1. Those are selling VCD without jewel casing and send uisng airmail They use airmail to avoid being check by custom / authority. 2. VCD pictures, Pirated VCD does have the following logos. - AC3 - not possible with VCD - THX - not possible with normal VCD - "DVD video CD" - wrong descriptions.

-- hatepiracy (hatepiracy@hotmail.com), October 22, 1999

Answers

Where did you get your info? AC3 is Dolby Digital and Dolby Digital can be either, Digital Mono(one speaker or two), Digital Stereo, Digital Surround 2.0(meaning four speaker surround), Digital Surround 4.0(meaning five speaker surround), Digital 5.0(no subwoofer), and Digital 5.1(subwoofer). Long Kiss Goodnight is DD Surround 2.0 (Malaysian Version). Also the new James Bond VCDs from Hong Kong (Goldeneye and Tomorrow Never Dies) are being remastered in THX. THX is only a standard to live up to. It quantitifies Video and Sound. The only thing VCDs can not do is THX Ultra or THX EX DD 6.1 sound. the only thing that should identify pirates are a true AC-3 logo, if it says Dolby Digital it is fine. Also many pirates are made from screeners and have messages at the bottom. Some pirated movies have a Z floating around. Also if the picture is very bright or the screen and/or subtitles look misaligned then it is a theater copy. It does not mean that a VCD has AC3 or THX marking only that it is a pirate version. Some people go to other countries and buy them and some pirates don't bother to put those markings on. Some pirates even send them in jewel cases and by FedEx(www.video-cds.com and www.coolvcd.com for example). You have to look at the movie carefully and read the package. And even this won't help since some legitimate companies, Era Home Video and Universe Laser(Hong Kong dist. for WB, New Line, and Universal) misspell things on the package. The best way to get a legit VCD is to wait for word of mouth. www.cdmovies.com does sell legit movies and guarantees it.

-- The Lone Ranger (rutger_s@hotmail.com), October 22, 1999.

Are you sure that coolvcd.com is selling pirated? they seem to ask people fight to fight pirates. Form the previous post, somebody did mention www.video-cds.com sells pirated mix with original. That's you are right So which site in Malaysia is original? Are they all pirated?

-- Hatepiracy (hatepiracy@hotmail.com), October 22, 1999.

So far I only truly trust movies from Hong Kong sold through www.cdmovies.com and www.asiacd.com. A lot of sites based in Malaysia or selling Malaysian VCDs always promise them to be original. I ordered several titles in two months from CD Movies all of them were original. I did the same for VideoCDs.com and The Man in The Iron Mask looked funny on disc and when I played it, the middle of the movie jumped like a Video Casette adjusting the tracking. I think the Hong Kong VCD sites are best when it comes to originals. I also use ThaiNetCity and 100% percent of my order from ThaiNet was original VCDs. And yes CoolVCD does sell pirates, you email them for the under the table method.

-- The Lone Ranger (rutger_s@hotmail.com), October 22, 1999.

You mean for coolvcd.com if email them for the under the table method, they will supply you all the pirated VCD? I am very surprise that coolvcd.com on the main page asking people to fight pirated/bootleg VCD but if you say that you are right, they are very contradict with what they presenting on the web.

How about www.videocds.com, if you email them, will they sell pirated vcd?. I heard from somebody that Malaysian distributor does have license but they transfer some of the video from VHS for the older titles. It is true that some of the older title are from VHS?

-- hatepiracy (hatepiracy@hotmail.com), October 22, 1999.

The under the table method is a hidden part on the web site. If you check out the Coming Soon page. You will see a note to email for the under the table offer. What amazes me is that VideoCDs.com and CoolVCDs both use CCNow as the credit merchant, so does Video- CDs.com. But CDMovies has you mail the order into CA, USA to CDMovies themselves or call them directly. AsiaCD has its own order page and takes orders directly from the customer. ThaiNetCity also does this. Seems to me the only places I trust actually handles the payments themselves instead of letting another company take payment and then tell them payment was made.

-- The Lone Ranger (rutger-s@hotmail.com), October 22, 1999.

You said that video-cd.com using ccnow but I check they do have their own merhchant account in Canada call www.internetsecure.com , how about this vcdshop.net the king of pirated VCD, they are having their own account too. so does www.vcdparadise.com, pirated vcd with their own account.

-- hatepiracy (hatepiracy@hotmail.com), October 22, 1999.

So far, I email www.videocds.com and they refuse to sell pirated VCD, althought they said that they can get it on the street but they do not have any intention to sell pirated VCD. I think they are the only site that do not sell pirated VCD and they do have the largest selection of VCD. I was looking of star war trilogy but they said that it is not released on VCD, they will not sell pirated VCD Most of the site, if you email them, they will sell you off the site, either by wire tranfer. Ranger, I thought that you did said that they are the best?

-- vm (v_i_d_e_o@hotmail.com), October 22, 1999.

They were the best. They may still be the best when it comes to trying to avoid pirates. The problem stems from the simple fact that Singapore, Malaysia, and even Hong Kong have VCDs for sale in the open markets. You can walk by a table in Asia, see a movie, and buy it straight. www.cdmovies.com has a store in CA, USA. They offer legit VCDs from Hong Kong. The same goes for AsiaCD who buys direct from the distributors. I find that I am starting to lose my interest in VCDs since I got a DVD player. It is not just that I can play DVDs but having to buy legit VCDs from CD Movies is too much. Matrix VCD is 25.88 Original English Version w/Chinese Subtiltles. I bought the Matrix DVD for $14.99 at a Circuit City. I can get many of these VCDs that CD Movies sells for $19.88 on DVD for the same price and I do not have to put up with pan and scan and subtitles. The only VCDs I will buy from VideoCDs are the Disney cartoons. As a side note: CAN YOU BELIEVE DISNEY HAS THE BALLS TO CHARGE U.S. DVD OWNERS $40.00 FOR ONE DISNEY ANIMETED MOVIE ON DVD!!! Buying the VCD at VideoCDs for $12.00 and running the risk of a pirate is way cheaper than $40.00 a pop for a legit DVD version.

-- The Lone Ranger (rutger_s@hotmail.com), October 23, 1999.

I check the site that you refer to ThaiNetCity, do they have only English version?. they do have the disney stick same like what videocds has. Are they the same or it is being localised?

-- vm (v_i_d_e_o@hotmail.com), October 23, 1999.

It it says Thai subtitles then it is English version with Thai Subtitles. If it is Thai dubbed, you will have to email them to see if they can get the Eng w/Thai Sub version.

-- The Lone Ranger (rutger_s@hotmail.com), October 23, 1999.

My wife is from Thai, maybe she will like that Disney title dubbed in Thai Language, they do have some title, you can't find it with those malaysia store. Last question, I assume Thai Video are not censored. right?

-- vm (v_i_d_e_o@hotmail.com), October 23, 1999.

According to my dad, aunt, and uncle(my whole family is almost all Thai). they do not edit foriegn films(Hollywood films are considered foriegn to Thailand. They do however have strict rules for films made in Thailand, in other words U.S. movies are treated the same way in Thailand on VCD as they are treated in Hong Kong on VCD. I have the Blade VCD and it is uncut. The only film I think that is shortened is Titanic...194 minutes to 187 minutes. The best way to see if it is edited is this.

Got to us.imdb.com(you don't need the www). In the search box type the name of the film. (If the title is similar to others youmay get two to twenty plus returns. Just look at the top of the screen for the mot recent one. Click it.) Now the main page of info for the film will have a running time fro the US. Write that number down and compare it to the running time listed at ThaiNetCity. It can't tell you what is cut out but at least you will know it was edited.

-- The Lone Ranger (rutger_s@hotmail.com), October 23, 1999.

Thanks! :) I will try and get some. should be good!

-- vm (v_i_d_e_o@hotmail.com), October 23, 1999.

I just found out some cool stuff. On Hong Kong VCDs you may see a logo that says Digital Authoring Studio. It seems that Sony HK has created the Digital Authoring Studio to be just like THX. It will provide much better and cleaner video plus nicer audio. I always wondered what that was. I found out from a friend. It seems that MGM who was dist. by Warner Bros. also had thier James Bond VCDs in Hong Kong Digitally Authored.

-- The Lone Ranger (rutger_s@hotmail.com), October 24, 1999.

Thank you VERY much for the information about Piracy! We at CoolVCD.com are very surprised to read about our "Under the Offer" table back-firing on us and to clarify this statement from The Lone Ranger, we DEFINITELY do have the "Under the table" offer in our new arrivals page. http://www.coolvcd.com/newarrivals.shtml

Please find ANYBODY that has enquired about this offer and PLEASE get ANYBODY to post the email replied when they enquired about it. We are surprised that the competition for the VCD business is so much that our competitors are resolving to spreading rumours! This offer is a way for CoolVCD.com to capture more business and also to communicate with our potential customers. If anybody enquired about it and later placed an order of 4 VCDs and above, they will get a FREE VCD from our Bargain Bin! Is this piracy practice? We get to sell 4 VCDs! :)

Thanks for the publicity, Lone Ranger! Do email us if you have any bad experiences with CoolVCD.com or if you are a STRONG supporter of our competitors. We are sincere in resolving any issues.

Now, about piracy : Most pirated VCD movies are either cammed from the cinemas or recorded from screeners. If from screeners, there will be a warning that if you have rented or bought this movie pls call a 1800 number. All originals MUST have the address and company name of the copyright holders printed at the back of the inserts (cover) If there is none, then its a bootleg.

-- Elaine koay (elaine@coolvcd.com), November 11, 1999.

This has been an ongoign topic, and it can keep going forever, but here's my 2 cents.

I ordered from www.videocds.com last Thursday, and the package arrived on Monday morning at my door in St. Louis. *THAT* is about as fast as it gets. ;) And I do believe the titles to be all originals. Here's why:

Ever buy a VHS tape in the US? a HUGE percentage of them have a sticker you have to cut to remove the tape. It's a anti-piracy action. Usually the stickers have watermarkings, holograms, or some other 'tough to duplicate' indicators on the stickers. Of what I ordered from VideoCDS.com, all three Disney VCDs had a Mickey hologram sticker on the front cover art, and the two studio movies both had a sticker very similar to those sealing VHS tapes, however these were on the backside coverart. I guess they could have potentially bootlegged those, but it seems more trouble than it would be worth. Additionally, all titles had Malaysian Distributor/for use only in Malaysia/not for export info printed on the back. (Of course, there's still a moral question about exporting VCD's that specifically say not to, but that's a whole different topic for another millenium. :)

So in closing, I can't say anything bad about the otehr dealers, legit or otherwise, but I can vouch for WWW.VideoCDS.COM as being as legit as I have come across, and even better, they have flat rate shipping of $6.99 no matter how many you order-- much better than a base rate + $2 per CD. :)

Steve

-- Steve (beepblip@hotmail.com), November 11, 1999.

I want to buy Hongkong vcd at Thainetcity but I'm not sure If it has english subtitle. Can anyone please tell me. Have you tried shopping at videomas.com

-- Kenny. K (zeldalink62@hotmail.com), December 05, 2000.