LTTE obliged to release seized policeman

President Mahinda Rajapaksa's warm gesture of permitting the LTTE's Daya Master to avail of medical treatment in Colombo for his heart ailment, would go down in the history of the North-East conflict as a signal act of humanity by a Lankan Head-of-State and Government.

Rather than turn a blind eye on the condition of a sworn adversary of the State, President Rajapaksa has chosen to shower on him considerable compassion and kindness.

This is not a question of treating one's adversary in the same coin or of putting into practice the destructive principle of taking "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." On the contrary, hostility on the part of the LTTE has been answered by the President with patient consideration.

There is no doubt that the kindness bestowed on Daya Master by the President would help to a degree in defusing current tensions. Besides, the President has proved that the way of the State is not the way of the terrorist. The State has no choice but to adhere to civilized norms and values. By doing so, it establishes that its standard is the Rule of Law and not the law of the wild.

We hope the LTTE would see these developments in the correct light. The State is not motivated by communal hatred or the sadism of the terrorist. It has to act on the basis of the common good and the consideration shown to Daya Master amply brings this out.

The State is duty and conscience-bound to ensure the well-being of all its citizens wherever they may reside. We hope the LTTE would grasp these essential truths and bring to bear more civilized restraint on its conduct.

There is the case of the police officer attached to the National Child Protection Authority, whose duty took him into an uncleared area in the North and was held by the LTTE.

Right now, this police officer is suffering silently in an LTTE terror cell. Why cannot the LTTE release this police officer in response to the consideration shown by the State to Daya Master? Does not the LTTE understand that a decision to release the policeman could defuse tensions and make the current climate more conducive to a resumption of the political process?

We believe that if the LTTE has even minuscule concern for the suffering of the Tamil people, whom it claims to represent, it would release the policeman in a gesture of goodwill and help pave the way for a resumption of the negotiatory process. The LTTE needs to consider that, as in the case of Daya Master, the NCPA policeman too is suffering tremendously. So are his family members. He is a servant of the State and is in no way ill disposed towards the Tamil citizenry.

Therefore, we call on the LTTE to act with a sense of proportion. The condition of personalities and individuals should not be confused with issues in the conflict.

Pirates of the reel world

The picture is all too familiar, literally: grainy visuals, mediocre sound, patchy subtitles. Chances are you are watching a pirated version of a hit movie which has just been released in theatres worldwide. In fact, illegal VCDs and DVDs of some movies appear even before they are released theatrically.

Piracy of intellectual property costs billions of dollars each year to the movie and recording industry. But from a consumer's point of view, pirated discs are very appealing: The original DVD of a blockbuster can cost up to Rs.3,400 whereas the pirate version comes at just Rs.200, DVD box included.

Our thoughts turned to the serious issue of piracy after wire services reported from China yesterday that Hollywood blockbuster "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" has been attacked by real-life buccaneers in China, with illegal DVD versions appearing overnight in the streets of Shanghai.

DVDs of the movie, featuring Johnny Depp as swashbuckling Captain Jack Sparrow, were on sale in DVD stores and at street stalls for just five yuan (63 cents/Rs.70 approx) a piece. The original DVD, expected next year, will cost at least US$ 25.

Apart from China, Sri Lanka and other South Asian countries continue to be a thorn on the side of anti-piracy campaigners. Wayside stalls here sell the latest Hollywood and Bollywood hits at dirt-cheap rates while the Police look the other way. The same goes for music.

The so-called DVD stores at the plush shopping malls sell the same stuff, albeit in attractive packaging that closely apes the originals. Again, they seem to operate without any hindrance from the law enforcement agencies. We occasionally hear of raids on wayside stalls, but the matter usually ends there and the sellers are back in business the very next day.

This should not be tolerated any longer. It is time that Sri Lanka took firm steps against the piracy of copyrighted content, including the interception of illegal recordings at the points of entry. At the same time, the authorities should work closely with original content providers and foreign Governments to stem the flow of pirate copies and to ensure the availability of originals at more affordable prices.

Illegal downloading is more difficult to control, but the recording industry should counter-attack by establishing legal download services for the latest movies and music albums. Napster and iTunes are already doing the latter successfully.

There are various avenues that can be explored to discourage piracy. Releasing movies worldwide across all platforms simultaneously (theatre, DVD, Video on Demand, Pay-per-View, online) and reducing the prices of theatre tickets and DVDs are just two of them. Then there will be no justification or monetary incentive for piracy. That is what the recording industry and Governments around the world should aim for.

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