The bipartisan committee was formally introduced last month and its role suddenly took centre stage last week with the controversial broadcast by two television stations of a videotape by notorious prison escapee Andrew Douglas.

As Prime Minister Sam Hinds noted at the signing of the agreement for the Canadian assistance to the committee, "No doubt they face a very stiff test, immediately, in how they handle the recent presentation on the TV of a programme by someone who is involved in the death of one of our prison officers."

All eyes are on the ACB in this regard but it has much more on its plate, including the issue of the current widespread piracy by TV outfits here.

At the signing this week, Canadian High Commissioner, Mr. Serge Marcoux, pointed out that the primary purpose and function of the committee is to support the Prime Minister in administering the Post and Telegraph Act and Wireless Telegraphy Regulations as an interim measure pending new broadcasting legislation.

He, significantly, urged the committee to be "vigilant towards all those who use the television media to foster hate and violence" but he also took a strong stand against piracy by local TV stations.

The High Commissioner lauded the Government for taking a step in the right direction in completing the licensing of all television stations currently broadcasting in Guyana.

But he made clear that those willing to help bring order to TV land expect that the ACB will pay special attention to piracy.

Mr. Marcoux didn't pull any punches and was blunt: it is "high time that this form of theft, as defined by all countries having adhered to the international copyright convention, comes to an end."

"Too often we see on different channels, pirated video cassettes, or programmes simply rebroadcast from different satellites without the permission of their rightful owners", he noted.

The warning is clear and the authorities, including the ACB, have to sit up and take notice - the days of rampant piracy and `anything goes' by TV outfits are numbered.

TV piracy has all but crippled the local cinema industry and for as long as outfits can get away with simply borrowing video cassettes and showing movies - with business places sponsoring these shows - there would be no real compulsion to get into local production and abiding by the rules that are common in other countries.

The piracy has even spread to some newspapers which breach all copyright rules and shamelessly pirate news, features and photographs from websites on the Internet.

"Authors, composers, and legitimate diffusers have an inherent right to their intellectual property. Let us not forget that these people are human beings who must earn a decent living for themselves and their family out of their work", Mr. Marcoux said earlier this week.

He has perhaps stirred up a hornet's nest by being blunt and it would be interesting to see how the ACB also faces up to this other stiff test.