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ITV Goes Solar
By Nrsimhananda dasa

The sun god, Vivasvana, is directly powering ITV’s duplication and editing facility in Topanga Canyon, California. The Pyramid Center has finally lived up to its billing as a solar energy pyramid house since its construction twenty-three years ago. ITV has made its home here for the past five years. There are two editing suites and a duplication/office facility.

California has some of the highest electric rates in the nation. Power consumption is a major part of ITV’s limited budget. Harnessing the rays of sunlight has produced even more electricity than ITV needs to operate. The excess is sent onto the grid, and the electric company pays retail rates for whatever is produced. The installation was made possible by a state rebate program that returns half the cost of the system back to the owner. Many states in the U.S. have adopted a subsidy for solar installations.

Public Apology
From Gargamuni and Brahmananda

11 March 2002

Dear Vaisnavas,

Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

The following is an open letter of apology to the entire Vaisnava community within ISKCON. We would like to very sincerely and humbly request the forgiveness from all of you for some serious mistakes we have made by our recent actions.

We request that you please understand our motivations. Although we were wrong to pirate Tapes, CD’s and the Bhaktivedanta VedaBase from the Bhaktivedanta Archives, VCD’s from ISKCON Television and BBT material, our motives were not purely financial. We sincerely wanted to see Srila Prabhupada’s teachings distributed as widely as possible. In the course of coming to an agreement in this matter we have been informed that Bhaktivedanta Archives and ISKCON Television are now making efforts to distribute media of Srila Prabhupada more widely. We welcome this development.

Mediation Fails between ITV 
and Brahmananda/Gargamuni
by Nrsimhananda dasa

My Dear Vaisnavas,

I am sorry to report that the mediation attempted to resolve the piracy issues between ITV and Brahmananda/Gargamuni have failed. After two months of emails between the mediator, Braja Bihari, who was in physical contact with the two brothers, and myself, I finally invested in an hour-and-a-half phone call from ITV in Los Angeles to Vrndaban to try to find an agreement. The three points were accountability, authorized distribution, and past redress.

One Who Cheats Like a Rogue, Steals Like a Rogue, 
and Lies Like a Rogue is NOT A Brahmin
An editorial by Mayesvara Dasa

In the spring of this year I could foresee the conflicts that have dominated the news lately in regards to bootlegging and the theft of creative rights. The proliferation of copyright infringements is what inspired me to write the piece called "Supporting the Legacy of Bhaktivedanta Swami." The overwhelming majority of the devotees who responded to that essay concurred with my reasoning. The simple fact is that anyone who really understands what it means to be a Brahmin would act like one and naturally honor the copyright laws. Ksatriyas on the other hand are not convinced to do the right thing simply for philosophical reasons. Instead they need to see how a particular choice will increase their reputation before they will act properly. Vaisyas however are motivated only by profit, and that is what we are talking about here and wherein the difficulty lies.

Prananatha Surrenders to ITV
by Prananatha dasa

[The following is a response to the article "ITV Responds to Prananatha" by Nrsimhananda dasa, quoted in italics.—Ed.]

Thank you for clarifying that. I have been under the impression all these years that the Temples paid laxmi directly to ITV for the costs of setting up ITV.

ITV Responds to Prananatha
By Nrsimhananda dasa

Unfortunately, Prananatha does not see the costs of production and maintenance as well as distribution as expenses that must be recouped by sales. He suggests that ITV sell its products at the same price as the pirates.

ITV Responds to Jada Bharata
By Nrsimhananda das

I appreciate Jada Bharata's inquiries, and I think that the truth will help shed light on the entire copyright issue of ITV and other ISKCON-related institutions such as BBT, Archives, etc. You ask why ITV thinks it owns the footage, and the question is a good one. The International BBT also inquired into that issue. 

More Thoughts on the ITV Pirate Controversy
By Prananatha das

It was common practice for many years that ISKCON Temples paid an annual fee to ITV, presumably for the cost involved in buying equipment, establishing a facility, staffing etc. I don't know what this amounted to but I can estimate that it was not an inconsiderable sum. This laksmi was collected by devotees engaged in various preaching or paraphernalia activities and was paid to ITV in good faith and support of ITV's work. That being the case it would not seem unreasonable, now that ITV is firmly established, that these same temples and devotees be given some sort of a concession in purchasing ITV material.

Recent Letters About Bootlegging
By Jagaddhatri devi dasi (Hawaii)

Reading the recent letters about our ITV bootlegging activity caused me to pause. It appears that both sides have appeal, depending on your mentality. Yet Nrsimhananda makes very important points. To me the most important is what value we place on other's time, education, endeavor, creation, etc.

Prabhupada's Videos - Who Owns Them
By Jada Bharata Dasa

My question is who really owns the videos anyway? I don't really see how the selling of Srila Prabhupada's videos compares with Srila Prabhupada's books, which were published by the BBT. My understanding is that legally the photographer who takes a video owns the video, not the person who edits and sells the video. While according to copyright laws the person who writes a book is the owner of the book and it is their sole decision on who publishes the book and how it is distributed.

About Pirating
By Amarprabhu das

Reading letters about the activities of some senior devotees in copying and pirating multi media makes me feel sorry for them. But also seeing statements of support for this behavior makes me crazy. What kind of morality do we have?

Seeing Both Sides of the Pirate Controversy
By Sadhusanga das

There is an activity in any technical production called "R&D" (Research and Development). This is what the $600 charge is attempting to recoup on the VedaBase CD-Rom. There were tens of thousands of dollars put into equipment and production costs, and thousands of hours of time put into labor - all to make something like a two dollar VedaBase CD-ROM disc "appear".

Addendum to Nrsimhananda's Comments
By Nrsimhananda dasa

Editor's note: This was originally intended to be part of Nrsimhananda's reply to Sravana.

A final note. There are GBC resolutions specifically prohibiting copying of ITV videos. If Sravana, Brahmananda, Gargamuni, or anyone else doesn't like those rules, then they can lobby to change them. But to disregard the resolutions disqualifies them from being a part of the official ISKCON organization, and only those members in good standing can sit on the Vyasasan to give pravacan, hold any official positions, or be authorized in any way to represent the society.

Nrsimhananda's Reply to Sravana
By Nrsimhananda dasa, ITV

In response to a recent letter to CHAKRA, would Sravana suggest that anyone should be able to publish Srila Prabhupada's books? This is his logic. By his standards anyone can reproduce the books and pictures in Prabhupada’s books without having to had borne the costs of editing, including collecting, preserving, creating appendixes, seps, etc.

ITV Bootlegging
By Antardwip das

I feel Brahamanada is doing a service with bargain-prices DVD's, and it is a challenge ITV should rise to, not try and eradicate. I think there is an important principle here as to how available Srila Prabhupada's media should be available. 

Making Prabhupada Available to Everyone
By Sravana das

There has been some recent controversy over the pirating of ITV videos by Gargamuni and Brahmananda who are selling the videos in India. I strongly disagree with Nrsimhananda's suggestion that they be banned from all ISKCON temples, for the following reasons:

Pirating of ITV Materials 
By Nrsimhananda dasa

CHAKRA (Los Angeles) - August 21, 2001: After months of writing to ISKCON authorities including the entire GBC, Mahaman, temple president of ISKCON Vrindavan, and numerous devotees coming forward to express their frustration with their works being pirated, Brahmananda and Gargamuni have increased their sales and snuffed the legitimate competition. Distributors can't compete with people who don't have to pay any royalties and can sell for less.