The Man with the Golden Doujinshi

Yes, they sell legitimate retail copies that are used at pawn shops. They also sell all dvds at the same price and I can usually find new releases there if I check often enough.

The only exception to price is one place that sells box sets like Soprano season sets for $10. Single movie dvds are all the same price.

Jah-Wren Ryel

Perhaps you could explain how "everyone" loses on bootlegs, but they don't lose when enough people refuse to buy?

Jay G.

The pirates already sell for less than $3, the article mentions the pirated copies sell for "as little as 68¢." The idea isn't the undercut the pirates, but to make the legitimate copies more attractive. If iTunes started selling music at 20¢ a track, it wouldn't eliminate illegal downloading, but it would attract more people to the legitimate downloads, since the lower price falls more in line with what more people feel they can afford to spend on a track, or how much that they feel a single track is worth.

Jay G.

The "DVD Rips" from these released are likely to be either dubbed in Chinese or have burned-in subtitles, or both, which are going to make them less appealing. Plus, the article mentions that these releases will be out in "as little as two months" after the theatrical release, while pirate copies, right now, are "on the street within hours of a pic's release."

The Man with the Golden Doujinshi

Actually, right now this same thing happens in Russia with DVDs being released early. If the movie is dubbed in Russian, or Commie if you will, they just replace the audio with the American version which results in perfect video but crappy audio.

Jay G.

This wouldn't fix burnt-in subtitles though, which these Chinese discs may have, since not everyone in China speaks the same dialect. Also, if it's already happening in Russia, then obviously releasing the same movie in China as well isn't going to make the situation any worse, and will hopefully improve studios' standing in the local market.

UAIOE

Can't you wait for the price of the movie(s) to drop?

Swahili

I usually do. I've noticed down in the US, DVDs are typically alot lower in retail price than they are up here in Canada. I don't have any type of PAYPAL or anything setup, as I'm still not interested in ordering online; but typically in stores around where I live, standard DVDs sell for around $25, regardless of how long they've been out for.

Brian T

As a fellow Canadian, this problem (exacerbated of late by the continuing U.S.-Canada SRP discrepancy on books, DVDs and many other items) convinced me to open a U.S. postal box with a friend many years ago. I used to live in a border city, which made things easier, but now that I live in Toronto, I still maintain the box and time my orders to my family visits back to my hometown. Even if I didn't have family there, I'd probably STILL keep the box and make the trek simply to continue saving vast amounts of money and usurious taxes associated with importing into Canada. I realize it's not an option available to everyone, but if you can swing it, go for it.

Swahili's right about the retail price discrepancies. Now that the Canadian dollar is worth more than the U.S. dollar for the first time in three decades, the prices up here for books, magazines, DVDs and other items still reflect a 30% to 40% difference that just isn't justified anymore, and IN SPITE of the fact that our dollar (and no doubt other world currencies) have been steadily strengtening for over four years. Again, cross-border shopping becomes mighty appealing.

As to the Chinese bootlegs, this is a much bigger issue than what's occuring in China. Toronto and Canada's other big cities are quite literally flooded with Chinese bootlegs, many indistinguishable from the real thing. An earlier contributor mentioned that the bootleggers feed off low-income customers who don't want to pay/can't afford to pay theatrical ticket prices. This is only half true. Some of the most upscale boroughs of Toronto are in the city's North end, where I work. This region has a massive Chinese population AND a very upscale demographic, and is also home to literally hundreds of stores peddling bootlegged movies—American, European, Asian, you name it—from between $2 and $6. Virtually all of these stores are in popular Chinese Malls that, thanks to these discs, have become meccas for upscale tightwads of all ages and ethnic extractions. The downtown Chinatown, a good hour away, is now home to multiple storefront operations as well as several entrepreneurs who spread their DVD boots on blankets right on the street, then hover several meters away in case the authorities come snoopin' and they have to beat a hasty retreat. It's facsincating to watch sometimes.

Like others in this thread, I'm proud of a very large, bootleg-free collection, but it's becoming increasingly difficult to find legitimate versions of the Asian cinema I love, which is why I usually order it all online. To get it in the real world, I've had to rely on a steadily dwindling supply of retailers who've stayed afloat by selling more than just home entertainment. When I moved here, I was able to stockpile massive amounts of Hong Kong VCDs (remember those?!) at bargain basement prices because the stores retailing them were either shifting away from media products or were going out of business thanks to the proliferation of bootleggers. The routine police raids on bootleggers do nothing but increase demand for and awareness of their product in the broader non-Asian public, enlarging the market as a result, not unlike the U.S. war on drugs, I suppose, although in this case, the black market is in plain sight and the junkies appear to be the hoi polloi of the gated communities rather than low-income families trying to scrape by.

It is indeed refreshing to see the studios pursue a different avenue of attack, but frustrating to see the people who've funded these bootleggers for years in the guise of building a burgeoning "middle class" being courted with legitimate movies for as low as $3 (regardless of burned in subs etc.). Guess I'm still not entirely convinced this method will work, but it does look like the best option the studios have got for now, even if those $3 DVDs are just a licence to print more money in the hands of the pirates ("These ones have no heads at the bottom!"). Meanwhile, Americans will still have to pay $14 to $20 for a new movie, Canadians will have to pay $20 - $28 for a new movie (despite having a stronger currency) and the bootlegs—which are often indistinguishable from the real deals because the Chinese companies enlisted to press them run secretly after hours while the government turns a blind eye—will become an increasingly viable option to an ever-growing clientele.

DVD Polizei

Wow. That sucks.

Shazam

Where the heck are you buying DVDs? Even HMV has some pretty good prices, which is astounding considering where their prices were a couple of years ago. Rogers Video even sells new DVDs for $6-$9.

Brian T

I think Swahili and I both are referring to brand new releases, not new DVDs of old titles. Most of the stuff that goes for $6-$9 at Rogers et. al. can be had across the border for $3-$5. Huge savings if you make a day trip of it and buy lots of other stuff too, even if the customs people make you pay some tax.

There's still a SRP discrepancy that shouldn't be there anymore, but personally, I'll shop where my money goes the farthest. To be fair, some deals can be found in places like Rogers, or the Canadian Wal-Mart/Future Shop dump bins, but the turnover is much better in the U.S. equivalents. Compare our Best Buy with theirs sometime. Night and day for the seasoned DVD buff.

And then there's the selection of course. Canada doesn't even come close unless you've got a independent specialty video store in your city, such as Bay Video here in Toronto which stocks virtually every new release that comes out (from A's to Z's, so to speak), but then you're stuck paying inflated prices again because they don't have volume buying power.