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- teamparadox, on 10/12/2007, -0/+54Ahh I see...so we are paying more so China can pay less AND pirate. Excellent.
- Trention, on 10/12/2007, -2/+41Try never. They may be reasonable when trying to stop piracy in a country where they have NO power, like China, but in the US where laws are boght and paid for, the prices will stay nice and high.
- ScornForSega, on 10/12/2007, -1/+39....unless we strip that power by pirating on a scale equivalent to China.
Men, start your BT clients!!! - Sandkat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+21Lesson of this story? Everybody needs to stop buying DVDs and start pirating till the studios lower the prices.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+20 Wonder when this will be the norm world wide?
- RatTrap, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14Real nice aint it.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11Just import your movies from China. Not much of a big change, instead of importing low cost pirated movies import low cost non pirated movies.
- vbrtrmn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11So, will it become illegal to import legal copies of DVDs from China? I've bought stuff off of eBay from China, usually the shipping price is pretty low. I could theoretically import these cheap DVDs for less than the cost of buying them retail.
- duerra, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10So.... where are MY low-priced DVDs?
Oh, I see. Since I am an honest consumer, I get screwed. I see how it is. In that case, I can play hardball, too. - kingace, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8We need to spend more time browsing The Pirate Bay. :P
- andydumi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Hmmm, we pay 20, they pay 1. Well that makes sense. I know their earning power is much lower, but i think it also shows the terribly high margin of profit for dvds and cds here, and hopefully it will give people a wake up call.
If only we could have a huge underground black market that would force companies to reduce their prices. - kolop1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7So china gets rewarded for piracy with cheap Dvds?
- clinko, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6First China gets Sony to drop the price of the PS3 by 100 bucks, then this...
What exactly are we doing wrong? - phytonix, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Chinese people will not pay over $3 for a DVD. $2 - $2.5 sounds a reasonable price in China. Why? Because with $2 in China you buy OK premade food for one day. How many people in China would pay $20 for DVD?? $20 is about how much it cost to buy raw food to cook for two people in China per month.
- joelito, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Actually it' s easier to control shoplifting than it is to control piracy.
And in the case of shoplifting, many stores have insurance.
And when you pirate you are copying, not taking something that can be easily duplicated. - dracostimpy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Piracy is absolutely legitimate as an economic tool in a free market. If a producer wishes to prevent piracy, they simply have to convince consumers that their price is fair. Obviously, if piracy is rampant nonetheless, then their product is overpriced despite their marketing efforts. Adapt or die... that's how the free market works. Copyright laws simply attempt to compel people to pay more for something than it is worth, and in the end it often LOSES money for the producer because they sell far fewer widgets at the inflated price than they would at a reasonable price.
Look at it this way: would you pay $8 for a McDonald's cheeseburger? It costs them maybe 35 cents in materials to make one, and they charge a little more than double that... a reasonable price obviously since there aren't any McDonald's cheeseburger pirates operating out of a van in an alley. And what has that fair price done for McD's? Try over 10 billion served and the biggest restaurant chain in history, all by selling a decent product at a fair price.
DVDs might cost a twice as much a cheeseburger to manufacture, so the fair price should obviously be somewhere around twice the price of a cheeseburger unless they add value to the DVD some other way. For example, how about charging $12 for the DVD but including a free movie pass? That way, they sell the DVD at a modest profit while also guaranteeing that they have viewers for their next premiere? Something like that seems obvious, but the studios want to have their cake and eat it too. Nudder idea... sell the DVD at a steep discount to anyone who has a ticket stub proving that they paid to see the movie at the theater. That way, they know they've already profited from that person at the box office, so as a reward the person gets the DVD for only a couple bucks. Either of those ideas would drastically reduce the incentive for piracy and might actually boost profits via increased volume despite the smaller margin. That's what they have to do here in the real world, since economics is a fundamental force of humanity that no amount of regulation can deter.
Also, even as the overpriced DVD revenue stream is lost, the advancement of computer technology has opened up new revenue streams from dazzling 3-D animations and special effects that are far beyond what was ever possible in the past. As these technologies evolve and become cheaper, the time isn't far off that the studios could remake a massive epic like "Ben-Hur" entirely on computer at a fraction of the cost. Hollywood is in a lull right now, but they'll bounce back as long as they adapt and don't alienate their customers. - Drealoth, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4The piracy stories always remind me of the phone companies of old.
Bell: Long distance, only $1/minute!
(later)
Sprint: Hey, we'll give you $0.20/minute long distance!
Bell: Now introducing our low low rate of $0.95/minute! - Asianwaste, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Hmm... everyone else should pirate movies more often.
In all seriousness, this is also probably because the companies are making room for HD-DVDs and Blu-Ray. Which will be left at normal or inflated prices. - amk29j, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5What's the cost benefit? $0.04 cheaper per song? That's not too significant. I don't think iTunes is worth it at all. Sure it's cheaper than buying a physical CD, but you don't get a physical CD. You also settle for less than CD quality music and DRMed music that you don't really own. I really don't think it's worth it.
- SetarconeX, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Wow, finally all that stuff they taught us in economics class actually happened!
If there is no demand, then price goes down. At least, that's what my high school economics textbook said.
Over here in the States though, if there's little demand, usually the MPAA just sues people until they get money anyway. Good to see them actually cave in to the free market for once. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4"Got a better solution?"
Yes. Carry on pirating. I do it, why don't you? - HanSolo69, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4what good will this do for Fox? does anyone seriously think it costs $20+ for them to produce a DVD? they're still making profit. and if it works for them it's money they would never have otherwise gotten, no matter the amount.
- sacherjj, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Sounds like region free players with internet orders of resold movies is going to work well. :)
- spoonyluv, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4The biggest difference between shoplifting and piracy is that with most intellectual property the reproduction cost is negligible. To reproduce another type of goods is difficult and costly.
Piracy is a completely valid economic tool, when used in mass its a form of disobedience that can force powerful entities to change their behavior when consumers find the behavior objectionable (not too different from a boycott from a revenue perspective).
Intellectual property protection laws were written decades ago and do not take into account current technology, public attitude or behavior standards. As with all such arguments, the solution is to stand up to corporations and reform a law that was intended to protect artists and creators not Universal and Sony. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Online music stores like iTunes have shown a decrease in mp3 piracy, partially because of the convenience, but also because of the cost. A lot of people will be willing to pay to buy the legitimate stuff.
- sdub74, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4"The movies were to be released on DVD soon after their theatrical release for about 10 yuan (approximately $1.25) apiece."
Wait, so they're going to release movies on DVD in China for $1.25 while they're still in theaters in the US and expect us to pay $10+ to go to the movies? I'll just import the DVD copy from China and do without the whiny babies, cell phones, and gum stuck to the bottom of my shoe at the movie theater. - osc1882, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3This is just what my friend john said he would do if he owned a movie company. If the pirates are selling them for $2 a pop then you come in and sell them for $1.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3If suddenly the movie industries start seeing millions of sales from distributors in China shipping to the US they'll get the hint.
- ChuckCaplan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Your comment reminds me of Comcast and Verizon.
Comcast: Broadband Internet for only $50 / month!
(later)
Verizon: Broadband Internet for only $30 / month!
Comcast: Broadband Internet for only $30 / month (for 3 months, ahem) - sacherjj, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4It is much cheaper per song if you only want 1 song. $0.99 for a song, versus $14.99 for a song and 12 more tracks of crap.
- cuke, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2If they just did this in America then there wouldn't be any piracy here.
if they can do it over there an not go broke doesn't that mean that they're gouging prices over here?! - jakroo99, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Does this basically mean that there will be DVD quality movies released right after theatrical release in China??? Meaning good movie rips will sread across the web like wildfire??? dvdrips right after a movie hits theaters...awesome.
- sensia3, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Thank God, finally they realized that you can not rip people off, as all companies do in US market. Market strategy for Asia- either sell cheap and make less profit; or sell at $ equivalent price to few people and spend more $$$ to fight piracy.
Movie cos rip US off, since we allowed to make them doing this for years. Stand up guys now.! - slartibartphast, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Well it worked for us!
If you're an old man like me, you remember paying 80 bucks for newly released vhs movies. When laserdisc came out they were still too expensive. Then came dvd, with new movies starting at 20 bucks often, which curbed a lot. Recently 15 bucks will get you one.
If you put it in perspective and scale it, china is no different. If piracy were more rampant here they would get cheaper as well. But for most people they just buy at current price points. - Grayfox777, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2They're probably still going to make a profit from these cheap DVDs too, I bet. This proves just how much they try to rip everyone off with their $20 DVD prices.
- phytonix, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2No. A can of pepsi in China cost $0.25.
A bottle of Pepsi/Coke of about 20 Fl. Oz retail for about $0.37. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3The problem with your view is that Piracy in China is a huge industry. Piracy is very very very profitable over there since they don't enforce Copyright laws. So there it is a legitimate practice that has apparently been very successful at driving down the cost of DVD's. For proof I want you to RTFA.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2It's not the same. Even if all diggers were to stop buying dvds and starting the torrents [which i believe they do anyways], we won't drive the prices lower in a million years here - you'll see in China and South American countries among others, the pirated DVDs outsell the legit ones, since anyone can start selling pirated copies on the street.
The only option we have here is buying used off ebay and amazon. - Mohonri, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5We're (comparatively) rich and willing to pay more. That's what we're doing wrong. Supply and demand, baby.
- williamdyer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Stealing physical goods is, of course, much more difficult, and much more damaging, than copying. Copying can't be stopped, is extremely difficult to detect, even more difficult to prove, and fairly harmless, unless you think the RIAA/MPAA cartels deserve protection.
This is why real property is not the same thing as intellectual "property." - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2This is not new, guess what they pay in china for a Pepsi?
About 5 cents! Why because they won't pay 50 cents for one.
When cds came out they said it would cost about 1/2 cent to press one, cassette tape cost about 1 dollar to make. So this was when cassettes were selling for $7.95, projected price for a cd was $2.95. But I guess someone got greedy?
You get what you get and don't have a fit! - Smeed, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Its better to make little profit than none at all.
- RTCA, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I live in the Philippines. People here do not buy movies on DVD unless they are of the rich working class or U.S. citizens living in the Philippines on a pension (like me).
We can buy movies pirated to VCD format for anywhere from 50 to 100 pesos (1 to 2 dollars). Considering the average pay for those who work is around $200 per month, I'd say they're paying the right price. Too bad the studios aren't going to offer the same deal here as they are in China. - JorgeGT, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1the word is *competence*
- williamdyer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This is how:
Remember when people were tracked down and prosecuted for "stealing" phone service?
A pretty quaint idea, now that phone service is so cheap.
Sell movies for $3 and songs for $0.10 and you will see the same effect on copying media content. - JayRD, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2So this is we, the american market who for years have built the movie industry what it is today get a kick in the balls and spat on the face. Thank you movie industry.
- tmcdigg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It's only a matter of time before the riaa/mpaa disbands and a "registration site" becomes available for "direct donations" to the authors of content.. copyrights be damned!
Imagine all the donations.. living in harmony, pmp's everywhere, imagine no royalties,...
Ok, I better stop here before the copyright police say I'm ripping off tune lyrics and re-writing them for my silly pleasure...
I suggest this will take root in sweden, and go global... - dmoffitt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1note to self, promote piracy in the US to lower market value ;)
- mweflen, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I'd buy more dvds if companies lowered prices.
Until then... heh heh... no comment. - Ratteler, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"Try never. They may be reasonable when trying to stop piracy in a country where they have NO power, like China, but in the US where laws are boght and paid for, the prices will stay nice and high."
Unless WE TAKE the power away from then.
Outlaw Copyright. We CAN still do that. -
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