an average of about Rp 50,000.

Pirated video CDs are not limited to pornography and old films. Unauthorized versions of many newly released films are also sold being offered, without serious action from the authorities.

Suppliers freely advertise their pirated video CDs in many local dailies here, typically costing Rp 500,000 per package of 100 CDs including a variety of films. (bsr)