Mumbai: Just like the movie stars, soon you may see cricketers warning you against watching or promoting pirated stuff.

A movement has been initiated by the cricket boards around the world to prevent piracy in the game. The International Cricket Council has also joined their cause.

The idea was discussed threadbare when all cricket administrators met in Hyderabad for the Champions League T20 final. Members from England, Australia, South Africa, Sri Lanka and even Zimbabwe, along with India, took part in the two-day seminar on ways to prevent piracy in the game. There were also representatives from various media houses.

The problem is the unauthorised telecast of cricket footage over the Internet. The administrators felt that there needs to be a watchdog to monitor the piracy and take steps to prevent, detect and even punish the perpetrators.

The forum, it is learnt, will be headed by Arun Jaitley, a noted lawyer and a cricket administrator. The forum will be managed by all the boards. The Board of Control for Cricket in India has agreed to provide 40 per cent of the funding. The project, it is learnt, initially needs half a million dollars for its functioning.

The forum's key area will be to prevent unauthorised and unapproved use of footage by the media stations -- TV channels and Internet portals. Even the use of logos in newspapers will be monitored. During the World T20, the ICC had sent notices to some web portals for unapproved use of its footage.

Without denying the appointment as the forum head, Jaitley refused to clarify, saying that Indian Premier League chairman Lalit Modi should be contacted instead. Modi could not be reached but IPL vice-chairman Niranjan Shah confirmed the discussion and the initiative by the ICC and other world cricket units.