Bootlegged DVDs, A Punishable Crime

The term bootlegging was originally used for the act of transporting liquor for illegal sale or liquor smuggling, but nowadays it's usually used for making & distributing illegal copies of CDs, Cassettes or DVDs. The term is usually used as synonymous with piracy, but it's a bit different. Actually piracy and bootlegging both mean to violate a copyright, but bootlegging refers to actually reproducing a copyrighted work to resell.

In the music word it's taping and recording a concert without the artist's approval and later releasing it without giving any profit to the artist.

Bootleg DVDs are a serious problem that's mushrooming on the Internet. Volumes of suspicious DVD titles have started appearing for sale on the Internet. Hong Kong is a modern hub of all kinds of piracy and bootlegging. One can find pirated copies of Windows 98 for $15 there. Piles of bootlegged music CDs, VHS tapes, Video CDs, DVDs, DVD movies are available for wholesales on Internet. Bootlegged CDs & DVDs movies include the old classics as well as the newly released ones.

The problem is economically disastrous for the digital media industry. The quality of the pirated and bootlegged DVDs is extremely poor & disappointing, and they come in very cheap-looking, plastic bags, the type very common in Asia.

These discs are recorded on deep gold colored media instead of the lighter gold of an RSDL disc and these DVDs have no region coding. The worst thing with the bootlegged movie dvds is that the contents in many cases are missing or changed. For example the opening and closing credits for the film have been removed and sometimes some of the scenes are missing. They offer poor audio and video lacking Chromatic purity. These illegal reproductions can even damage your dvd player.

The pirated bootlegged video disc market is booming in Asia. These illegal discs are available in bulk for sale on-line. It's a serious threat to the original products and manufacturers. It's a sheer violation of copyright laws, which is a serious crime. It's a punishable crime that can lead the people dealing in piracy and bootlegging to jail. The laws of various countries have strict punishments and heavy fines to the culprits involved in this crime.

by Anthony Shane - April 12, 2005

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