<B> Deepa BHOOKHUN</B>

If you work in Port Louis and you?re bored this lunchtime, do yourself a favour and take a little stroll to the Port Louis Waterfront. Right next to SSR?s statue is a huge marquis (hard to miss) and in that marquis there are many traders who have regrouped for a fair that will last till next week.

It?s a nice fair, by the way- well worth spending a couple of hours there (and squanding money you don?t have, ha ha). But don?t worry if you don?t have time and money to waste; the best attraction is not inside and can even be seen from the highway.

It is a white banner on which is written in red ?3 DVDs for Rs 100?.

When I was there last Saturday, I saw three policemen standing in front of the fake DVD stand (it?s the first one you see as you walk in but there are many more fake DVD stalls inside). They were chatting away, seemingly completely oblivious to the fact that the law was being flouted in their face. (Well their back really but they can?t have missed the banner).

I didn?t approach them to ask whether they knew that pirated DVDs are in theory illegal because I had promised my friend I would behave.

But try as I may, I can?t get over one thing - do those policemen know that pirated DVDs or CDs are illegal? If they do know then how can they just stand there and let this parody of a fair go on like nothing unusual has happened? What does it take to get a policeman to do what he is paid to do? Do they need instructions from "above" to act? Worse still, do they need? permission?

Don?t worry, I haven?t just suddenly woken up and realised that fake DVDs are sold on a daily basis in an unabashed fashion. Like you, I see them sold everyday in shops that make no attempt to hide the fact that they are breaking the law. They are sold in some commercial centres; they are sold on the streets. In utter and complete impunity. And it?s unbelievable how many people buy them.

I once asked a friend of mine why he bought fake DVDs and he said because they were cheap and available and he couldn?t afford to buy the genuine ones. Another friend said he wasn?t about to start subsidizing Hollywood.

The first point (affordability) might be a valid one but that doesn?t make one ounce of a difference; illegal is illegal.

Isn?t it?

Well at least in theory, it is.

But you know what though? Last I checked, Mauritius was supposed to be a country that prides itself on the fact that the rule of law is respected and upheld.

Maybe this ?principle? was somebody?s idea of a joke. Yes, it must be our dubious sense of humour. But I don?t know who?s laughing; I?m certainly not finding this joke very funny. What about you?