In one of the smaller malls in Iloilo City there is a section I affectionally call the "black market." Pirated DVDs can be found there a plenty. Often they are selling DVDs to movies that are still in the theaters. It is no secret that pirated DVDs are a big business here in Asia. I was a bit surprised to see them being so blatantly sold, not in some back alley or on the street by some guy in a trenchcoat, but inside a mall!
Just for kicks I asked one of the vendors for a copy of the latest Star Wars, Episode III, Revenge of the Sith. She found a copy, cost just 100 Pisos (under $2) and offered to test it on her DVD player in her booth. Honestly, it looked great, quality packaging with all the proper logos, the DVD itself even had interactive menus. I pressed play and was amazed to see a very good quality movie, good sound, good picture, etc. Then the Star Wars trademark scrolling prologue came up and I saw:
Эпизод III Реванш Sith
The movie was in Russian.
I didn't buy it.
Just for kicks I asked one of the vendors for a copy of the latest Star Wars, Episode III, Revenge of the Sith. She found a copy, cost just 100 Pisos (under $2) and offered to test it on her DVD player in her booth. Honestly, it looked great, quality packaging with all the proper logos, the DVD itself even had interactive menus. I pressed play and was amazed to see a very good quality movie, good sound, good picture, etc. Then the Star Wars trademark scrolling prologue came up and I saw:
Эпизод III Реванш Sith
The movie was in Russian.
I didn't buy it.
Comments
Post a Comment