There are growing reports that Malaysian customs are opening all outgoing vcd's and US customs are seizing all VCD shipments from Malaysia. Is this because of the pirate stores? Please do not buy pirate VCD's it could shut down the US market other countries will then follow!). I think that the disk in question is crouching tiger hidden dragon. Do US customs release disks when consficated? How long does this take? Has anyone had a shipment siezed or lost? Is this a short term clampdown or is it the sign of something Major.

IN short please only buy from vcd stores listed at www.d8a.co.uk/vcd this will ensure that only legal disks get into the country!

-- Waynne Smith (hemail@ukfun.com), May 26, 2001

Answers

No clueless - this guy is right - I had a shipment of 100 disks which have been impounded by US customs this week! I would like to know what is going to happen to them! I agree with Wayne that the VCD piracy problem could hamper the entire import business.

-- Malcom Mitchall (merlin222@hotmail.com), May 27, 2001.

Malcolm,

if they have confiscated your shipment, they will advise you. it seems that they must have advised you otherwise you would not have known that they had confiscated them.

they will also give you a reason why they have confiscated them and where they are being kept. the reason given on the notice you receive. you said 100 disc??? well if they are legit as you infer, then you have nothing to hide. thus phone custom and ask for your cds, unless they are not legit. r they now or r u making this up? i know if i had any stuff confiscated by any one and the stuff is legit, i would be doing my best to get it back.

what have you done so far? what have you received from customs? would be very much interested to know????

-- CLUELESS (clueless@getalife.com), May 27, 2001.

My package got from Penang to Anchorage then it has stopped in Indianapolis. The package tracking did not tell me why its stopped in Indianapolis. I called the carrier, they told me that US customs seized the package and wait for their reply in 30 days! Customs have not responded to my calls neither have they contacted me to verify they have siezed my goods. I will keep you all posted of my efforts to get my package back!

-- Malcom Mitchall (merlin222@hotmail.com), May 28, 2001.

Dear Clueless

I am not raking it in I make $5-$10 per month from my site - which just about covers the hosting charges. I list many stores which pay me nothing for click through sales. I am an appreciated voice for the VCD buying community. I am a big fan of the community and I really do not want to see the industry threatened. I have had 7 complaints now from people who have had shipments consficated - this is an unwelcome new development and I assume we have a mutual interest in sorting out this issue - unless you are a pirate supplier(which I doubt)! Your emotive opinion of my site has been noted but I do feel that you are in the minority. And I defend each of my postings here as adding something of value to this forum and being the first to raise new issues (I do confess the last sentance of this posting is a little blatent and I should have worded it more carefully).

We all need to get together on this and other issues affecting the VCD industry which I why I have created a VCD community site. We seem to have 1 month to discover the fate of the siezed VCD's.

(Buy Acme soil improver now - hurry while stocks last - hey only joking!)

-- Waynne Smith (hemail@ukfun.com), May 28, 2001.

I have the explanation now!

The official reason these DVD/VCD are being seized are as follows: 19USC1595 a(2), 17USC602, 19CFR133.42. In lay terms the definition is: (a) Infringing copies are "piratical" articles, i.e. copies which are unlawfully made (without authorization of the copyright owner). (b) The importation of infringing copies of copyrighted articles in the U.S. is prohibited by customs. (c) U.S. Customs shall seize any imported articles which are determined to be infringing on copy righted articles. (d) Referral to the U.S. Attorney. In the event that copies of motion pictures arrive in the U.S. bearing counterfeit labels, Customs officers should consider referring the violation to the U.S. Attorney for possible criminal prosecution pursuant to the "Piracy and Counterfeiting Amendments Act of 1982" (18USC2318). This law provides a minimum fine of $25,000 or imprisonment for not more than a year, or both, for willful infringement of a copyright for commercial advantage, and a maximum fine of $250,000.00 or imprisonment for not more than 5 years, or both, where trafficking is counterfeit labels or copies of motion pictures or other audiovisual works is involved.

-- Waynne Smith (hemail@ukfun.com), May 29, 2001.

You're referring to pirated vcds. I believe all countries have similiar laws pertaining to illegal or pirated movies that infringe on copyrights. But what about original vcds? Why are they being seized at customs as well?

-- krashx (krashx@email.com), May 30, 2001.

Just my best guess here - the large order that one poster had seized (100 VCDs I think) was sure to attract attention from customs. Had it been something smaller like maybe 2 or 3 VCDs, it might not have attracted attention. I've bought VCDs from 3 different Malaysian sellers and everything I bought seemed legitimate to me. It is worth noting that the VCDs clearly state that they are NOT intended for sale outside of Malaysia and Singapore, which might give U.S. customs the ability to seize even legitimate VCDs. I'm sure that the growing trade in bootleg DVDs, like Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, is what is really causing this action by customs rather than caring about some guy who wants a couple of Kung Fu VCDs for himself.

-- Jason (Jason.Shumate@sita.int), May 30, 2001.

The VCD pirate problem is so big in Malaysia I cannot see a solution. I do however applaud us Customs for making it difficult to get pirate disks into the country! Sadly though I don't think this illegal trade will stop as people will always take a chance hoping their shipment does not get seized!!!

-- Terry Horene (Mich124@hotmail.com), June 01, 2001.

Who wants to buy pirate movies? Pirate VCD's are usually of very poor quality - from the old camera in the jacket at the cinema set ups to the knock off a video casette as quickly as possible. The pirate vcd's do not play on all systems/dvd players and this is especially true of the DIV-x that dubious sources are selling!!!

Keep up the good work you guys!

-- Rachael Millson (Rakki@tigermail.com), June 03, 2001.

Some pirate movies are pretty good quality. But I don't think I would risk having an order consficated by customs! One of my friends had his VCD's consficated by customs and he's pretty worried that his house may have an unwelcome visitor so he has lent me his collection!!!!

-- Dilbert O'Sulluvan (dilb@pirchate.com), June 06, 2001.

Ok now, this is one of the first times I have heard of legit VCD in ages. For one I recently read that 95% of VCD sold in asia is pirated and some of these are very high quality know as "telecine", which is the actual film encoded to a VCD. They usually have subtitles in 1 or more languages and are also heavily pirated on IRC and private FTP accounts. I know this attitude wrecks it for those of you trying to run legit VCD stores, but I seriously would not pay money for any VCD as they can all be found for free download. DVD however being of far superior quality is what my collection consisits of. If you ask me VCD is only good for getting movies before they are out on DVD or VHS.

-- Mr Jack Off (none@hotmail.com), June 14, 2001.

There are lots of pirate stores springing up and then disappearing within a few weeks ( there are some in the UK now!) - this is just a warning - if they are a new store and are advertising through these message boards - they could easily dissapear again quickly. Pirate stores NEVER list a legit address on their website and often only have a few titles on their site for sale!

I spend $40 in one of these stores about 9 weeks ago - still no VCD's and they have disappeared - my credit card company are not interested either as the order was for less than £100!!!!

-- Trevor Mitchell (tmc@alow.com), April 27, 2002.

hi , i am from USA. i was wondering if i purchase bootleg dvd in 100 quanitty and they seized by US customs . what i need to do ? will they fine or jail me ? whats their action against me or the seller ? will they ask me where i bouhgt from and take action on the seller .??

please get back to me please.

-- jonny fernado (musicamusement@hotmail.com), July 21, 2002.

The worst case scenario - your shipment is siezed then Customs officials raid your house and sieze all computer equipment DVDs and VCDs and after a lenghthy investigation they give you a fine/warning. Enforcement against the seller is rarely persued especially if they are based in another country.

-- Waynne Smith (hemail@ukfun.com), July 22, 2002.

but it's only 100 pieces . can our country buy Region free dvds . i really dont know what to do , please help . some say i will receive a customs letter of seizing the dvds. can i just ignore the mail ?

-- jonny (musicamusement@hotmail.com), July 22, 2002.

I got it from eBay from a seller base in Malaysia. i paid him and he send me the DVds . I have waited for long time and seems it had inbound into customs for a month . i believed they were seized by customs . i am worry , please help. what will happen to me ? will they as me where i buy from ?

-- jonnyfernando (musicamusement@hotmail.com), July 22, 2002.

US customs have taken action on a shipment of just 2 pirate titles. They siezed all imported VCD's until they verified that they were pirate or not. - The prices of legal VCD's are so good I cannot see the attraction of risking so much for shoddy pirate merchandise. (The pirates still insist that their disks are of a high quality - I suppose that is the benefit of unregulated advertising!!!!!)

-- Waynne Smith (hemail@ukfun.com), July 22, 2002.

sir , so what should i do now ? can you please advise please sir . give me more information please.

-- jonny (musicamusement@hotmail.com), July 22, 2002.

I recommend that if you have anything in your house that is pirate you take it to a friends house (make sure you are not being watched though!) Investigations take upto 2 months so keep your cool and all you can do is wait. My guess is that they will probably let you off with a warning and they will keep the siezed goods .

-- Waynne Smith (hemail@ukfun.com), July 22, 2002.

thanks for your quick response : wayne smith

how come there are so many website which sell bootleg dvd and vcd which could purchase online still existing .especially auction site . why not anyone take any action on them ? is it legal for them to sell but illegal for us to buy ? i am really lost in this situation .

besides that , is there any legal FREE region dvd around ? i mean in this world . as i know all dvd were region 1-8 .

-- jonny (musicamusement@hotmail.com), July 22, 2002.

There are legal VCDs that are distributed by the studios themselves, but they are limited to regions where DVDs have not yet achieved much penetration. For example, legal VCDs outnumber DVDs by a ratio of about 99:1 in India. These VCDs are clearly labelled as being restricted for home or rental use in India only. These are priced at between $4 to $6, retail. They're not really that much of a bargain compared to legal DVDs, priced at $10 to $30, retail. However, the main attraction of a VCD is that it can easily be copied and given to friends - hence the low penetration of DVDs compared to VCDs in India.

Recently, very high quality counterfeit DVDs of far-eastern origin have become available for about $3, inclusive of the DVD jewel case and counterfeit label (jacket). These invariably have Chinese, Malay or Thai subtitles in addition to the English ones (no Spanish or French). I've tested a few of these for which I also have the original US retail DVDs, and they are nearly identical in quality. There is no skipping or pixelation in the video. All menus are present and functional. Usually, the soundtrack plays at a lower volume on the counterfeit. (I don't know of these are bit-for-bit binary counterfeits of legal DVDs released in those regions, but it certainly seems plausible). The jackets seem to be high-quality color offset reprints of Malay or US retail jackets, including the rating guide. At first glance, it is impossible to tell these apart from legal US retail DVDs. However, these DVDs rarely have the movie booklet inside the case.

What is interesting is that these counterfeit DVDs are priced about the same as counterfeit VCDs, about $3 each. Counterfeit VCDs seem to be getting flushed out of the market by the release of legal VCDs at only a slight premium ($4 compared to $3).

-- Linuxguru (linuxguru2@yahoo.com), September 24, 2003.

I've ordered pirated DVD's (movies & games) several times and continue to do so and I've had no problems receiving them.

Could it be because I only order 1 at a time ?. Maybe U.S. customs only scrutinize multiple pieces (per packaage) ?.

BTW, They come mainly from Asia (Malaysia, Thailand, Hong King etc. etc.) The websites do not indictae "pirated" but I just assumed they were because of the prices. I've been ver lucky with the quality so far.

-- Jerome Tanner (jtanner888@hotmail.com), March 05, 2004.

Question to jtanner888@hotmail.com: Any website you could recommend to order online pirated VCDs? How much do you normally pay for 1 VCD, including transportation fees (I live in Europe)?

Thanks Buddy

-- Matt (quentin11@hotmail.com), March 17, 2004.

try www.on9movie.com. they sell $10.00 for a dvd & provide international shipping. Discount prices if you buy more...

-- ken (buz688@yahoo.com), July 08, 2004.