Warner tackles Chinese piracy with cut-price DVD

Found on MSNBC on Friday, 21 April 2006
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Warner Home Video has begun trial sales in China of a movie DVD priced at just Rmb12 ($1.50), a move likely to anger consumers in developed markets such as Europe and the US, who typically pay $20-$30 for a recently released film on DVD.

The "simple pack" edition of the Oscar-winning epic, which comes in a cardboard folder rather than the standard DVD plastic box, went on sale earlier this month in selected Chinese cities, said Christine Hu, CAV Warner public relations manager.

Pirate producers have long benefited from loose enforcement of intellectual property laws in China and from state censorship that complicates DVD imports.

Low prices are vital for a mass market used to cut-price pirate discs, but Ms Hu said there had been surprising demand for pricey box sets.

This proves that prices will drop if you only pirate enough. Lesson learned. The bad thing is that it's easier for the industry to slap people with lawsuits here. Just wait until someone starts to import the cheap DVDs and sells them in Europe or the US; swift action from the industry will follow. A global market is only good when it works for them.