Edu Manzano Claims Pirates Fund Terrorist Activity

Posted on May 31st, 2008. Written by Rico.

It’s old news, but Edu Manzano claimed last week that the Abu Sayyaf “were likely behind the illegal copying of movies onto DVDs, which are then peddled at Manila shops by migrant Muslim workers.” The profit generated by such pirate operations is supposedly used to fund terrorist operations.

The Vilification of Piracy

Mr. Manzano insists on tying the rampant local piracy he’s facing to a notorious group who has given the Philippine government—and admittedly the people they’re supposedly fighting for—problems for over two decades now.

The reason behind this is obvious: by linking a terrorist group to piracy, Mr. Manzano hopes to paint pirates as supporters of evil; it’s apparently hoped that if Filipinos believe that pirates fund terrorist activities, they will be less willing to pay for bootleg copies.

We at Technograph understand why the Optical Media Board, the anti-piracy agency headed by Manzano, would like to put an end to piracy. If copyright holders aren’t compensated for their work, then there will be less incentive for them to create. And what will do with our spare time if we have less movies to watch and music to enjoy?

Potentially Creating Muslim Bias

Still, Edu Manzano’s attempt to give piracy a villainous character is laughable at best, and dangerous at worst, especially since Muslims continue to undergo increasing scrutiny.

Laughable because without any concrete evidence, it’s easy to dismiss Mr. Manzano’s claims for the reason discussed above. Dangerous, because anyone who actually believes Manzano may be stupid enough to start holding a bias towards Muslims.

Instead of using outlandish theories to try and convince people to stop buying pirated copies, the OMB and media companies should spend their time exploring the factors behind piracy. In short, they should ask themselves, why people in the Philippines buy bootleg copies? Only through a genuine exploration of this question can they come up with an effective answer to piracy.