The Herald (Harare)
January 11, 2007
Posted to the web January 11, 2007
Harare
FIGHTING music piracy in Zimbabwe will be a futile exercise in the absence of tough laws specifically designed to weed out this cancer once and for all.
In most cases, those arrested for piracy are not deterred by the "miniscule" fines which they easily recoup by burning more CDs.
The only problem is that once they are out, they go underground, making the law enforcement agents' job more difficult.
A man who uses for his gain another man's intellectual property is as guilty as the one who rustles cattle.
Stock thieves expect a minimum of nine years in jail for stealing another person's source of livelihood. Music pirates deserve no less.
The arts and culture industry's contribution to the national fiscus is often underestimated.
In other words, our lawmakers do not realise that when a song is pirated, the State not only loses income but jobs are threatened.
Piracy affects not only the musician and the record company but the whole chain. Music pirates are robbers and they must be treated likewise.
Yet those arrested late last year escaped with paltry fines. What happened to the equipment they used to commit the crime?
Leaving them with their computers and other accessories is like fining an armed robber and allowing him to keep his gun.
In South Africa, for example, artistes have in the past carried out raids on suspected pirates, recovered pirated copies and effected citizen's arrests.
Why can't we do the same here? Why wait and give pirates time to relocate or take their business underground?
This is exactly what is happening in our case. A sizeable number have taken their shadowy business to the high-density suburbs where they are difficult to smoke out.
Those who have no hearts for others do not deserve to be protected by the law.
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