Crackdown on anime DVD/VCD trade...

[dzone23]

would like to note that big companies make it difficult for people to easily enjoy the real stuff. Would like to note that my DVD player wouldn't play original DVD region 1 stuff that cost an arm and a leg for me to purchase in the US. But it easily plays pirated stuff bought for p50.

What exactly is the logic behind the stupid region coding when big companies price the DVDs similarly across all the regions?

[B)
"i know, i know, prices for region 3 have recently dropped, but that is just a reaction to low sales/piracy"

[archaznable]

to cut the stories short the artist are the ones who are really loosing profit here because they are the ones who are doing really great original stuff that we really enjoyed. If piracy goes on the artist will no longer make original stuffs. Piracy is killing the entertainment industries.

[matttracker]

cowboyx said:

I would not be surprised if OMB’s recent raid was based on a tip. Ayala Land, which operates Glorietta, has made an effort in the past to prohibit the sale of pirated DVDs. I will not go into details, but I do know that pirated DVD movie retailers in Glorietta made an extra effort to continue trading their wares. How did OMB find out that Filbars, known more as mag and comic book store, sells unlicensed anime dvd?

If I were a pirated DVD retailer with a mall presence, I would be extremely bothered by this development.

My point is that lets be careful discussing and pointing out pirated DVD sources. Better safe than deal with an army of lawyers. My two centavos.

Interesting read on piracy in the Philippines:

www.iipa.com/rbc/2006/2006SPEC301PHILIPPINES.pdf
[/quote/]

I agree with you, my friend. We are not here to glorify nor justify piracy. I admit that I too buy pirated stuff, but limited only to movies and games. I am putting up a business right now and I don't want my products to be bootlegged by someone. It takes dedication, tears, restless nights, sacrifices and preseverance to be able to compete in a dog-eat-dog world. A friend of mine once said that "Piracy is the best form of flattery". I know it's a bad joke but if you see it in a twisted manner, it reaches the class c and d kasi eh. Mahirap ang pera ngayon at mahirap din magbenta. I am hoping that one day, the big corporations would realize this and make the prices affordable. Para naman ganahan ang mga tao bumili at manumbalik ang creativity nila or appreciation, ika nga nila.

[haseo]

There was this one time, my friend and I were looking over cd's at the old viramall when suddenly a raid happened XD

The shopkeeper knew my friend since he bought from them often and told us to hide behind the counter... all the displayed cd's and dvd's were taken away, but a few minutes later, they opened a new box and just replaced them. =P

Just a funny story hehehe, I doubt piracy can be easily stopped when the people handling it stop halfway.

[viper2391]

I believe it would be next to impossible to stop Piracy on 3rd and developing countries like us simply because of economics. I saw once on TV when Julius Babao and Tin-tin were featured because of their DVD collection --- they say they never buy pirated. True. Why? because they can afford it. What is 2K to them? Nothing compared to salaried workers. Just imagine this scenario you have 3 kids and wanted to take them out for a movie, Superman for instance, the lowest price for any decent cinema would be P100 so P100 x 5 (plus you and your wife, not including the yaya) easily translates to P500 and of course you have to take them to dinner or lunch which can easily cost up to P500-600 plus gasoline or fare you could end up spending P1,200+ on that day whereas compared if you buy a pirated DVD for say P80 and stayed home and spend P200 for merienda any one will always opt for pirated DVD just to save save save.
It's not really hopeless, if our economy becomes good and people have proper and decent purchasing powers then Piracy could be reduced. Heck if I had the money I will buy an original myself. I was in Japan a few months back and everybody is getting original DVDs even if it costs too much (Yes DVDs in Japan are very expensive roughly 40000 - 80000 yen) and I asked why? Simple, because they can afford to.
So its a very long and hard battle to wipe out piracy here I just wish them all the luck.

[matttracker]

viper2391 said:

I believe it would be next to impossible to stop Piracy on 3rd and developing countries like us simply because of economics. I saw once on TV when Julius Babao and Tin-tin were featured because of their DVD collection --- they say they never buy pirated. True. Why? because they can afford it. What is 2K to them? Nothing compared to salaried workers. Just imagine this scenario you have 3 kids and wanted to take them out for a movie, Superman for instance, the lowest price for any decent cinema would be P100 so P100 x 5 (plus you and your wife, not including the yaya) easily translates to P500 and of course you have to take them to dinner or lunch which can easily cost up to P500-600 plus gasoline or fare you could end up spending P1,200+ on that day whereas compared if you buy a pirated DVD for say P80 and stayed home and spend P200 for merienda any one will always opt for pirated DVD just to save save save.
It's not really hopeless, if our economy becomes good and people have proper and decent purchasing powers then Piracy could be reduced. Heck if I had the money I will buy an original myself. I was in Japan a few months back and everybody is getting original DVDs even if it costs too much (Yes DVDs in Japan are very expensive roughly 40000 - 80000 yen) and I asked why? Simple, because they can afford to.
So its a very long and hard battle to wipe out piracy here I just wish them all the luck.

Amen brother, amen! Very well said. Hoping that in the near future, things will be better.

[ALeX]

its piracy that makes bad movies great (or more tolerable) planning on spending P500+ watchin manny paquiao the movie with the family at the cinemas? why when you can spend only P50 and watch in the comfort of your own home ;D

[cmdrjanjalani]

I think the loss a lot of movie and music companies are claiming is too much, considering majority of the people who buy pirated can't afford the original. Not to mention the fact that piracy can sometimes help those who can afford to know if the products that they are going to buy is of high quality. For example in music file sharing, one good song is not enough for you to buy a certain artist's album. But if you liked the other songs the artist made, you might be compelled to buy the actual authentic CD if you can afford it.

Another thing is that there is only a limited selection of DVDs here in the Philippines. For example, the movies that are often being sold in stores are mainstream cinema with some B-movie and bad made-for-TV movies that cash in on a certain trend. For DVD compilations of TV shows, only the highest rated TV shows actually see the original DVDs being sold here. If it's an obscure art film or a TV show that has not been shown in local or cable channels (heck some popular TV shows do not have the DVD versions), good luck looking for an original in the stores.

I personally think though that the price argument is weak. The prices for DVDs and CDs here are already one of the cheapest in the world. Also DVDs and CDs are luxuries, and you don't need them to survive. I have heard several idiots (not in these boards) trying to justify piracy by comparing it to food or clothes.

[viper2391]

There's really no justifying Piracy its really really bad just image your an artist and someone copied your work -- I'll be pissed completely but I guess the right question would be "How come most people buy pirated DVDs? (here in the Philippines)" I've asked several friends and acquintances and here are some of their replies:
1. Can't afford it. (We may have one of the cheapest DVD/CDs here but the minimum wage is P350 do the math)
2. Practicality. (Why spend so much on something you'll probably watch 2 or 3 times? those DVDs would just pick up dust on my shelf plus it's not great a movie but I still want to watch it.)
3. The "Excellent" Warranty of pirated DVDs (does it have a problem? just bring it back and I'll replace it immediately no paperworks)
4. Even more bang for your buck. (hey, you can get it cheaper by not having to buy the plastic casing, P10 off easily plus your shelf could accommodate more DVDs!)

Let's just hope the economy gets better for all of us so most people can afford the real deal. As Gene Simmons would say, "Money is not the root of all evil.... lack of money is."

[giehar]

wow i didn't know a thread like this existed and am glad!

disclaimer: i am not pro or anti piracy. i buy pirated, but i also buy originals. i also download.

the downside of pirated videogames for consoles and pc's is the fact that a gamer's patience becomes too short. this is coz with piracy, they can afford to buy 30 ps2 games without denting their wallet. as a result, they dont spend enough time on one game and just move on to the next. this wouldnt happen that much if there were no pirated games and each game would cost how much they really cost, like $50. if every gamer had to pay that much for a game, then they would want to spend weeks or maybe even months playing a game and never be done with it, instead of most gamers nowadays who want to finish a whole game title in one sitting.

it's the same thing with pirated movies and videos. buyers eventually get greedy and buy as much as they want and sometimes they dont even finish a movie if they dont like it. they rationalize that they didn't spend a whole lot on it so it doesn't matter if they just didn't watch it, which is like throwing their money away.

another excuse i always hear from people who buy pirated videos is that they just want to watch it or watch out of curiosity, and are not collectors. i tell them that it's a lousy excuse. "just want to watch it"!? that's what you're supposed to do with a DVD! that's no reason to buy a bootleg! that's like saying only collectors buy originals, which isn't true.

as for filbar's getting raided, it think it serves them right. i wish they also do the same to a well known chain of pirated anime stores and the hobby stores in shoppesville who sell burned VCDS/DVDS. these sellers download fansubs and profit off them. fans work hard to subtitle anime as a service to other fans, and nobody has the right to profit or interfere or "pakialaman" their work. these fansubbers work for free and maintain servers so other fans can download and enjoy the anime for FREE and these sellers, who would like us to think that they are legitimate entrepreneurs with their shops in the malls are actually pirates themselves.

i can understand why pirates do what they do. they are just there to make money. i am talking about the sellers of the DVDS in quiapo and the malls, not the big time manufacturers who supposedly are with the hongkong triads and fund terrorists. it's the sellers of pirated anime DVDS/VCDS, who rob the work of fans that i find despiccable.

[giehar]

these are the same reasons my friends give me. sadly, a lot of it are true.

however, i don't believe that more ppl will be buying originals if the economy improves. what's happening now with piracy being rampant and the law being generally helpless in protecting copyright is that the public is becoming "manhid" or are getting used to piracy like it isn't illegal.

pldt advertises its dsl with a marketing gimmick that says you can download mp3's FOR FREE. they don't say that doing so is illegal. it indirectly tells the public that it's okay.

it's the same problem the MMDA is having with undisciplined pedestrians and motorists - they are trying new ideas to make ppl obey the law coz for the longest time, ppl have gotten used to getting away with breaking it.

if you're used to buying pirated dvds for P60, why would you buy originals even if you had the money? we have this nasty habit of always wanting a better deal. we love it when we do something bad and get away with it.

another example of this problem is downloading music/mp3's. a few months ago, SONY had a cellphone store named WELLCOM raided for offering services such as downloading mp3's into customer's cellphones. while i do acknowledge the fact that sony is protecting the intellectual property of its musical talent, they are failing to solve the real problem. the real problem is that there is no real legal way to acquire mp3's. with mp3 players flooding the local market, mp3-capable cellphones, dvd players and computers that all play mp3's, where am i supposed to go to get mp3's legally? it's a no-brainer that most will just download it or acquire it illegally. sony has done nothing [or not much] to address this demand. until they do, ppl who want mp3's will be acquiring it illegally, and by the time sony does something about it, the ppl will have already been used to stealing it.

viper2391 said:

There's really no justifying Piracy its really really bad just image your an artist and someone copied your work -- I'll be pissed completely but I guess the right question would be "How come most people buy pirated DVDs? (here in the Philippines)" I've asked several friends and acquintances and here are some of their replies:
1. Can't afford it. (We may have one of the cheapest DVD/CDs here but the minimum wage is P350 do the math)
2. Practicality. (Why spend so much on something you'll probably watch 2 or 3 times? those DVDs would just pick up dust on my shelf plus it's not great a movie but I still want to watch it.)
3. The "Excellent" Warranty of pirated DVDs (does it have a problem? just bring it back and I'll replace it immediately no paperworks)
4. Even more bang for your buck. (hey, you can get it cheaper by not having to buy the plastic casing, P10 off easily plus your shelf could accommodate more DVDs!)

Let's just hope the economy gets better for all of us so most people can afford the real deal. As Gene Simmons would say, "Money is not the root of all evil.... lack of money is."

[giehar]

i wish edu manzano, the OMB and the local cops were more like these guys:

www.grayzone.com/usabusts.htm

in the us, even the small time sellers are nabbed. over here, the OMB has to pick their battles coz they dont have the resources or manpower or are simply on the take.

last friday, the OMB caught a pirated DVD manufacturer REDHANDED making pirated DVDS with an industrial machine but the OMB didn't bust the korean or even file a case. i wonder why...

[ryusensei]

actually they never really noticed anime series from shops.. not until they cant win against those BIG TIME pirated DVD movies... sheesh

why can't they LEAVE THE ANIME ALONE! go for the XXX or Porn stuffs! not Anime! sheesh, its like they only go for those whom they can surely win... sheesh...