``This is a new pattern of crime,'' says P N Ingle, Assistant Commissionerof Police, Crime Branch. He, like his colleagues, is still coming to termswith crimes of the new age, be it cyber crimes or pirating digitaltechnology.

Sandeep says that his ``business interests are diversified''. He will copyanything, be it audio CDs, software or even computer games. To increase hisprofits, he has also started renting out and selling pornographic CDs.

Starting this venture is laughably simple. ``CD writers are available for aslow as Rs 9000 which can read most CDs. Some are expensive and come for Rs19000 upwards, but this one does fine,'' he says, pointing to his machine.

Attach a CD player, a computer and you are in business. It seems to belucrative as Sandeep buys an original CD for Rs 500 and makes innumerablecopies, which he sells for Rs 215 each. What started a year ago has reapedenough profits for him to ``diversify'' his ``business''. Today he isthinking of starting pool dens and a cybercafe and also rent out the latestHindi blockbusters on CDs that are supplied from Singapore. These films arethen illegally shown on various cable networks.

Technology, says Ingle, is the biggest handicap. ``We need technical peopleto help us out when we prosecute such cases. We also need software companiesand music companies to get in touch with us, which will help us in arrestingsuch crimes.''

But this does not seem to be happening. A few years back, the music industryhad floated an independent body to fight piracy. Known as the IMI, the onlyconnection it has to Pune is the advertisements that are flashed on themusic channels. ``We have not heard of any representatives of IMI here,''says Mahendra Dave, owner of Oceanic Sound and Vision, one of the mostfrequented music shops in the city. ``There are no representatives of themusic companies either and that adds to lack of policing,'' he points out.

A few months back, the police had raided a software dealer on Karve Road andconfiscated illegal software worth Rs five crore. That put the pressure onSandeep and his ilk, who since then shifted their goods over a wider area toavoid being caught.

But here, as Ingle points out, the case was initiated by officials ofNASCOM, an independent Delhi-based body that, like the IMI, was floated bythe fledgling software industry in India. Backed by major players likeMicrosoft, it was created to deal with piracy, among other things.

Today, their absence has added in encouraging piracy dealers in the city.Touted as one of the three cyber cities along with Bangalore and Hyderabad,Pune is today caught in a trap. Interest in cyber careers and lack ofeffective policing help bootleggers step in and satisfy its clientele. Someof that may change as Microsoft is reported to be setting up their office inthe city next month. But that still leaves the music industry under threat.