Does any one know why do suckers paying high cost for Pirated VCD?

In Asia,pirated VCD (screener/DVD RIP) is only around US$1.50 There are a lof of site selling pirated VCD at a very high margin/profit. usually US$7,US$8,US$9,US$10.

I can't understand that despite many reports and site make known to MPAA, why they don't take any action?

Question? Are they on the take?

I think MPAA is as corrupted as the pirated site!!

-- Don't spam Me! (nospam@nospam.com), September 27, 1999

Answers

Question! How do you propose that MPAA take action when pirates are located outside the US? Especially Malaysia.

-- sethsolo (sethsolo@hotmail.com), September 27, 1999.

The MPAA is the Motion Picture Association of America, idiot. Middle Asia is where most of the piracy is at. Also InterPol is responsible for upholding international copyright laws. Just because the MPAA gets a notice, the MPAA must use the FBI or U.S. Marshals to confiscate the items and do arrests. Problem is to enter another country you need an internationl warrant and true legal reason. MPAA can also contact InterPol who tries to stop this but to no avail. Read the six step plan. Simply put the pirates are too smart for InterPol and too hard to reach for U.S. Marshals and FBI.

Here is some info for those who ever wondered how pirates get away:

Step 1: Store has employee who gets customer in Step 2: Customer asks for cheapest copy Step 3: Payment is not made on the product Step 4: Employee selling the item leaves the location Step 5: Employee returns with item Step 6: Item is sold outside of the store away from people

This six step plan is used by the best pirates. Since it is only two people, it is a personal interaction. The employee only has one copy and the employee is nowhere near the store so the store is not responsible. Authorities can not arrest you for one product. After all the employee simply says he bought it from someone else.

Welcome to the dark world of piracy in Asia

-- The Lone Ranger (rutger_s@hotmail.com), September 28, 1999.

Basically in Malaysia is a country where you can find many Multinational companies like Intel, Motorola, AMD, Dell and thousand of hightech factories. Sometime you do fine those printing original VCD Factory does over- run or illegal night production where they use licensed factories to produce pirated VCD, that is why you can fine press/stamp VCD from Malaysia at large. Recently MPAA joint with Malaysia Government raided most of the factories.

In Malaysia anyone who want to setup store must have license from the Government department call Finas, http://www.finas.gov.my They control all the Retailers, any retailers does not have FINAS licenses are considered Illegal and can be compound!

Please read MPAA effort with Malaysian government to fight Piracy http://www.mpaa.org/jack/99/99_4_30.htm

-- Chen (chen_sw@hotmail.com), September 28, 1999.

LR. Your 6 step trick is old hat. Authorities are wise to it, in Singapore at least. Law enforcement on piracy is way tougher there then in Malaysia, but still not tough enough :-) The problem with your 6 step method is that the authorities would stake out the employee and tail him and finally sieze the goods from where he gets them from, and nab him. I know of one store in SG which operates on a variation, whereby when you walk in the store, and produce a "membership" card and pre-order your movie titles, cash is paid up front and then the items would be hand delivered by a runner to your mailing address with the goods originating from a source across the border in Malaysia. So very difficult for authorities to obtain evidence that way.

Chen, you have mentioned how the Malaysian authorities would conduct raids but you failed to highlight the second portion of the article, which states that close co-operation with the Malaysian Govt is the key for the problem to be eliminated, and this is still not forthcoming, that is why I posed the question. I have seen enough staged "raids" with my own eyes. So enough gobbledygock and broken promises. The truth is the Malaysian Govt would never co-operate fully as VCD piracy rakes in big foreign exchange bucks from both Singapore and worldwide. So what I am looking for, is a response on what future actions may be, and *not a report on the current state of affairs*.

Sethsolo

-- Sethsolo (sethsolo@hotmail.com), September 28, 1999.

Sethsolo, everywhere you go in Malaysia, you can find people selling pirated software /VCD and etc. I read a report that Adobe CEO was shock to find out that their companies software worth few thousand USD was sold in a single cd at only US$2. It is true that I personally saw raiding but somehow some of the store are made known before raiding! I wonder... In Malaysia it is quite open, not like Singapore, but I do find some appartment ground floor in Singapore, people selling pirated VCD. Unlike in Malaysia where you can find it in the shopping complex!. That is one of the main reason why prices of Original VCD in Malaysia is the lowest in the world. They have to fight with those Pirated VCD. The factories in Malaysia, day time shift is doing original license CD/VCD etc. but at night, they are stamping prated VCD. Not to mention, you can even rent a pirated VCD at US$0.26 for 3 days in Malaysia! MPAA is still monitoring the progress in Malaysia. In fact 99% star war 1 are made in Malaysia.

-- chen (chen_sw@hormail.com), September 28, 1999.

My experience in Thailand was that you looked through a catalogue of films and paid the shopfront. Your 'order' was faxed off to a supplier who then hand couriered them to your address. This method cost about A$4 per film. They were very good copies as well.

-- Samantha (samanthaj9@hotmail.com), January 09, 2000.

Samantha,

That method is being used now since the crackdown has begun. It is especially tightening now with many storefronts being watched and searched completely. The reason? The ban on Anna and The King has forced Thailand to conduct unwarranted searches of stores and tables. Those stores and tables that have either Anna and The King copies( (listed or in a catalog) are then arrested. Thailand has even resorted to searches at customs to keep this film out of Thailand and searches at customs for pirated films coming out of Thailand. My aunt can not bring me anymore movies on VCD from there due to this new policy.

-- The Lone Ranger (rutger_s@hotmail.com), January 10, 2000.

THE GOVERNMENT WON'T GIVE A SHIT. IN THE NEWS YESTERDAY, IT WAS REPORTED ORIGINAL VCD ARE SLASHING THEIR PRICES. PIRACY HAS WON. THIS SHOWS THE LAW DOES NOT WORK IN MALAYSIA. NO ONE GIVES A SHIT. JUST WANT TO MAKE MONEY. COPY AND SELL. THE GOVERNMENT JUST SIT DOWN AND SAY,"AIYAH I DON'T CARE. THIS IS FREE MARKET"

-- Batman (abc@123.com), February 21, 2001.

If these pirate VCDs are so cheap and popular, do they sell them on the net and if so where? And why aren't the prosecuted for selling on line if they do? Sorry if I sound dull, but I thought the internet law for piracy was related to the country where the purchaser is!

-- chrismaggs@tinyworld.co.uk (chrismaggs@tinyworld.co.uk), March 28, 2001.

"When the buying stops, the killing will stop." This is the theme for illegal poaching. I guess it's applicable with piracy as well. We do so many documentaries on the former, but none on the latter. I'm a Malaysian and I do buy pirated VCDs. Guilty as charged. It became so normal, easy and common here that what's wrong appeared right and harmless. However, one day, I made the effort to follow the tiny prompting in my heart to find out more about piracy and realised the harm and wrong. Trust me, eventhough I'm not the only one, I'm in a really really minority group. To many, all pirates see is the glamour and wealth of hollywood. They're just taking a few dollars off them. Actresses, actors, producers and directors still see millions. Softwares are sold for hundreds of dollars here, soon to be obsolete within months. And then, everywhere you go, you see what you need for just RM5 - 10. Now, you tell me which one you will get? The battle is hard. The temptation is great. I'm not supporting the trait, I'm just telling you the truth. To many, being honourable and buying the original just add on to the millions of dollars the rich already have and you became poorer. They won't say thank you, or I'm grateful - you'll just see them on TV showing their middle finger, make merry and flaunting their wealth like nobody business. As for me, I'm going to watch movie in the cinema - good ones and save my time from lousy ones. As for softwares, I will get pirated ones.

-- km (kmchan1@hotmail.com), February 16, 2003.