Cell phones have redefined the way people communicate, thanks to the various features integrated into them. So while you have the short messaging service and Internet connectivity, you also get built-in cameras with them.
Now, the latest is you can even download film and television clips. And with a little ingenuity, this feature can be used to make money. Just as Sailesh Jain and Srinivas Ram did.
They offered movies for downloading with a cell phone, charging a nominal amount. The two used to copy films from pirated DVDs to their computer with the help of a multimedia card and then transfer the data to the phones. They carried out the business from a shop at Grant Road, south Mumbai.
The Mumbai police arrested them on November 11 for violating the Copyright Act. They were released on bail the same day.
Jain and Ram were charging Rs 3,500 for a movie with additional memory chip that could be attached to the cell phone, and Rs 500 for just the movie. Their target customers were the youths.
The police acted against Ram and Jain after they received a complaint from Salim Ghouse, a partner in anti-piracy firm Line of Control. The police asked Ghouse to visit the shop as a customer. Ghouse went and got the film Murder downloaded in his Nokia handset for Rs 500. This gave the police the evidence they needed.
"College and school youths are more fascinated with the latest mobile phones, which have enough memory to store long movies. Family members are not aware that their kids use such phones for wrong purposes," said Sub-Inspector Rajendra Duttatre.
Some youths store adult movies in their cell phones and share them with friends. "Such incidents are very high among, but rarely are such cases reported to the police," a source said.