is there a solution to pirated movies?

[vash]

i bet the industry loses zillions of dollars.

i dont buy movies at all, but for sure i wouldnt buy from one of those dodgy 3rd world country video stores. when i was in cambodia, i was flipping thru the channels searching for bangkok airport news, and looking for an english speaking station. lo and behold i found a James Bond film!! it was the most recent bond film! i kid you not. it took about five minutes for me to figure out that it was the latest film that is still out at the theatres, "quantom of solace". i flipped it off because the quality was hideous. crazy that a pirated movie can be played on cambodian television..

i tried to watch the very same movie in hochiminh city, vietnam. but i had to leave. people really talk loudly and heckle the film over there. national sport or something. i couldnt stand it, and left.

[rcecale]

Saw the same thing in Thailand back in 2000. In fact, you could by CD-ROM's (not DVD's) from street vendors, and actually in the malls, with current films on them.

Watching the movies, it was blatantly obvious they were bootlegs that were recorded, right inside the movie theaters. In some of them you could actually see people getting up and down from their seats, and even hear other movie-goers talking.

Randy

[gr8fl4porsche]

Seinfeld did an episode about bootlegging films over 10 years ago. As long as there is a market, someone will supply the goods. Remind you of any other peddled wares?

'I heard a little kid on the street asking a vendor if he had any other bootlegs available that looked as good as 'Death Blow''

'First you cry, then when you see the lone dancer, you cry again'

[red-beard]

In Romania, we could get the movies that hadn't been released yet to the theaters.

[dhoward]

Pirated porn used to cost over a hundred bucks a tape. On Beta.
Ah, the good ol days...

[rcecale]

Originally Posted by red-beard

In Romania, we could get the movies that hadn't been released yet to the theaters.

It wasn't just movies in Thailand. I had my first copy of Windows-2000 in January, 2000...it wasn't officially released until February.

Randy

[TGTIW]

Ultimately, I'd say no. Unless everyone develops a concience, or people are no loger willing to accept the crap quality, there's no way to stop low-tech bootlegging.

[Rick Lee]

It's really rampant in China. And any Mainlander will defend it to the end too. They really think they shouldn't have to pay full retail price for it. The gov't. does some token sweeps in advance of visiting U.S. trade missions or gov't. officials, but it's all window dressing. I heard Microsoft is starting to salt some of their Windows programs that will crash computers using pirated software and the Chicoms are outraged about it. IIRC, Da Vinci code came out in the theatres in China when I was last there and I saw CD's of it on the street during the same trip. You cannot have a conversation on this with a Mainlander. They are totally convinced there's nothing wrong with it and their gov't. does nothing about it. By the same token, the Motion Picture Assoc. doesn't take it too seriously either. They say they do. But when's the last time you heard them make a stink or any kind of awareness campaign to our Commerce Dept. or Trade Rep.?

[ruf-porsche]

Who is getting ripped off, the movie studio, or the people who pay $10.00 to see a crappy movie like Quantum of Solace?

[porsche4life]

No joke check out ninja-video.net. All the pirated movies and TV you can stand.

[fingpilot]

The answer is simple. Don't buy them.

[gtc]

Lol... VCDs and Cams aren't going to bankrupt hollywood. Like you said, they're barely watchable.

It's piracy of the screener DVDs and Region 5 DVDs that they are probably concerned about. Those are what the "scene" uses for the majority of their early releases.

I suspect netflix and the streaming services have more of an effect on sales than piracy. If I can rent (and copy) a DVD for less than a dollar, why bother with a poor quality pirated copy?

[imcarthur]

Bad quality? Come to Pacific Mall in Toronto. They sell dupes of dvds for $2. No special features etc but standard dvd quality. The police raid them & they are back in business in a week.

I don't buy them but I have seen them . . .

Ian