Yet again cinema owners have been forced to go public about the stark inequities facing them as they struggle to keep the doors of their establishments open.

Theirs is a very simple case. A lot of money is being sunk into maintaining large cinemas, paying staff and purchasing movie rights. If the movies that they buy rights for are shown on TV before they are screened here the very basis of their business would be eroded. The majority of cinemagoers would prefer to sit in the comfort of their houses and watch their televisions, albeit without the silver screen charm.

For as long as the unregulated TV industry has existed, this phenomenon of pirated movies being shown on the small screen has been rampant. It is in all fairness a fault that has existed for two decades unchecked despite the huge property rights implications for Guyana.

The role of the state in an open and fully liberal economy is not to abdicate its responsibilities. The role of the state is to ensure that a level playing field exists for all entrepreneurs and that unfair and illegal competition is thwarted.

No special dispensation is being sought here. All the tax-paying cinema owners are requesting is that the state discharge its responsibilities with respect to protecting property rights and to ensure that illegal competition is stamped out.

There was hardly any attention to this matter in the period between 1980 and 1992. In the three post-1992 administrations the matter has come up and promises were made, however no successful outcome has been achieved. More recent attempts have been bogged down in the political controversy that has swirled around moves to regulate the broadcast industry and great reluctance on the part of some TV station owners to see the writing on the wall. Presumably now that there is political concord at the level of the committee set up by President Jagdeo and Mr Hoyte on regulation of the broadcast sector and related issues, the protection of intellectual property rights and anti-piracy measures will move full speed ahead.

As Guyana is drawn deeper and deeper into the world of globalised trade, the onus of protecting intellectual property rights and observing copyright will expand manifold. At the moment we appear completely unprepared and unwilling to grasp this challenge. The plight of the cinema owners is only a microcosm of this problem and the government has a responsibility to act on it.

It may well be that even with the protection against piracy that the cinemas of today will still fail. The cinemas of the 50s and 60s that pre-date the TV era here have not changed or graduated to face the new challenges. Their general infrastructure is poor and there has been little investment in them over the years. Avid movie fans who no longer have the appetite to go to cinemas can recount harrowing tales of broken down seats, non-functioning toilets, close encounters with insects and rodents and dirty surroundings.

Can the cinemas compete with regulated TV and video stores? Only time will tell but certainly movie houses can be updated to provide other entertainment and to find their own niche. The opportunity for theatre and purchasing rights to classic old movies and even the offerings of the burgeoning made-for-television movie industry are among the possibilities. Diversifying to include video arcades and internet cafes are also possibilities.

Nothing beats a movie on the big screen with surround sound, popcorn and the collective emotions of the audience at each twist and turn of a really good plot. The government and the cinema owners must do their part to keep this pastime alive.