100,000 Counterfeit Dvds Seized

[george]

100,000 counterfeit DVDs seized

BANGKOK: -- Police arrested a pirate DVD seller of Bangkok's Ma Boon Khrong Shopping Mall Wednesday along with 100,000 counterfeit DVDs worth Bt8 million.

Shop owner Manee Maitree was arrested along with her seven employees at a Ratchathewi condominium along with the 100,000 fake DVDs, a printer for movie covers, bank account books and many lists of retail customers. The suspect reportedly confessed to sell pirate movies for over a year by selling to retail customers at Bt60 a piece and selling to wholesale vendors at Khlong Thom area at Bt100 for two DVDs.

-- The Nation 2008-05-21

[lazeeboy]

theres big money in those fake dvd's isnt there ,why didnt she pay the police like everyone else

[jstumbo]

The police probably have know about her for a long time, but now needed a bust to show the west that they are serious about fighting IPR violations.

[realmadrid25]

let me guess, if i go to mbk right now i can buy all the pirated stuff i want.

[jaidam]

Just because you are paying the police, doesn't mean they won't catch you.

I have noticed that people in my area who pay the police are more likely to get caught, than those who conduct their shady activities quietly.

[burman]

It's hard to sell 1000s of fake DVD's in a shopping mall quietly.

[A_Traveller]

^ In Pantip they are so b***** noisy that I avoid the place.

Regards

[Boater]

It's hard to sell 1000s of fake DVD's in a shopping mall quietly.

Have you been to the malls recently?

[The Vulcan]

So why are they worth 8million when she was selling them at 50-60 baht each?

Perhaps the BiB are re-selling at 80baht each!

[britmaveric]

All show - merchandise prob be back on the streets within an a hour.

[CL0R0X]

dam_n there goes my Iron man movies

[Q_Q_Dude]

It's hard to sell 1000s of fake DVD's in a shopping mall quietly.

Not in Bangkok

[Tony Clifton]

With all the kickbacks they get, I wonder which method they use when it's time to arrest one of the hands that feeds them? Bingo ball? Shortest straw? number in a hat? Lowest briber?

[Heng]

Lowest on the particular food chain they are needing a bust from. Just like anything else.

[sniffdog]

I still don't understand they make such a fuss about fake dvds, as you can easily download them free though BitTorrent or other sources like Rapidshare.

[austriandutch]

Any idea what she would get ? Jail ?

Or just pay a fine and get on with business ?

Everytime I am at Pantip and MBK I am amazed that 99% of what is sold is fake ..

What amazes me even more is the quality....

[Tony Clifton]

Were you ever in Panthip when it's hushed around that the cops are on their way?

It's the closest I have ever seen to Star Trek's transporter. Swoosh, everyone gone in a flash.

[jstumbo]

At Fortune Tower, they do not have the DVDs in the store. You pay and then they go get it.

The boyfriend of the girl in the apartment next to me used to run a DVD pirating operation for a guy from Singapore. When he was caught at the facility that made the DVDs, he was sent away for 2 years.

[selftaopath]

let me guess, if i go to mbk right now i can buy all the pirated stuff i want.

Or you could try Pantip Plaza :-)

[frogz]

The person who was busted was probably the only person not paying the police. They say that pirate movies are eating into the profits of the film industry and that a lot of movies won't get made if pirating continues. Up until the eighties there wasn't a VCD/DVD market and the studios coped. The multiplex cinemas bring in the punters anyway. If a few people are making a few quick, who cares. Maybe the actors should take a pay cut and the studios can save money that way.

Let's face it, 90% of the films that are produced are s**t anyway. Franchises, cover versions and CGI tinsel.

Let Hollywood lose a few quid.

[geriatrickid]

Pirated DVDs don't just cost Hollywood a fortune, they cost Bollywood, Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan and Japan too. The film and music industry is big business in many Asian countries. Not everyone is addicted to crappy music and mediocre films from the USA. That's why all the major production houses fund a joint unit that just doesn't go out and identify the places where pirated products are at their worst, they supervise the destruction of the goods as well. I don't think it's the Thai police responsible for the seizure and bribing them won't help since anti pirating has zero priority. Pick up one of the trade journals or the Asian Wall Street Journal from time to time and they will have an article or update on the anti pirating efforts.

And since many readers seem to be UK citizens, it's worth tossing this at you (bit outdated but I think still a good indication) just so folks don't pick on Thailand;

According to figures from HM Customs & Excise (In the UK), Pakistan appears to account for 38 per cent of counterfeit imports, Malaysia for 33 per cent, China for 13 per cent, Singapore for 5 per cent, United Arab Emirates 3 per cent, and Thailand 2 per cent, with the other 5 per cent being from smaller seizures.

Edited May 23, 2008 by geriatrickid

[jellymeister]

I'm guessing she was too successful and was taking market share away from someone else "more equal" than she...anyway, very likely that those same dvd's will reappear somewhere else on the streets soon......

[palm]

Let's face it, 90% of the films that are produced are s**t anyway. Franchises, cover versions and CGI tinsel.

Let Hollywood lose a few quid.

I would not buy the 'dross' at the full price anyway. Financial harm to the studios only occurs when someone who would have bought the original, buys the fake instead.

The studios have had the opportunity to package general-release DVDs in high-quality packaging for years, but most are stripped down to the lowest possible cost of production, so visually they look exactly the same as fakes anyway.

[TAWP]

As a person who has a distributor in his extended family, whos husband just happens to be a cop, I would venture to say that the reason this woman was selected was due to internal struggling within the 'biz', as alluded to above.

Become too successful and you get enemies.

[tezzainoz]

Pirating DVD's only exists because some companies want to make a massive profit and want no competition

A movie life is

Movie Theatre

A loosing battle as you will see only 10% of the seats taken

Then onto Dvd (make a 1000% profit as quick as possible

On purpose restrict the sale of this product to create a false value rating

Complain loudly about pirate version as the show the public what massive profits you are making

Then when the next movie is released drop the price at your local discount store to a price that compares with the pirate copy anyway

Itunes showed a complete new path how to make money and now pay for internet movies is a new Source of money

Sony was involved with distributing pre release copies of movies early to establish a pirate base for movies so they would become popular before the official release date then the put copy protection on the disks to show they are against this practice

Any one in the Movie industry knows the best way to get free publicity for a movie is to pre release a promo copy they know will get into the pirate market

The truth is, many movies companies would not have their movies get public viewing if not for the pirate industry or internet downloads

But for reason obvious they must say the opposite

You got this straight from someone who works in the industry

[Ga-gai]

That woman were probably not paying the right people. Or there could also be a chance that the other pirate suppliers would like to get rid of her. This business is ruled by maffia! People can't just show up in a market or area and sell their own copies. They all have to get them from the guys who rule in that particular area.

[paquito]

I just checked the going rate here in Nanjing, China: 5 to 6 Yuan per DVD. That's US$ 0.72 to 0,86. Selection of western Movies is better in SE-Asia, though.

[blakegeee]

Paying the police or not, this is regular practice in Thailand. Every once in a while they bust some sort of bootlegger, may be dvds, rolex's, whatever. Its just shit luck for the guy that gets busted. There are tens of thousands of shops that that do the same thing every day that could get busted just as easily. They are no smarter, they just beat the odds. They just have to bring in the reporters for the bust and make a big scene about it, and then show the world how they are cracking down. Meanwhile they didn't bat an eye at the 5 shops next door doing the exact same thing completely openly.

[TAWP]

Due to hardware-search yesterday we went buy Pantip and I'm happy to inform that all sellers are fully stocked up and ready to bother you with arm-pulling and signs telling you that they have the latest videos, applications and games...

[Ga-gai]

Sexy movie, Mister?