Kasaju brothers with family
This recent scandal has made them bite the dust. All their career and fame is at the stake. They are now tagged as digital thieves. Piracy of digital property is ethically wrong. Stealing properties and selling them at the fraction of the cost in the black market is still rampant in the real world scenario. The convicted two brothers practiced the same act through the internet stealing digital properties and selling them. Pirating is still acknowledged in the underdeveloped countries and that most people don't think it's wrong. Digital piracy is not a new phenomenon anymore but it will definitely require new radical mechanisms of control.
These two brothers tried to take improper benefit amidst ongoing political crisis. Evidently, they might have been self-assured and confident that who would care if they stepped into digital anarchy. They sold 300 HD movies (downloaded via torrent sites as reported) for approximately US $360 a year for their special subscribers via givemehd.com . In Nepal, where per capita income is nearly US $473, it's almost inconceivable rate. Despite the fact, the sold properties worth quite more than that. Legally, it would've cost them millions of US dollars to practice this business model.
But considering the fact about Nepal's fragile policy towards cyber crimes and piracy, it's unlikely that they'll be punished severely. Nepal Police took this action only after the sting operation setup by nagariknews.com flashed into news. Reporters visited their home-based office posed as possible buyers of pirated movies and captured everything on hidden camera. Their arrest is surely causing some tension at the moment and it could be the beginning of the anti-piracy campaign in under-developed countries like Nepal. As for me, I've yet to see how long this drama will run.
Their business firm is often publicized as business partner of Worldlink, Nepal's oldest ISP(Internet Service Provider). It is also noted that they were granted high bandwidth for downloads. It is not known though that if WorldLink is equally participated on illegal bandwidth usage.
The arrested are sons of Binaya Kumar Kasaju, chief commissioner, National Information Commission of Nepal.
Update 9/24/10:
Owners of cybersansar.com, Abhinav Kasaju and Deepankar Kasaju, who were detained on charge of breaching copyright by selling High Definition films downloaded illegally through the Internet, have been set free as the police failed to file the case for "lack of sufficient evidences" and legal provisions.
Police released them Tuesday afternoon based on the advice of government attorney that their case couldn't be registered since the existing Copyright Act and E-commerce Act lack proper provisions on HD films circulation and no case was filed against them by any HD film company claiming compensations for the loss.
Metropolitan Police Range, Kathmandu had raided their office in Teku and arrested Kasaju brothers last Wednesday. src
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