A report from Peru
Just spent some time in Lima. At the street markets, along with vegetables, fruits, still-warm chickens with their feet and heads on, beef hearts (a local favorite), tee-shirts, and other traditional fare, you can buy pirate CD’s and DVD’s. CD’s are 10 Soles, and DVD’s are 20 Soles (about $2.85 and $5.7 respectively). However, a resident assured me that it was possible to get the CD’s for 4 Soles (assuming you are not a tourist gringo). They are good copies, which look just like legal copies, to include the standard warning about piracy! That they can make a profit at such prices, even without royalty payment, is amazing. Meanwhile, in the few stores that sell legal CD’s, the prices are roughly $16-20.
Given that piracy can be economical at such low prices, you have to wonder if the greedy content providers will back a legal last mile distribution system before piracy becomes entrenched even in the US. |
