Pirate DVD Movies Emerge In Asia
(12/11/98, 6:14 p.m. ET)
By Andy Patrizio, TechWeb
techweb.com
Nearly two years after the introduction of DVD as a
movie format, bootleggers in Asia have found a novel
way to create pirated DVDs, by copying the laser-disc
version of a film and pressing it onto a DVD disc.
When the DVD format was being hammered out,
Hollywood balked because the high-quality video picture
on DVDs doesn't degrade, making them ideal for endless
copying. That delayed the introduction of DVD and
forced DVD makers to implement strict anti-piracy
measures, such as data encryption.
But bootleg DVDs have emerged in Hong Kong and
Australia. At first, the pirated titles were Disney classics
like Bambi, Alice in Wonderland, Fantasia, Pinocchio,
and Cinderella, as well as Gone With the Wind. But
more recently, a copy of Titanic has come on the
market.
The movies were first brought to the attention of a DVD
fan site, The Digital Bits. Webmaster Bill Hunt received
bootlegged copies of the movies from a friend who
visited Hong Kong on business and found them openly
for sale in a video store. "The store proprietor even told
[his source] they are illegal copies," said Hunt. "The most
amazing part is that an inspector from the Hong Kong
government, who's supposed to look for this stuff, was in
the store and walked right past them."
The packaging on the bootlegged movies lacks the
movie-studio logos. Instead, each case is stamped with
the name Evervision. The Motion Picture Association of
America (MPAA) knows Evervision very well.
Evervision is based in Taiwan, where copyrights to
works created before 1965 are not considered valid by
law. "Evervision is a company that has been engaged in
selling pre-65 products, and it has been fairly active," said
Ric Hirsch, senior vice president and director of
worldwide anti-piracy for the MPAA.
Although the works aren't protected in Taiwan, where
they originate, once they leave Taiwan they infringe on
copyright laws, said Hirsch. Anyone importing or selling
the titles in the United States could face criminal
charges. As for Evervision, Hirsch said, the MPAA is
trying to prevent the company from continuing to create
pirated movies.
The difficulty of stamping out piracy in Asia is due to a
combination of loose laws, lack of government
enforcement, and lately, the economic crisis. There are
more than 320 optical-disc plants in the Asia-Pacific
region, some clandestine, some legitimate. Some
countries, like Hong Kong, are very responsive, while
others, like Malaysia, have done little to stop piracy.
The temptation for DVD consumers is great, since none
of the bootlegged films have been issued on DVD except
Gone With the Wind. The director of Titanic, James
Cameron, recently said a DVD version of the film is in
the works, but no release date has been set.
Disney has been reluctant to release its classic animation
titles on DVD at all. Hunt implored readers of his Web
page not to buy the discs, for fear of making the studios
even more reticent to support DVD.
The solution is two-fold, said Hirsch, requiring legal
enforcement and education of the public. Consumers
need to know that bootleg DVDs are not only illegal, but
often of low quality. "A lot of the product is sub-quality,"
he said. "It's certainly not up to the standards that any of
our members would hold."
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