Name: Pantulu Ramalingesh
Email:p_ramaligesh@hotmail.com
State/City: USA
Message: This is a story about piracy in the land of opportunities. Where the laws are the toughest. Where you see people being arrested for even tress passing.This article is to highlight the piracy that has flooded telugu movies in USA. We have been seeing and hearing the articles being posted on xxxxxxxxxxxx.com. When you guys are so cautious about this piracy why sell these DVD's. We have seen articles blaming each other's or spreading word that each is responsible for the other just to cover up their basic acts. The real story that has folded out during our survey in the market being that the distributors V-films & Chitravanam who are the top 2 distributors blame each other due to there rivalry for buying exhibition rights in India.

The real culprits have been taking advantage of this situation and have been spreading piracy left-right and center. It's a shame on them. Instead of fighting against the piracy they indeed blame each other for the piracy.

They have gone to such an extent that they want the producers in India to take their side of the story. Instead of asking the producers, who spend there valuable time in getting us some beautiful movies it is time that these people work together and stop blaming each other and fight the piracy.

The news is that the pirates are in Chicago, California. Web sites should not support these pirates. They should report these people to the local police or to the exhibitors/local DVD manufacturers as they have more right paperwork to proceed further. The new trend in the industry being the producers are willing to spread their hand to the people who put there effort in getting the pirates out of the market. So I advice Chitravanam to stop blaming V-films or vise-versa. The saying goes: KUCH PANE KE LIYA KUCH EGO KHONA PADTHA

And stop worrying who I am.
Thank you for this sincere opportunity
Hope to see this article on your web pages

Name: Pavan
State/City: Los Angeles
Message: I do not support pirates! The producers do not gain their royalties. In several ways it is their own fault. Obviously there is a market for DVD media. Yet, the producers have not met up to this demand. In the US, it is a pain to try and see a telugu movie at the theater. First of all, 98% of the time the movies are played at a D-grade theater. Which means either low-class visual or audio. Secondly, in Los Angeles, most of the movies that come out are only exhibited for ONE SHOW ONLY! if you miss that show, then you missed your chance of seeing that movie.

someone earlier had stated that Producers don't lose because they are not giving up the rights. which means that the Pirate authors are the only ones to gain. my oppinion is that the Producers infact lose! They are most likely losing the theatrical bound customers as there are some that prefer to watch the pirated VHS or DVD because of the conviniences provided by them.

the only way to stop piracy is strong law enforcement, and release High quality DVD after/simulatneously of the theaterical release...but not too far after.

High Quality DVD consists of these basics:
-original aspect ratio of the film
-Original audio track of the film (Dolby Digital and DTS)
-clean menu access
-decent multimedia visuals
-16x9 anamorphic enhancements/transfer
-my personal favorite is special features that include all trailors/promos of the film!
-also would like to see trailors of upcoming films of DVD and at the theaters. (ads!)

Name: Rams
Email:rtells@hotmail.com
State/City: Washington, USA
Message: In Santa clara,CA we have a store called Kohinoor where in they rent new film videos like Kushi,Nuvve Kaavali etc., I really wonder if they have any copyrights on them...somebody should take an action if they r pirating.. Its a death blow to telugu movie market as Kushi,Nuvve kaavali etc being played in theatres across US.

Name: Nellore Reddy
Email:reddy@nellore.com
State/City: California
Message: I LIKE PIRATED COPIES BCOS THE QUALITY IS SAME AND PRICE IS LESS.WHY
SHOULD I PAY MORE FOR THE SAME QUALITY DVD?

Name: Raja
Email:rreddy9@yahoo.com
State/City: Detroit, MI
Message: As long as there are any new or old good movies out on DVD, I will continue to rent and buy DVD's which are out there. I hope Romoji comes to senses and releases Nuvve Kaavali on DVD. I would like to own this DVD and many more.

Name: Kiran
Email:g_kir@hotmail.com
State/City: Washington D.C
Message: I feel that the producers who buy rights for USA Distribution should first take care that their film is protected from piracy.They should lodge a complaint to FBI about copy right violation.Under federal law these pirates will be arrested and will be jailed upto 10 years in jail and $250,000 fine.Unlike India, here violators will be strictly dealt for copyright violation.You do not see English movies in Indian stores as they cannot make copies and rent them for $1 for one week,because it is copyright infringment.So I would suggest that if the producers do their job we as telugufilm lovers will do our job to inform these producers which Indian Stores stock these pirated movies and will help in combating piracy.Then only we can expect quality movies in DVD or Video tape.

Name: Dileep
Email:dileepr@yahoo.com
State/City: Washington, USA
Message: Availability is a big factor for me. Piracy is good, because the producers will be encouraged to release the new original DVD's ASAP. I am tired of watching new telugu movies in Video, so I amy buy/rent the pirated DVD's, beacause they are available right away.

Name: Satish
Email:ankithET@aol.com
State/City: Chicago IL
Message: FOR UR KIND INFORMATION BADRI IS NOT PIRATED,U CAN SEE OUR ADDRESS AND PHONE #S ON THE BACKSIDE OF THE COVER. IF U HAVE ANY PROBLEM WITH BADRI PIRATED PLS CALL US FIRST, BEFORE U ADVERTISE IN UR SITE, U BETTER TAKE IT OUT OF UR SITE NOW. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST THIS IS A WARNING.

Response: We have verified the same with the respective producers. Your warning is been ignored

Name: Piracy2
Email:piracy2@hotmail.com
State/City: Baltimore/MD
Message: I just wanna complain about one site, where they are selling 'Premate Idera'.
The site name is xxxxxxxxxxxx.com and its placed in "Unidentified" in DVD section. I know its one of the best site but still canot avoid selling it.

Name: Prakash
Email:penpal49@hotmail.com
State/City: new york,usa
Message: Evil should be nipped at bud. To wipe out audio and video piracy of Sothern films will be an herculean task. This has been going unchecked and unabated for nearly a decade. Piracy can be killed only with proper law enforcement and stiff penalties. Video pirates go scot free with puny penalties and resurface, Their busines does not need any investment save a vdieo camera. The money the pirates have amssed in the past is being used to make pirated dvds! United we stand divided we fall/fail. God save Indian
film industry.

Name: VC
Email:aquarian2k1@yahoo.com
State/City: California/USA
Message: I totally agree with your view about the piracy...
But also think about this....
The Telugu audience is ready for DVDs but our film makers are hardly coming out with DVDs for the latest/old and good movies....
I myself bought Bavagaru bagunnaara DVD but I did not know that it was a pirated one! How would I know? As long as the quality is good and as long as it is not illegal on my part then why should I care? Am I supposed to ask for a authenticity certificate from the DVD vendor? And even if I ask why would he show it to me? What is the legal coverage we, the people, got in this matter....

There are so many good movies but most of them are not on DVDs and so the demand for the pirated DVDs is growing day-by-day..... Not just the three DVDs which you have mentioned... I can mention atleast 20/25 DVDs which might be pirated including Ninne Pelladatha, Annamayya and many more..... Why don't we solve this problem? Why don't our film makers come with out with authentic and genuine quality DVDs? When a original is available why would anyone want to get a pirated DVD?

I donno how much my voice matters.... I do detest piracy and I totally understand the plight of the movie makers..... But what would the audience do when they need to watch movies and if they want to collect some good movies and if they are available only in pirated versions? How would you stop the genuine and legal need of the people?.... I guess it all boils down to the fact that our film makers need to grow up and change with the time and cater to the needs of the Telugu people.
I rest my case....
** VC

Name: Anon
Email:-
State/City: Milwaukee,USA
Message: I do not support piracy. But there are few things that we should understand. Can you ever get new film DVD's except for the small movies? Producers like Ramanaidu and Ramoji Rao dont sell there rights. In a drive we should ask them to do DVD's. Then I think piracy will come down automatically. Let them say that they are going to give the rights after the picture is out from the theatres. EVERYBODY WILL WAIT FOR A DVD and for a good print and that will make good market.

Name: Sanjiv Varma
Email:sanjivvarma@yahoo.com
State/City: USA
Message: There is a saying in Telugu " Amma Pettadu, adukku tinanivvadu".. Our producers (Specially RamojiRao, Rama Naidu and many others) never release their movies on VHS/VDC/DVD. They are more concerned about their films ReRuns. Here in US have no choice except watching Pirated versions. We donot get all the telugu movies here is US. There is no choice left until producers release the DVDs themselves as Tamil/Hindi producers do. If any one is responsible for the current situations, they are the Producers. No one else.

Name: Manohar
Email:manu_tatavarthy@hotmail.com
State/City: Tempe/AZ/USA
Message: Please don't think me wrong. But here is my Thought.

I own around 32 telugu Telugu DVD's and 250 + Others( English/Hindi). I completely agree that we should not encourage Piracy. It sounds really very good to say that. But as a movie lover who is at loss??? The producers do not release originals. and the originals that are released many look worse than the pirated. Just think of this, Last year around October pirated DVD's used to be released and used to were available in all Indian stores across US. The producers realised and to kill this piracy, they started releasing the original along with the Movie with a very good quality. So currently you don't see any pirated Hindi Movie. Of course you can see pirated song collection dvd.

Anyway, I would say the producers have to comeout with QUALITY originals. If not I would not bother if it is a pirated or original. B'cos, from my collection some of the pirated are far far beter than the originals. Mostly I may not buy them any more, but they are worth renting and far beter than the pirated video cassettes.

Name: Krishna Polina
Email:spolina@hotmail.com
State/City: Baltimore, USA
Message: Ramoji Rao pays 3 lakhs a Nuvve Kavali box? Why? Couldn't he tell the Malayam producers of 'Niram' that they too copied it from an English movie "Whatever It Takes"? This is how good the piracy rules are in our industry. Looks like whoever first copies from an English movie, owns the rights to that story in India!!!

If that is legal, why can't the company that first makes illegal DVD's own the rights to that movie on DVD??

I hope Ramoji Rao finds out that this movie is originally an English movie and he has equal rights to copy it

Name: Satish
Email:ameshd@yahoo.com
State/City: CT, USA
Message: The anti piracy drive is a good idea.I support the drive to stop cinemas from being pirated.For a financially struggling industry like cinema where so many people make a living, piracy spoils and eats into their food.It certainly should be curbed.

However for Audio and such other material, Piracy should be encouraged. Some of the Vendors pay a hefty sum for Audio rights and pass that costs onto customers.Not every body can afford that high amounts.We know for sure that the material is not worth that amount and it does not cost that much to make an audio cassette/CD. If they charge for the intelletual rights, then they better define intellectual rights. Piracy makes them lower their prices to stand in competition.

Steal Tunes from western or other films, make little or no modifications and release them and make customers pay a fortune for it. This is the tell tale story of many movies.If a Music director pirating a tune is not considered piracy then what is ?

Let the film walas stop pirating stories,tunes,scenes etc from other movies.Then they stand a moral right to ask people to join anti piracy.What hard work are they talking about when they copy tunes,stories from other films?

It is very unfair to throw everything back to the people when the root cause and solution lies with the filmi walas.

Name: Ramesh Vudathu
Email:vudathu@henke.com
State/City: Paris
Message: One way to eradicate piracy is by innovative means to make these DVDs and Cassettes affordable even to a layman.

I read that to make a copy of Audio CD costs 1 AUD i.e. 25 rupees. Where as it will be sold at not less than 150 rupees. Where is all the margin going? Obviously high royalties and high profits !!!! Ha, ha.

First reduce your greediness to reduce the piracy. The more affordable these things are, the more less the crime will be.

Name: Ramesh D
Email:rameshd@yahoo.com
State/City: Chicago, USA
Message: Our discussion about anti-piracy will not yielding any positive result as long as people are there to watch movies no matter how bad the copy was and how bad even the audio was. As long as people can make money out of this, the piracy will continue and flourish. It's a two way street. Match fixing in Indian cricket will continue as long as there are people betting on them for a quick buck. In a city like Chicago, telugu movies are screened in an old movie theatre( I mean very, very old)with no parking and the film oesn't look clear on the screen, but still they keep on showing them . As long as people settle for less, that's all they are going to get it. If everyone is disciplined enough to reject low quality pirated copies, we can change the outcome for the better in the future.

Name: Sivarama
Email:vapkolluru@visto.com
State/City: Washington
Message: Encouraging pirated copies of movies by renting them is not good for the movie industry. I see only one solution to bring an end to this. Our producers should consider realesing their movies on video and DVD after the successful run of their movies.

I don't feel bad about renting them because our very own producers copy movies from English and other languages without paying them for the story.

Do you all think Ramoji Rao paid any money to the makers of 'Whatever it Takes' which is copied with very few changes to telugu as Nuvve Kavali? Some of our best directors like Ram Gopal Varma are popular in copying from lesser known english movies as they can gget full credit for them. Even Kamal's Indrudu Chandrudu is an exact copy of English movie.

I don't feel bad about jumping in the piracy world along with them all. If they change we all will change too!!!

Name: Ramya
Email:pandoo16@hotmail.com
State/City: Hyderabad, India
Message: The rates of the audio should come down so that it's made affordable to lay man.People tend to go for the cheaper stuff even though it does'nt offer quality ,all they care for is their star's.Even the true fan's are
helpless, though there are campaigns against piracy the real target can be achieved only by those who make these audio's .Nothing more worse can happen to the telugu industry.Once our actors campaign towards killin it so will the movie lovers.One of the first steps taken towards stoppin pirated stuff was by Nagarjuna in a GreatIndia entertainer (premakatha)& then in (Azad).These little steps really made the difference in the industry.Rates of most of the audio's came down.the rates of c.d's which was a whooping 250/- came down to around 100/- now.No real telugu movie lover i'm sure would like to buy the pirated stuff its just the high rates that make them go for the pirated ones.
[ KILL PIRACY SAVE MUSIC ]

Name: Kalyana Kakani
Email:kaks24@hotmail.com
State/City: Las Vegas/USA
Message: I am sorry to here that once again that certain sect of the people are Stoop down to abysmal depths. Piracy has always been a problem for TELUGU CINEMA. From the days of Audio cassette, till an year back with video cassettes. Now its a sad feeling that this bug has bitten the DVD media also. As a consumer of DVDs I pledge that I will not entertain the use of pirated copies of TELUGU DVDs knowingly. To avoid the factor unknowingness I would like to request services like yours to put out some information of the movies that have been pirated and are taking over the market. To give an example one of the telugu cinema web portals ran informative add that a pirated version of "Annamayya's" movie is in the circulation. I hope you could also do something in the similar guidelines.

Thank you for initiating a fight against piracy of TELUGU Movies.

Name: ravindranath
Email:ravi_infosys@idlebrain.com
State/City: Bangalore/india
Message: I hope pricing audio cassettes around 30 rs had reduced had reduced piracy to some extent.My strong opinion on releasing vedio tapes or VCD's is that producers can happily release them after 4 to 5 weeks except for superhit films for which whole family will go. I donot why they are giving chance for the buisiness of pirated vcd's.May be they have some association protocols.

Name: Prashanth
Email: p.v.saka@usa.net
State/City: Hyderabad
Message: I am Prashanth, and regarding the anti piracy drive, I have a few words of mine to say. I happen to know one of the centres in the city for all sorts of pirated VCDs, DVDs and video cassettes.

The name of the shop is Eshwar Video, in the busy Punjagutta centre in the city of Hyderabad. It is in the huge complex of Shati Shikara Apartmnets, in the lane opposite to the Muslim Masjid in Punjagutta.

I dont of what, if any, action is going to be taken against the store, but as previously mentioned, I would like to say my opinion. I hope something is going to be done regarding the issue, not just voicing.

Name: Krishna Polina
Email:spolina@hotmail.com
State/City: Baltimore, USA
Message: To be anti-piracy one should have a choice to buy/rent originals. When we don't have a choice to buy/rent originals we movie lovers tend to go for the pirated movies.

I think our Telugu film industry should learn from Hollywood about releases movies on video. Look at our big telugu productions like Suresh Productions and Usha Kiron Movies. They hardly released any of their movies on VHS forget about on DVDs. They should see the reasons behind the success of great banners like Disney which makes the bulk of their revenue from Videos.

Once I see more choice, I would surely be an anti-piracy costumer. But for now, I'll enjoy watching the pirated copy of Annamayya DVD because it is far far better than having no choice.

We request you to bolster our fight against piracy by voicing your views as strongly as possible. Write us your opinion and we assure you to carry it on the site so that your voice reaches the wrong doers and scares them away from this shameful act eating the cinema industry like a moth.

We are sure that we will succeed. Click here to Join the drive..

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