The Pirates of Cardiff
Cardiff has the lion’s share in music piracy. Why is that? How can each of us improve the situation?
The heart of a large number of music pirates beats in Cardiff, say high officials of the British Phonographic Industry Sales Association. As 2006 ends, the BPI has published the annual accounts of profit for music companies for 2005. The sales once more have decreased. Figures for music companies estimate a bigger loss than in previous years. In 2005, 37 million CD’s were sold in the United Kingdom, that being 10% of total sales. This amounts to £165m. Music companies are now pressurising the police and consumer advice centres to initiate investigations at areas where the crime is committed more frequently.
According to the BPI recent findings, pirates operate in areas with high unemployment and low incomes. Cardiff appears on the top of the list of such areas. The level of unemployment in Cardiff and in particular the south of Wales is high. For this reason criminals want to earn money by selling cheap copied products of CD’s and DVD’s. Their operations are carried out in small cottages in the villages around Cardiff, Newport and Swansea. Local businesses are directly affected. The managers of both Virgin Megastore and HMV at Queen Street admitted that music downloading and piracy affected considerably their sales. However, they did not wish to reveal statistics for competition reasons.
What is therefore the option of the conscientious citizen? What each of us can do in order to curb the problem? The answer lies with the phone numbers of the Crimestoppers and of the Consumer Advice Centre in Cardiff. Mr Mike Davies, from the consumer advice centre said that he disagrees that Cardiff has become the centre of music piracy in the UK. “Recently we have investigated twelve record shops out of which four, were selling illegal copies of copyrighted material. We seized 40% of their stock.” He also said that his team receives a respectable amount of calls from citizens daily, who they report illegal trading of copyright material. “Most of them act on malice. We cannot investigate every single case, but we always file complaints and treat each case in accordance with its gravity.”
However, can the problem be curbed from its root? Mr Davies replies with some despair: “The point is to understand that downloading illegal copies of copyrighted material can be compared to shoplifting. They are both criminal offences, albeit the former can be committed with just a simple click of the mouse.” He stresses the simplicity of the action: “Today, anybody with a personal computer can become a pirate. Anybody who copies, performs or records material without prior permission by the copyright owner might end up in jail.” The Consumer Advice centre has the power to enter private property and seize illegal material in the name of law and under police orders.
In effect, next time that you will burn a disc to your loving one, beware. It is more likely that he will appreciate your gift if you buy him the original product instead.
Another Brick on the Wall
A recent survey by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) published in newspapers earlier in November 2006, brought to the surface the long-discussed problem of youth delinquency. The survey suggests that British youths are the biggest delinquents in Europe, with 44 percent of British teenagers getting into fights, 27 percent drinking heavily and 82 percent being sexually promiscuous. The findings sparked a long debate amongst columnists the last weeks. The question is who is to blame? What is the ambit of the problem in Cardiff?
The generations’ chasm has always been among those cliché essay topics at school years, where everybody referred to, in order to explain youth delinquency and its roots. Most people can number the key arguments to explain this phenomenon, easily. The weakening of the family institution is to blame, The Sunday Times claim. Additionally, The Guardian points out the fact that everyday lives are being recorded by cameras, something which causes violent reactions by youths.
In Cardiff, the situation is not much different than the rest of the country. IcWales referred on November 8th 2007 on a survey held by the University of Wales, College of Medicine. According to that, the number of girls between the ages 11-17 being treated in hospital because of violence attacks caused by excessive drinking, rose significantly over the past five years. The number of young men engaging in violent activities rose as well. Both findings were accounted to the greater independence that youths enjoy nowadays.
PC of South Wales, Rhydian Boast said: “Drunk youngsters in the streets are a great problem. They usually gather in front of the Town Hall, causing nuisance and littering the place. Hopefully, the ‘Christmas Wonderland’ will pull them off during Christmas holidays.” He went on saying that a significant number of youths are caught drinking during school hours.
However, Paul Carey from ‘The Western Mail’ interviewed some Welsh students in St’ Cyres school in Penarth and concluded that today’s youth has quality aspirations and ambitions. Most of students, blamed the society’s inability to provide them with outlets to express themselves and wreak their adolescent energy. “There is nothing to do if you are between 16 and 18.” Chris Hampshire said, an ‘A’ level student in biology, chemistry and IT. “Youth clubs are closed at half-term and school holidays, which is just when you want them. If they were there, people would use them. People end up hanging out on the streets and then get a negative image.”
There is no evidence to suggest that today’s youth is any worse than that of their parents’. In contrast, Professor Jonathan Shepherd, of the Violence Research group, stated that violence overall did not increase dramatically over the last ten years. What is required is for the parents to recall their own youth and remember that they have experienced similar pressure. Discuss and find solutions with your children on things that matter them. But then, it’s been a long time since you have had a teenage life.
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