Pirates Promise Improved Version of DaVinci Code

Y'arr, Matey writes "CD Freaks is reporting that pirates are not happy with the quality of the DaVinci Code. According to the article, "A sales assistant at one Shanghai DVD shop said the initial copies were 'pirated overseas' and that 'better quality' versions would probably be available early next month.""

Comments

From the reviews I must conclude

[Anonymous Coward]

That the new version will be 0 minutes long.

Re:From the reviews I must conclude

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe it will include all of the JarJar Binks scenes removed for "The Phantom Edit".

Re:From the reviews I must conclude

[glass_window]

Actually they just scanned the book in and put it in a pdf onto DVD.

Re:From the reviews I must conclude

[meringuoid]

Actually they just scanned the book in and put it in a pdf onto DVD.

Nah. They scanned Preacher and put _that_ onto DVD. Apparently focus groups said that mad monks from Opus Dei were all very well, but that the Saint of Killers just plain rocked.

Re:From the reviews I must conclude

[PCeye]

Complain to the Q.C. department below deck...arrrr!

Re:From the reviews I must conclude

[nwbvt]

I doubt that would help all that much. I've never read the book, but I read two of his other books in a reading group a few years back. Damn, he has to be one of the worst writers ever. Neither plot made any sense, the 'science' in them (both were considered intelligent novels by the critics which you could learn a lot from) was complete bull, the stories were predictible, the characters flat, the dialog worse than anything from the first three Star Wars movies... If the Da Vinci Code (shouldn't it be The Leonardo Code anyways? Da Vinci was neither his name nor his surname...) was only half as bad as either of those I fully understand what pissed off the Catholic Church.

Sorry for this completely off topic rant, but I just get like this whenever I hear how great Dan Brown novels are (which has been a lot recently).

Re:From the reviews I must conclude

[Sharp Rulez]

Actually, the PDF version on DVD is better than the movie!

Re:From the reviews I must conclude

[CodeArtisan]

I doubt that would help all that much. I've never read the book, but I read two of his other books in a reading group a few years back. Damn, he has to be one of the worst writers ever. Neither plot made any sense, the 'science' in them (both were considered intelligent novels by the critics which you could learn a lot from) was complete bull, the stories were predictible, the characters flat, the dialog worse than anything from the first three Star Wars movies... If the Da Vinci Code (shouldn't it be The Leonardo Code anyways? Da Vinci was neither his name nor his surname...) was only half as bad as either of those I fully understand what pissed off the Catholic Church.

If you mean books like "Digital Fortress", then I agree - absolutely horrible in every respect. However, "Angels and Demons" and "The Da Vinci Code" are certainly better pulp fiction, despite the poor writing style.

Re:From the reviews I must conclude

[Vinnie_333]

I wouldn't be complaining about Dan Brown's writing ability if I were you.

Re:From the reviews I must conclude

[Anonymous Coward]

There is probably a direct correlation between how little a person reads and whether they read and enjoyed any Dan Brown books.

He is the writer for people who read one book a year. Simple as that. Hence, they don't understand that what they are reading is crap - they just equate it to the latest episode of SVU or 24 and think how wonderfully complex it is.

Re:From the reviews I must conclude

[JunkmanUK]

I have to agree. Angels and Demons has everything that DaVinci code doesn't and would make a more exciting film. I don't even want to talk about digital fortress because it was just embarrassing to read. Decption point was good and sits happily in the middle.

I do think that the mass of publicity hype that surrounded the DaVinci code did propel it forcefully into the domain of masterpieces. Sure he's a competant writer but I don't think these book have the same hook as those from the likes of Tokien, JK Rowling, Roald Dahl etc...

Could someone tell me where in the 'evolution' of this book's fame the internet based challenge site came into it? I do wonder if this had a contributing factor to its success.

Re:From the reviews I must conclude

[Marxist Hacker 42]

However, "Angels and Demons" and "The Da Vinci Code" are certainly better pulp fiction, despite the poor writing style.

If you call taking the opposite oppinion of most respected historians on a hoax from the 1950s "considered research", maybe.

Re:From the reviews I must conclude

[Anonymous Coward]

Tell you what, that's what gets me about those guys making a big deal out of some historic innacuracies in the Da Vinci Code.

I can't remember those pedants *ever* raising an eyebrow about the dreadful science we get in litterature and movies. Ever.

So what's a big deal about this one? I'm guessing there's 2 differences. First, journalists typically don't have a clue about science (sometimes it's even considered a black mark :-(, but some of them will know something about history, so they'll jump at the chance to prove that they're not just moving air. Second, religious people are usually less comfortable than scientists with fiction because while scientists can just say "go right ahead and try it, it's not gonna work and here's why", most of what religious people will be able to summon is "it's wrong because that's not what's in The Book!" Same problem with role-playing games, by the way.

Re:From the reviews I must conclude

[Anonymous Coward]

I beg to differ, "Angels and Demons" was dreadful, full of hackneyed half-arsed ideas and lots of Brown's "I'm great 'cos I've been here and looked at stuff".
Try reading something like Philip kerr's "Dark Matter" instead.

Re:From the reviews I must conclude

[volpe]

Neither plot made any sense [...] the stories were predictible

So... you were able to accurately predict the precise manner in which they would be incomprehensible?

Re:From the reviews I must conclude

[CodeArtisan]

However, "Angels and Demons" and "The Da Vinci Code" are certainly better pulp fiction, despite the poor writing style.

If you call taking the opposite oppinion of most respected historians on a hoax from the 1950s "considered research", maybe.

I didn't call it 'considered research', I called it 'pulp fiction'. However, regardless of the underlying theory, there are certainly more facts in it than in 'Digital Fortress' i.e. > 0.

Re:From the reviews I must conclude

[bob65]

If you call taking the opposite oppinion of most respected historians on a hoax from the 1950s "considered research", maybe.

Why is a work of fiction supposed to be evaluated on the basis of factuality? Do you think George Lucas believes the future will be like Star Wars?

Re:From the reviews I must conclude

[Nitromaroder]

I am so glad to see, that I am not the only one, who thinks that way. I've read "illuminati", actually, I was looking for the real book - Illuminatus (this one kicks ass!), but my mistake was to read the one Brown has wrote. Its full of bullshit and IMO he is a pathetic writer. Chrichton for example has very good technology descriptions in his books, but Brown... :(

Re:From the reviews I must conclude

[Marxist Hacker 42]

Dan Brown has said in several interviews that he considers the secret rituals, secret societies, artwork, and supporting history of his fictional novel to all be true. It's the murders that are fiction, according to him, not the back story.

The problem is, his supporting documentation is false- the Priory of Sion was a political hoax created in 1956 by a pretender to the Throne of France who was hoping to restore the monarchy and be proclaimed king based on being a descendant of Jesus Christ and a line of ancient French Kings. The documentation does exist- but has been known to be false since 1975.

Re:From the reviews I must conclude

[bob65]

OK, cool, but even if the author falsely believes his own stories to be true, cannot the work itself be judged as a work of fiction, just like other works of fiction?

Re:From the reviews I must conclude

[nwbvt]

Except that too often his readers believe him as well. I know plenty of people who have, after reading one of these books, thought that they had learned a lot about history, mathematics, science, etc. His writing style (again, only in the two books of his that I read: "Digital Fortress" and "Deception Point", though from what I have heard the others are the same) is such that it sounds like he is stating facts, not that he is making stuff up.

For instance in "Digital Fortress", he describes the 'Bergofsky Principle', which supposedly states that every code can be broken with a brute force algorithm, one just needs a machine powerful enough to do it. After my reading group finshed that section, I noted that there was no such thing as a "Bergofsky Principle", and that in fact what he stated is false. There are indeed codes out there that are (mathmatically at least) unbreakable. When hearing this, many in my group looked confused. "I don't know", one stated, "that seems like a strange thing to make up..." And these were not brain dead college dropouts, these were intelligent honors engineering students (the reading groups were sponsored by my university's honors department and most of the liberal arts students of course ran out to read the more obscure books).

So this is not merely a work of fiction, it is a work of fiction that is dumbing down the world population.

Re:From the reviews I must conclude

[Old Man Kensey]

Crichton's descriptions only look realistic to someone with at most a superficial grasp of what he's describing. A pilot I know online has a great rant about some of the "realistic" ATC chatter in one of his books.

Re:From the reviews I must conclude

[nwbvt]

After reading Digital Fortress and Deception Point, I am not enthusiastic about giving Danny boy another try. Yes, I have heard several people say that his other books are better, which they pretty much would have to be. But considering there are plenty of other books out there written by authors who have not proven themselves to be complete idiots, its going to take a while before I ever get around to reading the Da Vinci Code.

Re:From the reviews I must conclude

[nwbvt]

Actually, yeah. There were parts for which I could see what was going to happen next, even though I knew for a fact that such a chain of events would be incredibly dumb.

Re:From the reviews I must conclude

[nwbvt]

"Decption point was good and sits happily in the middle."

You are kidding, right? I almost threw up when I read the part where the chick claimed that the proof that convinced the scientists that the meteorite was real (and thus that all life on Earth evolved out of lice from outer space...) would never cut it in the political world. Because as we all know, while scientists are willing to claim anything to be fact, politicians need absolute evidence before they are willing to act.

"I do think that the mass of publicity hype that surrounded the DaVinci code did propel it forcefully into the domain of masterpieces. Sure he's a competant writer..."

Ok, now I know you are kidding.

Re:From the reviews I must conclude

[Marxist Hacker 42]

OK, cool, but even if the author falsely believes his own stories to be true, cannot the work itself be judged as a work of fiction, just like other works of fiction?

The problem isn't that he believes his OWN stories to be true- he actually believes OTHER people's fake stories to be true, to the point that he was actually sued by the authors of Holy Blood, Holy Grail- who had been taken in by the same fraud back in the 1960s before it was revealed to be a fraud. Also, any large institution will attract crackpots who want to believe the worst about the institution, and Opus Dei has never been a very open order within the Church, and has many aspects about it that others (even other Catholics) consider to be strange and cultish (such as requiring minimal contact with family members; and choosing one's life path at a young age, as well as adopting mideval practices such as self-flagelation and other forms of self-administered torture as penance). They don't need any more help to be marginalized- they're doing fine on their own- and they certainly don't need their Holy Places in Europe labeled as murder sites or associated with a monarchist fraud just because they have the initals for Simon and Peter in the windows.

Re:From the reviews I must conclude

[beregond753]

Amen to that! Not in a religous sense, but I did attempt to read the book at one time, and can assure you that it's no improvement over his other works.

Re:From the reviews I must conclude

[SmittyTheBold]

At least the med stuff should be pretty accurate, as in A Case of Need.

Re:From the reviews I must conclude

[sasdrtx]

What is predictable is how pompous critics come pouring out of the woodwork (ok, that's a crappy cliche) when a book gets really popular. "The Da Vinci Code" is a good book for light reading. It has interesting pseudo-history, a convoluted plot, and a very fast pace. I enjoyed it immensely.

I don't, however, think it is great literature, and I think the character development was pretty thin. No reason that should cause such a hue and cry. Again, it's enjoyable for what it is.

The Catholics are annoyed because the book accuses the Vatican of perpetrating a hoax for the past ~1680 years. The more people that read or watch it, the bigger the accusation becomes. So they have a valid self-interest in suppressing the story (even though it's impossible).

Re:From the reviews I must conclude

[Stephen Samuel]

If you call taking the opposite oppinion of most respected historians on a hoax from the 1950s "considered research", maybe.

for me, the most shocking thing about The Da Vinci Code is that people would take a book out of the fiction section and treat it as if it was published in a peer-reviewed journal.

For those who don't get the clue-bat, fiction means It's Not true (or at least various random parts of it aren't) but some publisher figured that it would amuse you to read it.

Re:From the reviews I must conclude

[Marxist Hacker 42]

for me, the most shocking thing about The Da Vinci Code is that people would take a book out of the fiction section and treat it as if it was published in a peer-reviewed journal.

The author himself is famous for this exact mistake. But that's why this isn't a work of pure fiction. It's theological fiction- the religious version of science fiction- in the realm of slightly-alternate-reality subgenre. The author, Dan Brown, put a lot of work and real research into this so-called "Novel". Not enough from my point of view, but certainly enough to be convincing to the casual reader or anybody familiar with European art and archetecture.

Re:From the reviews I must conclude

[Anonymous Coward]

Of course George Lucas doesn't!

Star Wars happened "a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away". It has nothing to do with the future!

Please sacrifice your geek card now!

Re:From the reviews I must conclude

[nwbvt]

"What is predictable is how pompous critics come pouring out of the woodwork (ok, that's a crappy cliche) when a book gets really popular."

Its almost as if the more popular a book is, the more people read it (and thus more people notice how bad it is). I wonder why that could be...

"So they have a valid self-interest in suppressing the story (even though it's impossible)."

So do people who get annoyed when a book (or movie or any other work of art) comes along which dumbs down the population by presenting known hoaxes and made up shit as fact.

Sadened

[Anonymous Coward]

I am truely sadened that this made it onto Slashdot. Are we openly praising these people?

Re:Sadened

[Dachannien]

Judging from the e-mail address on the submitter's name, I'm guessing the point of the article is actually a political statement meant to make the RIAA/MPAA look stupid for (a) their obsession with DRM and (b) suing file sharers when actual for-profit pirates are so brazen.

Re:Sadened

[tftp]

You are sad because the movie has been pirated, or because the movie exists in the first place?

Re:Sadened

[Literaphile]

A little from column 'A', a little from column 'B'...

Re:Sadened

[bitt3n]

I am truely sadened that this made it onto Slashdot. Are we openly praising these people? I have digitally edited your post for the better quality appreciation by the consumer market: ARR!1! Ye murderous pirating trolls would befoul the pristine intellectual spaceways of ye noble Dot, will ye?! Ye scoundrels deserve no less of an intergalactic keel haulin' than the scrofulous scallywags of the HMS Digital Millenium Falcon herself!! yar!

Re:Sadened

[Anonymous Coward]

ah bullshit.

a) you can't spell basic words.
b) Truly saddened? What do you think to an African under 5 dying once every 3 seconds of disease or malnutrition, you muppet?

Slashdot is a place where every little little cog of the groupthink gets a moderation pat on the back every once in a while, it's not somewhere that you get truly saddened.

offtopic,antislash etc

Re:Sadened

[WCD_Thor]

Yes we are openly praising these people. While it is wrong in some ways, it is one proposed way of getting the big movie companies to give the public fair fucking prices.

Re:Sadened

[c6gunner]

Yes. As long as the movie companies maintain a monopoly on the industry, and continue to set prices artificialy high, I'll give props to anyone who rips them off.

Re:Sadened

[senatorpjt]

Are we openly praising these people?

Why not? The movie is openly praising Robert Langdon for violating the DMCA by circumventing the Catholics' encryption.

Re:Sadened

[Bing Tsher E]

Sure. And one means of 'aiding the poor' is to murder 'rich people' in the street for their money.

Re:Sadened

[Anonymous Coward]

What monopoly are you talking about?
What is artificially high about the pricing?

In short, what the fuck are you talking about?

Re:Sadened

[Anonymous Coward]

I had never thought of it that way. The RIAA/MPAA/FBI will be at Langdon's house soon.

Re:Sadened

[Anonymous Coward]

"one means of 'aiding the poor' is to murder 'rich people' in the street for their money."

no no no, we just want to steal their riches.

Re:Sadened

[Tango42]

Movie companies are the only people making movies? Who would have thought it...

A monopoly is ONE company, not an entire industry. Nobody has a monopoly on movies. You might complain that there's price fixing going on, but that has nothing to do with a monopoly.

Re:Sadened

[shutdown -p now]

A monopoly is ONE company, not an entire industry.

Ever heard the word "cartel"?

Re:Sadened

[Frozen Void]

Of course copying information which someone has "copyrighted" is equivalent to murder.I like your logic.

Re:Sadened

[totallygeek]

Judging from the e-mail address on the submitter's name, I'm guessing the point of the article is actually a political statement meant to make the RIAA/MPAA look stupid for (a) their obsession with DRM and (b) suing file sharers when actual for-profit pirates are so brazen.

I am amazed it is all worth it for less than a pound per movie. Maybe the industry can learn a thing or two about mass sales, customer demand, and proper product pricing.

Re:Sadened

[EzInKy]

Sure. And one means of 'aiding the poor' is to murder 'rich people' in the street for their money.


Yes, that is one logical outcome of an unbalanced econonomy. When few are rich and most are poor the poor will steal from the rich.

Re:Sadened

[Tango42]

A cartel is a group that engages in price fixing - I already mentioned price fixing. A cartel is not a monopoly - it has similar consequences, but it's a different thing. With a cartel you have multiple interests to take into account - it's only when those interests coincide that you can have monopoly-like actions.

Re:Sadened

[teeseejay]

The hell are you talking about? In the US, movie theater chains set admissions prices, not the "movie companies," and as far as I know, none of the movie theater chains are owned by the studios (maybe one--I think United Artists theaters still around. And I mean direct ownership, not "Studio A owns stock in Theatre B"). If anything, ticket prices are artificially low, and the difference is made up by high-priced concessions and on-screen advertising. In that sense, movie tickets are a loss-leader.

So what about the home video market? In the VHS days, "rental pricing" ensured that new releases were artificially high so that if you wanted to watch Pulp Fiction at home, you could either buy it for $100 or rent it for $3.50. But the DVD direct-to-consumer model broke that all to hell, which is why Blockbuster and friends hated DVDs for so long. Are DVDs "artificially high"? When you can buy a DVD for less than $20 -- cheaper than seeing the thing in the theater with a bag of popcorn, in most cases -- how is that artificially high?

Monopoly on the industry? Independent films are made every day, and some of them even get distributed to art houses near you! The only difference between the "movie companies" and your film-school buddy from college is that only one of these entities can afford Brad Pitt's 20-against-20 salary requirements. Anyone can make a god-damned movie, but because a select number of organizations can afford to so correctly, you cry "monopoly"?

"Informative" my aching ass. Can we mod the parent "ignorant and deluded"?

Re:Sadened

[c6gunner]

Well thank you Dr. Semantics. Got anything relevant to add?

Re:Sadened

[c6gunner]

We weren't discussing theater prices, but ok, let's go with that one. If theater chains set pricing independantly, why do nearly all movie theaters charge the same price? It may not be a monopoly, but the prices certainly are fixed artificialy. I wouldn't be surprised if they were set artificialy low - it discourages private individuals from trying to compete. Home video market? Rarely will you find a DVD for below $20. The only ones going for that price are a) movies nobody wants or b) movies that are so old that even the DVD's are covered in dust New releases are always overpriced. Besides which, even $10 is unreasonably high for a DVD considering the manufacturing costs. It's a cost I'm personaly willing to pay, but it is still overpriced considering the cost of production and the potential market. And if you're a fan of indie films, I can certainly understand your disconnect with reality.

News?

[Anonymous Coward]

Isn't it normal that the first pirated copies aren't top quality? I'm not sure how this is news.

Re:News?

[TubeSteak]

Not, it isn't normal that the first pirated copies aren't top quality.

The guys who do this stuff usually try to get their hands on (pre)release DVD/VHS screeners.

Failing that, they grab a telecine or an telesync done in an empty theater.

Cams usually suck because of their bad quality, both audio and visual. Street corner bootleggers (in countries where it's something of a professional business) generally get their VCD/DVDs from a source that is hooked into the topsites.

Cam releases don't count for much in "the scene".

Re:News?

[edflyerssn007]

when I first saw the title of the article I thought the pirates weren't complaining about the quality of the movie with regards to the tech involved, I was thinking they were talking about the quality of the movie (drama wise.)

Re:News?

[Anonymous Coward]

Isn't pirating illegal? *ducks*

Re:News?

[mlewan]

It is normal that the first pirated copies are of bad quality. It is true that cam releases suck, but they sell nevertheless. If the pirates can get their hands on better material, that's fine, but it is by no means a rule that they do. And "they" don't wait for optimal material to release their DVDs. (I'm sure some do wait, but they are not the ones first to the market.)

Re:News?

[sosume]

I bet you wrote those wikipedia articles..

Re:News?

[fritzk3]

Did you learn that stuff from "Seinfeld" (where Kramer cams movies) or from "The Scene" (www.welcometothescene.com)?

Re:News?

[macdaddy357]

If the pirates are making lousy copies, maybe you should buy them from ninjas instead.

Re:News?

[blhack]

The guys who do this stuff usually try to get their hands on (pre)release DVD/VHS screeners.

while this is true, kudos are given to the group who releases the best copy as quickly as they can. As of late the best copies have been cams (often mislabeled as telesyncs). This is due to a huge scene bust that happened last summer. A lot of the bigger groups got out of the scene for fear of going to jail. You are correct that a telecine is used for scene releases, but what you missed was that correctly done telecines are very highly respected. They are also not done in an empty theater. A telecine machine requires that you actually run the film through it. Because of this, you cannot run a telecine and watch the movie on a big screen at the same time. If you want more information on this sort of thing, you should check out This website

wonderful news!

[Schlemphfer]

I hope these "better quality" versions feature an improved script.

Re:wonderful news!

[clem.dickey]

Wait for the HD-DVD copies. HD-DVD is supposed to be much better than DVD in all respects.

Re:wonderful news!

[Petrushka]

Thank you! -- for ending my work day on an out-loud laugh.

Re:wonderful news!

[Spy der Mann]

I hope these "better quality" versions feature an improved script.

In that case, I want a replacement on Silent Hill, please. The version I saw was boring.

Re:wonderful news!

[Ethan Allison]

When I first saw the headline, I actually thought that they were going to edit it to make it better. I haven't seen it yet but I heard it was pretty bad.

Re:wonderful news!

[undeaf]

That's what I thought too(although I haven't heard anything about whether it was any good). I assumed they must have spliced it with a leaked pre release version of some sort.

Re:wonderful news!

[mpe]

When I first saw the headline, I actually thought that they were going to edit it to make it better.

Or include extras and deleted scenes...

Re:wonderful news!

[grammar fascist]

Even better, you were moderated "Offtopic" for... appreciating a joke! Excellent!

It looks like somebody didn't read the moderator guidelines.

You may now mod-bomb me, I am full of love.

Re:wonderful news!

[porttikivi]

Seriously, could this become a new art movement? Unauthorized, pirated "remixes" of movies, with dull parts edited out, added dialog to clear up confusion/contradictions in plot, better effects, new scenes without the original characters, or in the extremely ambitious case, new scenes with stunts of the characters? (Or aunauthorized appearances of bribable original actors ;-)

Re:wonderful news!

[Wizzandabe]

And how would one get a "HD"-DVD copy of a film, before its retail date? Yeah ok a month or just over, but within days of its cinema release date?..on your bike!

Re:wonderful news!

[ultranova]

Seriously, could this become a new art movement? Unauthorized, pirated "remixes" of movies, with dull parts edited out, added dialog to clear up confusion/contradictions in plot, better effects, new scenes without the original characters, or in the extremely ambitious case, new scenes with stunts of the characters?

Oh, you mean anime music videos ?

(Or aunauthorized appearances of bribable original actors ;-)

Unlikely, since the producer would then sue the actor for "helping with copyright infringement" or something equally inane.

Re:wonderful news!

[kimvette]

It looks like somebody didn't read the moderator guidelines.

If you can't even get people to RTFA, how can you get people to RTFG (Read The Fine Guidelines)?

Content

[Arghdee]

What, so they're re-filming it, this time with a better story???

Re:Content

[DigiShaman]

Sorry, it's already been done.

Re:Content

[Gryle]

Not re-filming, but they are digitally editing Tom Hank's hair to make it suitable for public viewing.

Re:Content

[AoT]

Woh, WOH!

Why you looking at Tom's hair that ain't suitable for public viewing.

ya prevert.

Re:Content

[HillBilly]

A lot of a rippers arent all that concerned with quality, just being first to be released. Even with TV shows they still do rush jobs and release rips with out of sync audio etc and therefore you have to wait for the repack.

Re:Content

[kubrick]

Ever read Foucault's Pendulum?

Re:Content

[M. Baranczak]

What, so they're re-filming it, this time with a better story???

No, not the whole thing. They'll just send it to their friends in Bombay, who'll replace the boring bits with musical numbers.

Re:Content

[TheAntiCrust]

Where are you getting your TV rips? I get almost every show off my college's network within a few hours and they are always high quality. Way better than I get with actually watching the TV. They are also edited really well. I never even see the start of commercials and nothing is ever cut off. The audio is also always synced perfectly.

I just checked the filenames and I'm getting my rips from xvid, lol and loki. I don't know about other rippers, but for TV, these guys always have HD quality perfect rips. In the case of Stargate Atlantis, I got HD quality perfect rips five episodes ahead of schedule. (I was finished with the season more than a month in advance)

Re:Content

[EvilIdler]

Those episodes you got five ahead of air dates were actually from
Canadian TV grabs.

I'm not sure Xvid is a release group, though ;)

Re:Content

[Anonymous Coward]

Heh, yeah as pointed out XviD isn't a release group, it's a Free Software (GPL'd) MPEG4 codec (DivX spelt backwards.) XviD.org

It's nice that it's so widely used by release groups who clearly don't care about copyright / legality much and would happily use a warezed commercial encoder, since it proves it's one of the best codecs / encoders out there.

Re:Content

[coffeechica]

Yes... especially the part where their plot generating machine comes up with something that closely resembles the Da Vinci Code and they dismiss it as complete and utter crap. Eco is probably feeling rather smug these days.

Re:Content

[Dabido]

So, two and a half hours of music! That's going to keep some Indian composer busy for a long time! :-)

Re:Content

[TheAntiCrust]

oh, heh, my mistake. I just read the 'names' at the end of the filenames. Oh, and Ive also noticed a lot of the TV shows I get are from Canada. I wonder why.

Why is this on /.

[PhrostyMcByte]

People cam/telesync/telecine the movie, and finally a dvd ripped version comes along later. This happens to every movie, why is this news. Even if this was unique to DaVinci Code, this doesn't belong on the front page of /.

Re:Why is this on /.

[Overly Critical Guy]

Sure it does. Slashdot is a pro-piracy haven. Everyone here thinks it's great that movies and music are pirated, and that it's all justified.

Of course, if someone rips off GPL code, that's a bad thing, and the offender should be sued. But MPAA/RIAA piracy? Have at it! Who wants to pay for what you can get for free?

Re:Why is this on /.

[Anonymous Coward]

It's from walk.the.plank@riaa.com.

Pretty clever!

Re:Why is this on /.

[Anonymous Coward]

The difference between ripping off GPL code and pirating a movie is that the GPL allows the equivalent of piracy. In fact, you don't even need to accept the GPL unless you intend to redistribute the code. While I think piracy is relatively harmless, I do not condone profiting from piracy, which is the equivalent of ripping off GPL code.

Re:Why is this on /.

[Zemran]

Maybe you have not been reading /. for long or something but it certainly is not a pro-piracy haven. Disgust at the MPAA/RIAA activities does not in any way imply a pro-piracy stance, mearly a dislike of bully boy tactics. Most people here say that things should be more readily available and free to use as you like once you have bought but I have seldom seen a post that advocates piracy.

Re:Why is this on /.

[PhrostyMcByte]

I'll bite. I think most people agree copyright infringment is wrong and should be delt with somehow.

What they don't agree with is the *AA treating all their customers like criminals with (sometimes really nasty) copy protection that the real criminals know how to get past anyway.

Or the *AA creating ridiculous numbers and blaming all losses (even stuff thats not a real loss, like them missing their target growth) on copyright infringment, regardless of how crappy a product is.

Ot them using mafia tactics of "I don't have much proof and might not win in court, but I'll drown you in legal fees if you don't pay $3000 for something we think you did."

Re:Why is this on /.

[Eddy Da KillaBee]

Most people here say that things should be more readily available and free to use as you like once you have bought but I have seldom seen a post that advocates piracy.

So you're saying that since I saw the movie at a movie theater this past Saturday I can go ahead and download a pirated copy, right? Did I buy a copy of the movie or the opportunity to view it at the theater? While the parent does come off a bit trollish, don't you think that a story like this, put on the front page of Slashdot, is wrong?

And yes, I hate the **AA just as much as the next Slashdotter, but seriously, why the hell is this story up on Slashdot, let alone the front page?

Re:Why is this on /.

[hereschenes]

Huh? Of course everyone knows that every new movie gets pirated. The article is just to highlight the sheer cheek of the so-called "sales assistant", and (perhaps as an aside) how that might unwittingly be an interesting reflection on society's attitude to pirated goods. Really, it's just supposed to be funny. Remember that? Humour? That thing that makes your tummy wobble up and down with mirth?

Re:Why is this on /.

[neoform]

Next week on slashdot: "Drug dealer selling bad cocaine, swears next batch he sells will be better!"

Re:Why is this on /.

[NutscrapeSucks]

Maybe you have not been reading /. for long or something but it certainly is not a pro-piracy haven

You are not reading very deeply into this. What goes on here is very much a justification-fest for Internet copyright infringmenet, where frail nerds tell each other that they aren't bad persons by voting the same opinions +5 Insightful over and over again.

Dislike of RIAA/MPAA tactics is only one small part of this, you can also claim that "information wants to be free", "their business model is obsolete", "people wouldn't pay for this stuff anyway", "their statistics lie", "infringement is not (as bad as) stealing!!!!!!", or really any argument that happens to fit the bill and you'll be lauded because you've provided moral cover for someone.

Admittedly, there is a small "free music" faction on slashdot trading their public-domain folksongs, but by in large the obsession with firesharing around here is very much because computer nerds love the downloading. (myself included)

If you have any doubt this is the predominate attitude, check the "DSL/Cable Hog" stories, Bittorrent site stories, or video game piracy stories -- same attitude over-and-over which is that "Piracy is great fun except for those meanies trying to stop us".

Re:Why is this on /.

[ResidntGeek]

I realize you're trolling and don't actually beleve what you're saying, but I agree with your statement. I have no problem with music piracy - sucks to be taking money from the artists, but I daresay they'll manage to live off money from concerts, promotions, and suchlike things. And I would rather forsake masturbation for a month straight than comtribte to the salary of a worthless, overpaid middle-manager in the RIAA. I cannot fucking STAND managers.

GPL infringement, on the other hand, is making money off the work of others. Different.

Re:Why is this on /.

[0racle]

but seriously, why the hell is this story up on Slashdot, let alone the front page?

I found it funny.

Re:Why is this on /.

[Moofie]

It's almost as if...there are different people, with different opinions, posting in the same place! Shocking!

Having said that, if you don't understand the difference between copying a movie to watch it at home, and copying somebody's code and selling it as your own, I don't think there's much I can do to explain it to you.

Re:Why is this on /.

[deesine]

You're having a bad day if you can't find the humor in this story.

Re:Why is this on /.

[rob_squared]

Well to be fair, some gripes with copyright are valid, namely the duration of copyright laws. If the origonal rules of copyright were in place in the US, then you would be able to freely trade or resell all the star wars movies, all the origonal Star Trek episodes, and draw Mickey mouse in any cartoon you'd like without any legal issue.

For some perspective, the movie The Da Vinci Code will enter the public domain in 2081. By then, the US will have already celebrated its tricentennial. The last Apollo moon landing will have been 99 years ago, and I will be 98 years old.

That, I think, is a problem.

Re:Why is this on /.

[rob_squared]

"The last Apollo moon landing will have been 99 years ago."

Crap, I meant 109 years.

Re:Why is this on /.

[slashdot.org]

Maybe you have not been reading /. for long ... I have seldom seen a post that advocates piracy

LOL. Seldom, no less. Have you even read slashdot between now and when you originally registered? ;-)

Re:Why is this on /.

[aywwts4]

Maybe you need to take a look at what slashdot thinks of the intelectual property...

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=site%3Aslas hdot.org+intelectual+property&btnG=Google+Search

Re:Why is this on /.

[NutscrapeSucks]

I was really getting at the "why", not the "what". Yes, most of the complaints are valid to a degree, and yes the system is crooked, but that's not why it gets dredged up here on a daily basis.

Sadly, even the EFF has fallen into this trap. At their best, they focus on critical public policy issues such as the length of copyright and the government tapping Internet traffic, but on the other hand they run "Downloading is cool, RIAA sucks" ads in Wired.

Re:Why is this on /.

[bit01]

Stop trying to pretend that there is only one point of view on slashdot.

There are many thousands of readers and commentators on slashdot with many diverse points of view. Everything from Ayn Rand ideologues against almost any form of government to lying RIAA astroturfers spamming bullshit commercial propaganda and bogus moderations.

Your attempt to pidgeonhole them into one box is just sad, and shows just how impoverished your own view of the world is.

---

It's wrong that an intellectual property creator should not be rewarded for their work.
It's equally wrong that an IP creator should be rewarded too many times for the one piece of work, for exactly the same reasons.
Reform IP law and stop the M$/RIAA abuse.

Re:Why is this on /.

[Anonymous Coward]

Great thinking! Music piracy is piracy cause you and riaa said so, and any attempt of intelligent discussion, no matter how meaningful, is simply piracy justification. F in logic, go flip burgers shithead.

Re:Why is this on /.

[Zemran]

"Most people here say that things should be more readily available and free to use as you like once you have bought but I have seldom seen a post that advocates piracy."

So you're saying that since I saw the movie at a movie theater this past Saturday I can go ahead and download a pirated copy, right? Did I buy a copy of the movie or the opportunity to view it at the theater? While the parent does come off a bit trollish, don't you think that a story like this, put on the front page of Slashdot, is wrong?

What have you been smoking? How can anyone arrive at that deduction from what I said? If you go to a movie, all you have bought is a ticket to watch... There is no point arguing with a sick mind. You should get back to your medication before you get lost.
    and no, I do not see anything wrong with a story like this being put forward for discussion. That does not mean that I support Japanese whaling, Iranian nuclear power or anything else other than discussing the subject.

Re:Why is this on /.

[NutscrapeSucks]

Stop trying to pretend that there is only one point of view on slashdot.

Where did I do that? It's rather "sad" that you'd accuse me of something that I intentionally avoided. But to elaborate:

First, story selection represents a point-of-view of the Editors and how they want the discussion to unfold. Perfectly reasonable to discuss. That's how this thread started.

Second, Slashdot has a voting system (so-called moderation) where users vote on whether they agree or disagree with posts. X people make a point, Y people vote it up. Observe a consistant pattern for the next 100 stories on the topic. Once you've identified the pattern, there's no problem in analyzing it.

Re:Why is this on /.

[grammar fascist]

Really, it's just supposed to be funny. Remember that? Humour? That thing that makes your tummy wobble up and down with mirth?

The wobbling part totally depends on the tummy. This being Slashdot, though...

I've always been a little unsettled by Slashdot's "Funny" category. It's not "Funny" or "Humor" or "Amusement" or "Drollness" or whatever - it's "It's Funny. Laugh." Like we need directions.

The sad part is that so many of us do. I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Can someone direct me, please?

Re:Why is this on /.

[ketamine-bp]

i know i shouldn't reply on the signatures of other people, but really, some people do read playboy for the articles... if people wanted to see all those models, i believe internet would be the cheaper way to go...

anyway...

Re:Why is this on /.

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm not sure why it's funny. I suppose if this is the first time you've had it happen, then it might be funny, but this is true of pretty much every movie that has been out recently.

The people selling them will tell you if the quality poor and if it's worth waiting for a better version. They'll also warn you if it's not in English (quite a few are French and/or are dubbed) or has subtitles (that are actually for the same movie).

Why wouldn't they? They consider it to be a legitimate business. The whole culture is based on this sort of thing, and the complaints against it are considered to be crazy - I mean, why should they wait so long for a copy (with subtitles/etc) and pay so much too (the price of a US DVD is very high compared to the salaries here).

BTW, the price is higher for the better copies. It goes something like this :

~5rmb for a camcorder copy (printed DVD envelope)
~10rmb for a DVD5
~20rmb for a DVD9

In any case, this is still a developing country - IINM, most (all?) countries rip off other countries products when they're in that 'phase'. I once heard it claimed that the US ripped of products from European countries while it was trying to catch up too. On the other hand, I'm not too sure when a country should be considered 'developed'.

The sales people have a similar knowledge about electronics goods. They'll advise you if one is better quality than another. Usually, those made in northern China are worse quality and so are cheaper. The further south you go in China, the more expensive and higher quality it will be, with the most expensive being made in Taiwan (I think that's the most southern part of China, but I'm not sure).

Things made in other coutries are typically much more expensive (often, at least partly, due to import tax, of course).

Re:Why is this on /.

[Tony-A]

You can laugh or you can cry.
Laughing's better.
That is the nature of humor.

With humor you maintain your sanity in an insane world.
If everything worked and made sense, you would not need humor.

Re:Why is this on /.

[octal666]

Obviously, it's a Pirate's Story, and Pirates are cool, it would have been the same with a ninja's story, or a zombie's one, and wait, pirates from shangai? it's almost saying "ninja pirates" COOL!

Re:Why is this on /.

[moonbender]

So you can't discuss intellectual property issues on Slashdot because you're automatically just providing moral cover to yourself and others and that makes your contribution worthless? No, sorry, that won't work. While it'd be nice to have people make the argument for you who don't have any vested interest, it's not likely this will happen. Disqualifying - and that is what you are doing, even if you're saying you're just making an observation - arguments based on the (lack of) merits of the author is poor style.

Besides, you're wrong. Slashdot is actually pretty good about giving differing views "air time". Of course you'll find lots of anti-IP commentary at +5 in the respective stories (and sometimes, in totally unrelated stories...), but you'll often find pro-IP comments at the same threshold. And meta-comments like yours aren't exactly rare, either.

Re:Why is this on /.

[Anonymous Coward]

Admittedly, there is a small "free music" faction on slashdot trading their public-domain folksongs

You must admit that public-domain folksongs isn't ALL they trade. A large number also trade horrible techno created under a creative commons liscense by some geek with no sense of music composition skills.

Re:Why is this on /.

[linvir]

copying a movie to watch it at home, and copying somebody's code and selling it as your own

Dood, shut up! The trolls need the copyright vs GPL idea intact, or they'll shrivel up and die from lack of attention! Won't somebody please think of the trolls?!

Re:Why is this on /.

[linvir]

It seems to slip below the radar every fucking time, so I've created a graphical illustration of how to spot a foot icon and what it means.

Re:Why is this on /.

[Lumpy]

Admittedly, there is a small "free music" faction on slashdot trading their public-domain folksongs,

Actually most trade our recordings of live concerts. I only support artists that allow and support free-air recording at their concert and the trading of that material.

OH you think it's a tinly number of bands that allow this or are no-name indie bands that suck anyway? Shows how little you know...

Take a look at one of the many databases of bands that allow you to tape the concert you are at. Taping includes up to portable DAT plugged into the mixing console with some bands if you ask early and the sound board operator likes you.

Personally I trade a HUGE collection of mp3 songs recorded on my MiniDisc and iRiver from Tragically Hip concerts I make it to.

I also do the evil deed of not have purchased a new RIAA CD cince 2001. I buy them used and that hurts the RIAA more than piracy does.

Re:Why is this on /.

[Kjella]

Let me just start off by saying that exactly the same is going on in quite many social groups outside "frail nerds". Here in Norway the latest BSA stats show pirated software on the rise to 35% of all software, a recent poll showed >25% of males 16-24 has downloaded TV shows (which aren't legally available anywhere). Particularly mp3 trading among kids and teens is rampant (try asking anyone with an iPod or other portable player) and college students have long been heavy pirates of everything, far and wide beyond a small circle of nerds.

On slashdot you at least see a lot more serious attempts at justification than "I've used up my allowance/budget this month already", if any at all beyond "Why not? It's free". Here on slashdot you at least get a broader discussion on the basis for and duration of copyright, DRM and implications for consumer rights, interoperability and competition, time and formatshifting and other fair uses, how they strike down on P2P tools, implications for privacy and so on. Obviously, there's those who just want to be able to leech the latest CD/DVD and not pay for it, and just feel they need an excuse. Those people will always find one anyway.

It's also really hard to reach the middle ground with a "fair" exchange when there's none to be had from the other side. There's also certainly those who advocate fighting fire with fire and that only through mass disobedience of copyright law (which is not quite the same as civil disobedience, where a few are doing it vocally but rather where as a mass is doing it silently) is the only way to bring about change. So far my impression is that all it means is that legitimate consumers get even less rights though, but I suppose this is like a rubber band between consumers and producers that sooner or later will snap.

Re:Why is this on /.

[Elektroschock]

Downloading is a mass phenonemon. Nerds are the only people who mostly have a 100% unpirated system.

The core of the post is not piracy but that pirats talk like business, in order to satsfy their customers.

"A sales assistant at one Shanghai DVD shop said the initial copies were 'pirated overseas' and that 'better quality' versions would probably be available early next month."

Re:Why is this on /.

[Syberghost]

Really, it's just supposed to be funny. Remember that? Humour? That thing that makes your tummy wobble up and down with mirth?

Are you suggesting that you found the article that funny? Because I'd give it about a 2 out of 10 for humor, on a scale where Saddam Hussein's mustache gets a 3 and that guy in the "So You Think You Can Dance" commercial smacking his face into the floor is a 9.

Re:Why is this on /.

[MartinB]

For some perspective, the movie The Da Vinci Code will enter the public domain in 2081. By then, the US will have already celebrated its tricentennial. The last Apollo moon landing will have been 99 years ago, and I will be 98 years old.

That, I think, is a problem.

Not so much, no. Won't someone think of the children? Anything that prevents this pile of elephant droppings from being inflicted on future generations has to be A Good Thing.

Re:Why is this on /.

[Anonymous Coward]

I buy them used and that hurts the RIAA more than piracy does.

It doesn't really hurt the RIAA more than piracy does. By creating secondary demand, this means that people can get money back by selling their CDs. This raises the value of a CD to some people, so increases the price they are willing to pay at the store. Additionally, by purchasing a CD used, you are removing it from the supply of used CDs. This might mean that down the road someone looking for that CD will not be able to find it used, and will then turn to finding it new. By pirating the music, you lower the demand curve without affecting the supply curve, lowering the price per unit.

Re:Why is this on /.

[VoxCombo]

not quite...but close

The Copyright Act of 1790 had an original term of 14 years, with a renewal period of 14 years. The first Star Wars would be in public domain, but the rest would still be protected

This was lengthened in the early 1900s (1910 comes to mind) to 28 years, with a 28 year renewal period. I think this was necessary due to the changing nature of copyright ownership. Copyrights are often owned by corporations rather than individuals, and a 28 year ownership was a little too finite in the new world, as opposed to the 1790 world.

Copyright terms were lengthened again in 1973 and 1990 (don't quote me on either......I'm going on memory), and you can make a good case that those were unnecessary (and I'd agree with you).

Either way, works older than 28 years account for a very small percentage of piracy, and works older than 56 years account for much much less.

Re:Why is this on /.

[LegendLength]

So you can't discuss intellectual property issues on Slashdot because you're automatically just providing moral cover to yourself and others and that makes your contribution worthless?

From my reading he never came close to implying such a thing. His grievance was that a large number of people here *very* often say things such as "I only download to test and buy the album/dvd later", whereas they would be serving themselves much better to be honest about the copyright debate.

Even I can be honest about it. I download stuff all the time. I also produce commercial software, I also wish copyright & patents never existed (100%).

Why are some slashdot topics full of insightful posts, with logical fallacies properly shot down etc.? Then suddenly political topics make some of us nerds forget what we often pride ourselves on, objectivity.

E.g. try typing this as a comment in any programming story:

void main(void)
{
}

... and watch the number of replies that flood in to correct you. Then try:

In all seriousness, Bush is nearly as bad as Hitler.

... and watch it get modded ... up!

(replying with 'but he really is just as bad' is about as funny as a republican cracking a monica joke btw).

I realise there are always going to be a subset of kids on slashdot, but it's obvious when it's youth with no idea and when it is someone older who does or should understand logical fallicies better (at least intuitively).

Re:Why is this on /.

[Anonymous Coward]

I think most people agree copyright infringment is wrong and should be delt with somehow.

Yes, by a firm, open-palm slap on the wrist -- a punishment befitting the magnitude of such a crime.

Re:Why is this on /.

[LegendLength]

Downloading is a mass phenonemon. Nerds are the only people who mostly have a 100% unpirated system.

He knows it's a mass phenonemon! His point is that (a subset of) nerds are the only ones to do it then complain when the reverse happens (their software is pirated, their band's music is copied, their GPL product they worked on for 3 years is copied and secretly resold as a closed source product (perhaps technically unrealistic but you get my drift).

Re:Why is this on /.

[Anonymous Coward]

Too bad you're wrong. The most loud-mouthed detractors of the MPAA that I've met buy movies and TV shows on DVD for over $100 a month. If they also download things to preview or whatever they want for that matter, why does it hurt anyone? They can't fucking AFFORD more of the overpriced media that they're being sold, and you think that they deserve what? Jail? Fuck you, you whiny, astroturfing cunt.

Re:Why is this on /.

[Beyond_GoodandEvil]

Either way, works older than 28 years account for a very small percentage of piracy

You mean like the entire Beatles' Catalog?

Re:Why is this on /.

[WuphonsReach]

Not when I have mod points. Not all of us adhere to the prevalent group-think, but we do take care to pick our battles. I will admit to possibly steering clear of those topics when I have mod points, so maybe I need to start focusing on those stories to moderate.

There are a lot of us here who believe in copyright, but are still disgusted by the lengthy extentions to copyright, the bully tactics used by RIAA/MPAA, the stupidity of the Sony rootkit, and the pointlessness of DRM. Not to mention the unevenness of laws being applied where citizens are held to a different standard then corporations.

So, while I may personally disagree with the "screw-you RIAA" attitude as an excuse to infringe on copyrights, I can understand the motivation behind the backlash movement. It logically follows that if one side commits abuses of power, the other side will retaliate. But as with all "movements" there are people who will cloak their personal greed under the mantle of being a victim in order to appease their personal desires.

And sometimes those users (who use the cloak) are good enough liars / dissemblers to fool other people into thinking that their actions are high and mighty. Which gets them mod'd up by less discerning moderators.

We could also get into the whole "not everything that is immoral is illegal and not everything that is legal is moral" argument. As a functioning citizen, it is best if I follow the legal code. But if it disagrees with my moral code then I need to decide which is more important.

But that's probably something for another day.

Re:Why is this on /.

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, the length of copyright is probably on par with how the DMCA sabotages both fair use and the (eventual) expiration of a copyright. I think it's ridiculous that it's done in such a blanket-statement type of way. Sure, Mickey Mouse is still being actively marketed and I don't have a problem with Disney on protecting him on that basis. But the fact is that for every Mickey Mouse there are hundreds, if not thousands, of other works that have been rotting away in a vault since shortly after their original release. Why must a cartoon from 1984, designed to sell toys that haven't been available since 1988, that hasn't aired _anywhere_ since 1990 be off-limits until 2079 (I'll be 98 too (or more likely dead), what a coincidence)?

Re:Why is this on /.

[VoxCombo]

yes, I am aware there were lots of very popular things released before 1978, but they still make up a small percentage compared to current works.

Also, the beatles catalog raises a few interesting copyright issues (I'm deviating from the point, but oh well). The songs and the original sound recordings that were released before 1978 would be in public domain. However, when a song is reworked it creates a new copyright for the sound recording (but not the song). So therefore, the song "Love Me Do" would be public domain, and people would be free to copy and distribute the original recordings, but the remastered version that appeared on The Beatles Anthology would still be protected under a sound recording copyright.

Re:Why is this on /.

[SillyNickName4me]

Dislike of RIAA/MPAA tactics is only one small part of this, you can also claim that "information wants to be free"

People actually make arguments as to why 'information wants to be free'. I suggest countering those arguments..

"their business model is obsolete"

This is pretty evident from the factual situation, yes. It happens quite often when a new technology appears that changes the basic 'rules', in this case, the 'rule' that distribution is difficult and expensive.

"people wouldn't pay for this stuff anyway"

That is a stupid argument indeed, obviously people still pay for it as long as it is being sold, regardless of piracy.

"their statistics lie"

Statistics don't lie, but they can show almost anything you want depending on how they are being made. A known flaw with the statistics of the recording and movie industries is counting every pirated copy as a lost sale.

"infringement is not (as bad as) stealing!!!!!!"

You see, this is where your bias is very obvious.

The argument being made is that copyright infringement is NOT THE SAME as stealing. Which one is worse is a call of judgement, which cannot even be made without realizing why those are really not the same thing.

or really any argument that happens to fit the bill and you'll be lauded because you've provided moral cover for someone.

'Moral cover' would be easier: Copyright term extensions in the past century result in 'stealing' from the public domain, I just return the favor.. It fails because two wrongs don't make a right, yet good men are supposed to not follow unjust laws... pick one.

While I think copyright can work, and should be respected, I also see there are substantial problems with the current way things work, and that what started as a very well balanced implementation of the concept 'copyright' has been turned into something that is completely unbalanced. If you want copyright to be respected, start with making copyright law fair and balanced again.

Currently the main issues making it unfair and unbalanced:
1. length
2. loopholes that effectively make 'fair use' a meaningless concept
3. loopholes that allow using copyright to make people buy the same thing over and over

Note that 2. and 3. are related (media shifting should be fair use imho) but are not the same thing.

Re:Why is this on /.

[VoxCombo]

Interestingly, there is a provision in US copyright law that states the losing party in a copyright infringement case pays both parties' legal fees (a bit unusual in the US legal system). This protects innocent parties from malicious prosecution.

It's common in civil cases for an innocent party to just settle to avoid big legal fees, but in a copyright case an innocent party will have their legal fees paid by the **AA when they are found not-guilty due to lack of solid proof.

Now, put aside your hatred of the **AA for a minute and try ot think objectively:
1. Innocent parties are SOLIDLY protected from any costs if they are truly innocent and go to trial
2. There has yet to be a case where the defendent has gone to trial

Maybe, just maybe, the **AA's proof is pretty solid, and all the people that they have accused are actually guilty?

I'm not saying this definitively, because I don't know the exact methods that are being used, but this is at least some good food for thought.........

Re:Why is this on /.

[Anonymous Coward]

Go Pirates!

Re:Why is this on /.

[garethwi]

Stop trying to pretend that there is only one point of view on slashdot.

Yes, stop it, they all hate that.

Re:Why is this on /.

[operagost]

draw Mickey mouse in any cartoon you'd like

Mickey Mouse is a registered trademark of Disney; so no, you wouldn't. But you could reprint and sell the movies featuring him.

Re:Why is this on /.

[Neurotoxic666]

Who would want to freely share or resell Da Vinci Code?

Re:Why is this on /.

[mkw87]

He's obviously smoking something more powerful than your sig...

Re:Why is this on /.

[UnknownSoldier]

Except you're ignoring one small detail: Copyright is an _artifical_ right. Furthermore, it was backed by the _publishers_ to prevent other publishers from making a dime.

Why is it such a crime against humanity if I borrow a CD from a friend, copy it so I can listen to it whenever I want without bugging him, and give his original back? In fact, in Canada, a person can do just this -- because taking copyright to its logical conclusions leads to idiotic situtations.

Lastly, I don't seen any lack of progress or art, simply because we didn't have copyright for the last few thousand years.

Re:Why is this on /.

[Anonymous Coward]

I will be 98 years old. That, I think, is a problem.

and I will be 102 years old, which I think is a bigger problem

Re:Why is this on /.

[rjstanford]

E.g. try typing this as a comment in any programming story:

void main(void) { }

Hmm, okay... something like this perhaps?

/*
* void main(void)
* {
* }
*/

Seems easy enough, but I fail to see the point...

Re:Why is this on /.

[Zemran]

If an American travels to a country with a less draconian attitude to copyright and buys a legally produced version of a record or film (i.e. The Beatles or Dumbo) and gets stopped at US customs, is he breaking the law? Can they take it away from him? The copying was done legally... Most of the world sees Mickey Mouse as being in the public domain but do not let Disney hear you say that. The Beatles are a UK band and under UK law most of their material is public now but you can bet the RIAA would sue you for downloading a copy from a European host.

Re:Why is this on /.

[Anonymous Coward]

I advocate piracy! Arrrrr...

Re:Why is this on /.

[ggwood]

I doubt that. Disney will continue lobbying for longer and longer terms and, if successful, nothing will ever enter the public domain again. All for Steamboat Willie.

Re:Why is this on /.

[VoxCombo]

1. UK copyright for music lasts for 50 years. The Beatles' works are still protected in the UK.

2. US copyright protection has historically been weaker than other developed nations. The reason the US lengthened its copyright protection was to comply with international regulations set forth at the Berne Convention. I'm not sure what nations you're talking about with a "less draconian attitude", but I assure you we're not ahead-of-the-curve when compared with other developed countries.

This is not to say I agree with the Berne Convention. As I stated in another post, I feel the 1909 statute that set copyright at 56 years was very reasonable, and the current length - life of the author plus 70 years - is pushing it

Re:Why is this on /.

[NutscrapeSucks]

Disqualifying - and that is what you are doing, even if you're saying you're just making an observation - arguments based on the (lack of) merits of the author is poor style.

Hey! You've disqualified my meta-comment with your meta-meta comment. Poor style! :D

Re:Why is this on /.

[mfrank]

It beats your other options . . .

Re:Why is this on /.

[Bing Tsher E]

When you buy a DVD, all you buy is a 'ticket to watch.'

Sick mind? Gee whiz.

Re:Why is this on /.

[Tweekster]

Customs wont even care unless you have a suitcase full of them. And even then it wouldnt be copyright infringement, they would be more concerned about the tariff you owuld need to pay. you can bring a few cds in you bought overseas without a problem. bring in a hundred copies and you cant really claim they are all for you. ie personal use is fine, distribution requires you to pay up. copyright infringement would hardly enter the picture at any time. the same concept can be applied to narcotics when purchased legally elsewhere. but for a better "normal" example... how about cuban cigars. they are legal in well all of the world outside of the US but you cant bring them here. technically it is illegal for a US citizen to buy them outside of the US and smoke them in say Spain.

because

[NoGuffCheck]

because pirates are renowned for the quality control.

Re:because

[TubeSteak]

Ummm... Actually, they usually are.

The top release groups are very picky about the criteria* they use to evaluate a release that they're going to stick their name on.

To make sure that nothing gets past their filtering process, they have guys whose sole job it is to Nuke "bad" releases.

*The wikipedia article only gives you a broad overview. Some release groups are insanely specific about their release and won't accept/distribute anything that doesn't fit within their narrow definition of "good"

Re:because

[servognome]

because pirates are renowned for the quality control.

There is a huge market for high quality pirated merchandise in countries that can't afford the high prices for authorized copies. In Malaysia you buy pirated copies in shops at the mall like normal, and they offer low ($0.50) and high ($2.00) quality, and even let you preview the copy to make sure it's up to your standards.

Re:because

[raju1kabir]

In Malaysia you buy pirated copies in shops at the mall like normal, and they offer low ($0.50) and high ($2.00) quality, and even let you preview the copy to make sure it's up to your standards.

Earlier this week the shops in downtown Kuala Lumpur (capital of Malaysia, for those unfamiliar with southeast Asian geography) were shut down by one of those periodic raids, the ones where the cops take all the DVDs they find on the premises and smash 'em up and email some photos to the MPAA. Obviously that's not many, because the guy outside the mall selling the plastic toys that nobody buys has already phoned up to the shops to let them know the police van is looking for a parking spot.

The shops that sold exclusively movies and TV shows were shuttered up. The ones that also sold pirate software and games were open, but the movie shelves were empty. A few guys were loitering furtively in the corridors of Plaza Imbi (the most grungy and underworldy of the big pirate malls in central KL) with small folders of movies but even there the shops were shut. I ran into one of the shop guys at a restaurant Tuesday night and he made it sound like the raids were their annual holiday leave system.

Just for fun I tried to find a shop selling legit DVDs but never came across one, except for the always-deserted video sections at Borders and Tower Records. So I guess everyone had to watch shitty Malaysian satellite TV for a few days. The cinemas were packed, but they always are.

By Wednesday evening, it was back to business as usual for all.

Re:because

[Deliveranc3]

Well in video games and movies, they have subtitles and their games don't require a cd in the drive.

And that's discounting the distribution advantages.

Plus pirates really care about providing the best quality to their consumer... they do it for pride.

And when HD comes out, guess where most of us will start watching it...

Re:I can't believe...

[Anonymous Coward]

I can't believe... That this story was posted.

Don't worry, Pir^H^H^H digg.com will promise an improved version of the story by early next month.

I don't know what's worse..

[the_skywise]

That they're this blatant about their piracy...

Or that their customer service is better than most "official" DVD publishers.

Re:I don't know what's worse..

[thedletterman]

You don't have to go to Shanghai to buy pirated movies, you can pick them up easy enough here in New York City.. three for $10.

Re:I don't know what's worse..

[dynamo52]

That they're this blatant about their piracy...

A friend of mine owns a mastering studio and contracts out large pressings. A few days before the release of the Da Vinci Code, he was contacted by somebody who claimed to have a copy and wanted 10,000 of them pressed as soon as possible.

Of course, my friend turned him down.

Judging by TFA, he must have finally found somebody to do it.

Re:I don't know what's worse..

[cgenman]

True Story.

A friend of mine was looking for an original copy of Star Wars on DVD for a movie night. After looking around for a long time, he finally found someone selling a custom version of the trilogy. These are mastered from the lazerdisks, and have been remixed to match the originals as closely as possible. The audio had been re-edited with the original effects, title, etc. They also included four disks worth of bonus material collected from the LD's, VHS editions, Re-releases, TV interviews, holiday edition, etc.

In short, they sold him the definitive box set that Lucas wouldn't*. The customer support was great. The vid and audio quality was excellent. The extras and menus were nicely polished. And of course none of the people who actually produced or worked on the movie got any money at all.

*Rumor has it that at the end of 2006, Lucas will be selling a box set of the hexagy, that includes the revised revised special editions plus the original versions of the films as they appeared in theaters. This is great, and would be considered the definitive archival set, except that he's also planning a revised revised revised "definitive" edition on blu-ray for 2007. And after that definitive, final, this-is-really-it edition, they're working on a 3D version. Sigh.

Re:I don't know what's worse..

[misfit815]

I gotta know. In his copy, did Han shoot first?

Re:I don't know what's worse..

[Anonymous Coward]

Of course he did. Any true geek should know that that is the case for the laserdisc version. Please turn in your geek card on your way out.

Re:I don't know what's worse..

[Anonymous Coward]

*Rumor has it that at the end of 2006, Lucas will be selling a box set of the hexagy, that includes the revised revised special editions plus the original versions of the films as they appeared in theaters. This is great, and would be considered the definitive archival set, except that he's also planning a revised revised revised "definitive" edition on blu-ray for 2007...

The latest news on the new "archival" set is that the original movies will not be in anamorphic widescreen, basically meaning they will be no better than a good VHS copy, and will not upscale as well as they could.

If Lucas released them in anamorphic widescreen, there would be no better version to sell in the DVD format. That's probably part of the reason it's not going to happen.

Re:I don't know what's worse..

[larkost]

Here in Philly my corner grocery store has them sitting on the check-out counter. I pointed out to the guy behind the counter that one of the films was only in French (not slated to be released here in the US for months now), he seemed to be a little put off.

Can't be that hard...

[ChePibe]

I mean, how much work does it really take to digitally remaster Tom Hanks' mullett? Granted, it would've been easier in the actual production of the film, but makeup artists are pretty expensive...

Re:I can't believe...

[paulius_g]

Agreed.

I don't know if the news source can be trusted. And how come a few words that this average salesman said suddenly become news?

Pirates won't stop pirating movies and their quality always increases. They'll try getting the actual film from the theatres and rip it. Or even yet, get an "internal agent" which would work closely with the movie to leak a copy. Ah, so many possibilities!

As for the movie itself, I still have to force myself to read the book before watching it.

Disappointed after reading TFTA...

[spiritraveller]

Was hoping it would say they were editing Da Vinci Code to make it more entertaining.

No right to complain

[Mr. Freeman]

Alright, considering that what they're doing is illegal in the first place I don't think they have any right to complain.

This is like stealing a car and then complaining to the owner that it doesn't have air conditioning.

Re:No right to complain

[Overzeetop]

Sounds more like they're buying a stolen car, and complaining it doesn't have air conditioning.

Re:No right to complain

[Anonymous Coward]

Stealing a physical objects, i.e., property theft, is nothing like copying an object. If anything, by making a copy a person has increased the abundance of an object and thus made it less a target of real theft. In that way, to copy is to help increase the security an object to an owner. The movie companies should be thanking the people who are making their originals more secure.

Re:No right to complain

[Anonymous Coward]

Airconditioning? Last car I stole didn't even have power windows OR a cd jukebox. Talk about cheap.

Re:No right to complain

[spacecowboy420]

That was awesome. Too bad you posted as ac, you deserve some points for that.

Re:No right to complain

[91degrees]

Well, yes... there are some ways in which this would be similar. What's the point of your analogy? Doesn't seem to clarify anything.

Re:No right to complain

[Anonymous Coward]

blahblahblahblahblah*missthepoint*blahblahblahblah

But anyway, we've heard it before. It wasn't right then, it isn't right now. Common usage has given stealing a far broader meaning for centuaries.

Re:No right to complain

[linvir]

Yes, I can imagine those poor pirates sat in their ship, inundated with phone calls and letters demanding a better quality version of The Da Vinci Code.

Arrr, Jim lad, we be payin' the price for yet another bad movie!

Arrr! But at least we'll get another load of booty from disappointed viewers who wanted to see an interesting story succeed in the cinema!

Arrrr!

Or maybe you're just completely and utterly wrong in your assumption that anyone complained at all. People know that pirate copies give them no consumer rights. It's just a fact of life that pirates work to produce better and better warez to sell from port to port.

And as for your car analogy, fuck you.

Re:No right to complain

[kimvette]

No, it's like building a piece-for-piece replica of the other person's car (e.g., a kit car replica) and then complaining it doesn't have air conditioning. The owner has not lost his original car.

Well....

[Anonymous Coward]

If the Pirates aren't happy then the Ninjas must be pissed.

Re: Well....

[Anonymous Coward]

That is totally sweet!

Re: Well....

[The_Mr_Flibble]

In other news Captain Pugwash has filed a lawsuit against the Shanghai DVD shop saying "people like this are giving pirates a bad name HARRRR"

Re: Well....

[Anonymous Coward]

it's soooo sweet it makes me want to crap my pants!

Late!

[Gamefreak99]

There's already a telecine of The Da Vinci Code out!

The major stages of releases

[bblount]

Most movie releases do this:

Cam - poor quality, sketchy audio
Telesync - better video quality, audio still sketchy
DVDrip - very good quality audio and video

Seems this is only a big deal because a reporter heard about it while in China.

Re:The major stages of releases

[Anonymous Coward]

A telesync has the same video quality as a cam. Both use a camera for video input. The difference is a telesync gets the audio feed directly from the source, so the audio quality is better.

Re:The major stages of releases

[Adult film producer]

I would toss in "DVDScreener-Rip" 2nd to last in that list... sometimes they're just as good as the dvd but I've noticed a good bunch of them go black & white for a few minutes and also include a lot of on-screen 'fbi type warnings'..

Re:The major stages of releases

[rHBa]

Yeah, and then comes the telecine where they copy the film digitally from the reels (much improved video quality). Then comes the DVDRip. Of course leading up to awards season you might be lucky enough to find a DVDScreener which is a DVD copy of the movie sent to members of the awards associations (oscar, bafta etc) or to large video stores, often before general release of the film at the cinema, to help them with their voting/buying. These are becoming rarer at the moment due to the introduction of cinea dvds which can only be played on the specific cinea dvd players.

Re:The major stages of releases

[Anonymous Coward]

> DVDrip - very good quality audio and video

Your standards of audio/video quality must be pretty low then. Most rippers don't have a fucking clue how to encode properly. And then you have those TDX idiots who insist on using last-millennium technology and deliberately introduce rules that prevent anything good from being produced.

Re:The major stages of releases

[NutscrapeSucks]

There is not necessarily any quailty problems with telesyncing - it's used all the time commercially. However, I'm guessing a pirate telesync is just a consumer camcorder on a tripod in an empty theater.

Re:The major stages of releases

[RipTides9x]

You are correct on the consumer camcorder part, at least these days. In the old days a telesync camera was a specialized camera that would match the recording framerates to the displayed framerates of the projector to elminate flickering. These days a top end consumer camcorder is used and the flickering is filtered out using a PC. The only thing differentiating a cam from a telesync is that a cam's audio is taken straight from the cam recording. The telesync audio is taken from a direct source, such as a hearing aid port put into certain seats in theaters, or as of late, using a laptop with appropriate hardware to pick up and record audio from one of the few remaining drive in theaters that use a low-power FM broadcast.

Re:The major stages of releases

[ultranova]

I would toss in "DVDScreener-Rip" 2nd to last in that list... sometimes they're just as good as the dvd but I've noticed a good bunch of them go black & white for a few minutes and also include a lot of on-screen 'fbi type warnings'..

I must immediately report the local supermarket, then - several of the DVDs they've sold me have minutes of warnings in the beginning !

In other news...

[PainBreak]

This Slashdot "news item" was formulated overseas, and we anticipate a more newsworthy post within the next month.

Re:In other news...

[From A Far Away Land]

Don't be so bitter. Slashdot finally scooped Digg.com on this story.

These Things Take Time

[extremeski]

I don't see why this story is relevant, because this person doesn't have any information that the rest of us don't have. For every release, there is generally a CAM version, then the telesyncs and telecines come as people get a chance to record the film. It takes time for the pirates to get access and the time to encode something like this, so as time goes by, the quality gets better.

So the pirates are in effect...

[Zweideutig]

So the pirates are in effect unauthorized value added resellers? I hope to be notified when this improved version is available. Maybe it won't have the movie trailers in the beginning.

Re:So the pirates are in effect...

[LordLucless]

No, read the article (or even the summary). The "improved" version isn't improved over the original, it's improved over previous pirated copies. Watching the DVD rip is still going to be lower-quality (in terms of audio-visual) than watching the DVD.

Why is this here?

[Distinguished Hero]

The only way this story would be newsworthy would be if pirates saw the movie, were unhappy with what they saw, and decided to improve it by reshuffling the scenes around (sort of a Pirate's cut).

Re:Why is this here?

[OverlordQ]

Maybe samzenpus had to post a story however crappy or he'd lose his Editor privlidges . . . . fuckifiknow.

Re:Why is this here?

[nEoN nOoDlE]

It would also be great if they hired Tom Hanks back for reshoots.

Re:Why is this here?

[kponto]

Much like my roommate, who edited Twin Peaks to make sense.

Re:Why is this here?

[Anonymous Coward]

Someone did that with the original Hackers movie, if I recall correctly. Dig around a bit on piratebay.

Re:Why is this here?

[Anonymous Coward]

Its big news because copyright infringement is huge business in China, largest country in the world.

Re:Why is this here?

[ironring2006]

*Spoiler Warning: Plot Details below*

-

I can think of one scene in particular that I would want to either cut or reshuffle. The scene where they are landing in London on Sir Teabing's jet and head straight for the hangar, they do a 5-second flashback showing how Robert and Sophie "evade" the cops by running out of the still moving plane and into the backseat of the car that is waiting for them. The fact that they show this flashback after the cops have left, and after they show a scene in which they are in the car just seems out of place. Maybe it's because I read the novel and know they aren't going to get caught, but I think it would have been more suspenseful if their dash from the plane was included linearly and maybe a shot of a cop potentially looking inside the vehicle while the rest of the plane is being searched.

Although, from what most of the reviews seemed to say, maybe the whole movie just should have been cut.

Re:Why is this here?

[Duds]

It's been done. Not only the Phantom edit, which was already mentioned, but also a couple of films, most notably momento were given Chronological order edits by pirates.

Re:Why is this here?

[adrenalinerush]

Reminds me of The Phantom Edit. Meesa *hate* Jar-Jar.

I concarrr

[smvp6459]

Arrrr, the post-production value of the film wasn't up to the same quality as other blockbustarrrr book to movie productions; here on the ship we're still parrrrtial to Mastarrrr and Comandarrrr!

Re:I concarrr

[Jelizabug]

Heh... reminds me of a Sluggy...

"If you were a REAL pirate, you wouldn't fear a caaaarse because you were born 'first.' You would instead fear a caaaarse becase you were born faaaarst!"

http://sluggy.com/daily.php?date=050224

It's refreshing

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, I'm glad to hear that a vendor listened to his customer's complaint and took responsiblity for the substandard quality of his product. You don't really get that kind of concern from the big media corporations these days. Now, if only Ron Howard and Sony Pictures would take responsiblity and release a better version of the movie...

...and a dupe...

[PornMaster]

...and a duplicate post within a day.

Re:...and a dupe...

[BiAthlon]

It's not a dupe, it's a pirated version of the first story.

Re:...and a dupe...

[kevinadi]

CowboyNeal: "People are not happy with the quality of the first article so the next version will be of better quality."

Re:...and a dupe...

[TubeSteak]

I'll just wait for the PROPER release, which should have all the spelling and grammar mistakes fixed.

Re:...and a dupe...

[ultranova]

It's not a dupe, it's a pirated version of the first story.

No, the first story is clearly the pirated version, since it's released earlier, when the original (dupe) is still being worked on.

Joke!

[joeljkp]

Oh come on people, it's a joke. Just look at the foot.

I mean, quality control from a piracy organization? Ha ha ha.

I concur....

[Anonymous Coward]

That release was rather bad. Hopefully another one will turn up that lives up to the distribution chain's usual quality. ;-)

Re:4th comment :)

[Zemran]

No, but the book was OK. I think they should forget the movie and copy the book...

When?

[gaanagaa]

When did people start "pirating" movies? And they started with DaVinci Code? Are these pirates anti-christian missionaries?

Re:When?

[larkost]

Wouldn't they be anti-anti-christian missionaries? After all, many of the big Christian organizations were miffed about this film. I know one Catholic who already told me that she does not want to see it so that she will not think blasphemous thoughts.

Thats just too bad

[Anonymous Coward]

Of all the code I've ever seen, this was Da Vinci-est

(Thanks Dave Letterman)

No digg

[Anonymous Coward]

By in large /. is a lot better than digg, the signal to noise ratio there is horrible. It's articles like this though..

No digg, thumbs down, I'm reporting this article. Take it off the front page. There is nothing at all new worthy about this kind of piracy.

Re:No digg

[Anonymous Coward]

It appears to be posted by a relative rookie editor, don't get your panties in a bind.

Re:I can't believe...

[aero2600-5]

As for the movie itself, I still have to force myself to read the book before watching it.

I think the movie was just 'okay', and the book was awesome. My suggestion would be to see the movie first, and then read the book. That way you're not disappointed..

Aero

Redux

[SirDoctorProfessorJa]

Tom Hanks has been replaced with a static image of Chairman Mao.

Audrey Tautou is now a pious, sock mending Socialist named Lei Feng.

Well

[styryx]

The goverment has some room for improval, but I love the Chinese people.

I initially read that headline as people got hold of the movie and were going to chop out some of more 'hammier' scenes. Shame.

Mod me down, I don't have any relevant comment, this isnt' news.

pastafarians!

[passion]

I guess this means that global warming should start reversing itself...

This time...

[Anonymous Coward]

the guy with the camera is not going to sit behind some chick with a Marj Simpson hair do!

Re:This time...

[Zantetsuken]

actually, wouldnt it be better if they did? then we wouldnt have to watch the shitty movie...

Re:Cmon people!

[aero2600-5]

Heh, The Pirate Bay has you covered...

Link

Aero

Elsewhere..

[Frightening]

Scene groups and the bittorent community alike are also asking hollywood for a PROPER.

Yet another misleading headline...

[Coyote65]

I thought they meant the pirates' sales were so poor they were going to re-edit it. THAT I would be interested in seeing on a regular basis. Bootleg re-edits.

Re:Yet another misleading headline...

[trygstad]

I'm for that too. I'm sure they could tighten this whole mess up a little. I mean, if folks are going to pirate movies (which they are), it would be cool if they could actually improve the package in the process.

Re:Yet another misleading headline...

[Geminii]

In which case we'd only buy the (rare) excellent stuff from official sources. Everything else would be 'Eh, I'm waiting for the pirate version." Because everything improves with pirates.

Arrr!

[JourneyExpertApe]

Will they be digitally adding a parrot on Tom Hanks' shoulder? Perhaps an eyepatch here and there? A peg leg or two (but not on the same actor)? Yarrr! Ye be havin' the holy bloodline!

Re:Arrr!

[TheDreadSlashdotterD]

Yo Ho Ho and a bottle of BLOOD!

I heard

[Sloppy]

They're going to take out Jar Jar.

Damn

[dtfinch]

Even those watching it for free aren't happy with the movie.

Okay, maybe its not front page material...

[Overzeetop]

...but it does illustrate a point about the protection of content and the unauthorized distribution of said content. Look, these "pirates" have a copy - crappy though it may be - shortly after the first screening. And they're, apparently, selling (though no number figures are given for volume).

What is interesting is that the unauthorized distribution chain is well organized enough that a typical time frame can be placed on the "next" release of the film. It speaks volumes about the actual control content producers have on their material.

In this day of first weekend hits which fizzle or stay on the charts for such a short time, and the inevitable surfacing of the video in the "pirate" channels - both physical and online - is it really advantageous to the bottom line to spread (a) the theatrical release from the home video release by several months and (b) the theatrical release across continents by several months. In an age of essentially world wide communications and market size, and with the ability to distribute and screen content digitally, why not release the films one weekend, and the home version the following Tuesday? Have a blockbuster you think will have staying power and want to try and get a repeat audience? Delay the DVD 2-3 weeks. Get your hype budget right up front, and make sure the patrons who liked the theatrical screening can pick up their own copy before they forget about it.

All the laws and controls the studios have bought from the various governing bodies in the world won't stop the people who make a living doing this kind of stuff. And, unlike drugs or arms traffiking, we're not talking about societal crimes and social unrest. It's a God damned entertainment flick. Quit trying to constrain these "pirates" with rules they won't abide - beat them at their own game. Get the real discs into stores and into consumers hands before the "pirates" do. Crappy copies are no fun to watch. And I don't know about you folks, but if you've ever tried to get a movie of any decent quality off of the usenet you know it can be a royal pain. Quite honestly, it's not worth my time to futz with it if I can have Amazon deliver it to my door for $15. And I pay for good usenet access, so my dowloads are easy and fast. Provide the goods and take away their business and reason for being. Sure, you'll still have to deal with the snot-nosed teens who pirate stuff for the thrill, but those folks aren't going to be buyers (by and large). Write them off.

FWIW, I have unauthorized copies of Star Wars (IV), The Little Mermaid, and (on VHS) Song of the South. I have since purchased Ep. IV, though it had been out for a while (heck, I already "bought" a copy, right?). TLM is "in the vault". I couldn't purchase one from Disney if I wanted to, so some Malaysian pirate got my $20 - I'm claiming fair use since I own the VHS (with the phallic cover, no less). SotS will "never be released", though having watched it I can't quite figure out why. The NAACP has nothing to worry about in the portrayal of of the slaves, but caucasians should be appalled at the portrayal of the plantation owners in the film.

IMHO, the movie cartel actually keeps these shady shops in business. That's what the story really is.

Re:Okay, maybe its not front page material...

[MBraynard]

I didn't read your post but for some reason the paragraph caught my eye. It appears a more blatent lie slipped out in your list of small ones justifying theft of IP.

TLM is "in the vault". I couldn't purchase one from Disney if I wanted to, so some Malaysian pirate got my $20

See here. And no, even if it wasn't available, it still would not be justified - unless maybe you ripped your own vhs version to a DVD.

Re:Okay, maybe its not front page material...

[iainl]

Disney themselves will not sell you The Little Mermaid any more. I'm not the grandparent poster, but from a purely financial point of view, Buena Vista Entertainment see exactly the same amount of money from the sale of a pirate as a second-hand copy; i.e. nothing.

Re:Okay, maybe its not front page material...

[Overzeetop]

The other poster pointed out the truth - only resales are available, TLM is in the vault. It won't be for much longer, as you can see here.

FWIW, the US copies of The Little Mermaid, not produced for sale in the US since 1989, were selling for $80 to $200 at the time I bought my overseas copy.

As for the lies about IP theft, my entire business is based on IP - it's what puts food on my table. I'm not for a lack of restrictions on IP, but I am a businessman, and I see a potential to minimize the (unlawful) competition and (potentially) increase revenue at the same time.

By the way, if I'd sent my VHS tape to someone and paid them $20 to make me a backup because I was concerned about the loss of quality on an item that was no longer in print, would that be fair use?

Re:Okay, maybe its not front page material...

[Rincewind42]

If they sold the legit version here, then maybe people would buy it. But here in China, only the pirated versions exist. You just can't get the original even if you wanted. Amazon will not deliver to my door. (wish they would, I need some new books) It's not only the back street markets. The main shopping malls, and the supermarkets all sell the dodgy versions. Difference with the supermarket is that you get the box as well as the cardboard sleeve. IMHO, reading the article. The author was ripped off. The low quality disks should only cost 4 yaun. For 6 yaun you should expect the pirate to be the equal of the original. Including even the holograms. Off Course I don't buy. I rent for 2 yuan a day. And yes - I make a copy of the pirate if I like the film. This is a problem created by the film companies themselves. They made the regions on DVD's so they could sell a disk for $15 in the USA, and for £20 in the UK and not have any issues with "grey" imports. But the price difference is exactly what makes the pirating worth while. There are 1.3 billion people in china. That's a big market. They love DVD's. So there is money to be made selling them here. However, $15! Nobody in china is able to pay $15 for a DVD. Not even me and I earn westerner's wages. That's a 1.3 billion person market that the main film producers have cut themselves out of. It's there choice. They'd rather sell to a 120 million person market in the US for $15 than to a 6 yaun (80 cents) market in china with 1.3 billion potential customers. They made there choice and they have to live with the consequences. So it's only natural capitalism that the Chinese fill the home market themselves by making pirates. If you had 1.3 billion potential customers, you'd be doing the same.

Re:Okay, maybe its not front page material...

[Overzeetop]

It is rather foolish. They could certainly reduce the cost for sales in non-adjacent countries and still be okay due to postal costs. You won't be flipping a $5 DVD to the US for a profit if ebay only nets you $9, even if the disc is legitimate.

2 yuan a day...that's about 25 cents US, right? Even at a movie a day NetFlix here in the states can't compete. Still, would you pay 60 yuan for a genuine copy with the extras (well, the ones you want, at least)? It's not uncommon to find a disc in the US for $12, and I would think the cost to ship via air would be more than $4, preserving the "lucrative" western market.

I may be dead wrong, but I still think people will buy the polished, official version if the availability is similar and the cost differential is minimal (20-30% for inexpensive items).

Re:Okay, maybe its not front page material...

[MBraynard]

By the way, if I'd sent my VHS tape to someone and paid them $20 to make me a backup because I was concerned about the loss of quality on an item that was no longer in print, would that be fair use?

Yes. LEgally, yes.

You talk about IP being important but by buying your pirated copy, you are feeding the beast that can take the 'food' off of your table.

Re:Okay, maybe its not front page material...

[Rincewind42]

Well itunes prooved that if you have the legit version in the right marketplace and at the right price then people will pay rather than pirate. I'm sure it would be the same here in China. The problem is not only about the price though. It's also about the "added features". I know you probably think the pirate will cut out the addons, well the do sometimes, but they also add more. One rather essential one is changing the subtitles to chinese.

The comment about a better pirated version being due soon probably meant that there would be a dubbed chinese or better sub titled version coming soon. I've often had the traders appologise to me that the sub titles are not in English. Why I need English sub titles when the audio is in English, I don't know.

The traders must love me though. I'll buy all the ones with Japanese sub titles or Rusian menus. As long as the audio is English, that will do just fine. So I'll buy all the stock they can't shift to the locals.

To market effectivly you need both product and price to be correct. People want the Hollywood movies, but not in the origonal format (they want in chinese) and not at the US $ price.

Remember "The Phantom Edit"?

[Animats]

A few years back, someone re-edited "The Phantom Menace", and called it The Phantom Edit. Some people thought it was an improvement over the original. About 20 minutes of Jar-Jar was cut, which didn't hurt.

Re:Remember "The Phantom Edit"?

[un1xl0ser]

I personally watched an alternate cut of all 3 of the latest Star Wars films. They were done by someone in their spare time, taking the deleted scenes, alternate angles and other DVD features and stitching them together.

I was impressed. I do recall that David Bowie and Trent Reznor released tracks and allowed their fan's to remix it. I would really like to see a director pick up all the tape from the cutting room floor and see what the fans can do. Maybe they could even include the editing capability into DVD releases so that you could master your own cut without having to be a AV nerd.

Re:I can't believe...

[alpha_foobar]

I thought the book was terrible. I would recommend not reading it, it will make you stupider.

Your comments are being watched...

[shoolz]

Say nothing...

This is what the DRM war brings?

[Screwy1138]

Pirates apologizing for the quality of their work!?!? Hilarious.

Real or fake DVD?

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm living in Shanghai since one year. Here there is no big difference in price between the real ($1 to $3) or the fake ($0.5 to $2) ones. You find both in shops and can even have an invoice for the fakes.
When buying fake DVDs of very new movies like MI3 or Da Vinci, you can expect some ripping issue, no or wrong subtitle and certainly a bad image. If you buy a 3 to 6 months old movie, the DVD will be fine but you often miss the extra. Older DVDs will be the same as in US or Europe.
Problem is not with China but with the movie distributors here. When they will release their movies at the right price and time for the average chinese income nobody will find necessary to buy the fakes.

cam could be best

[r00t]

It should be possible to merge several cam conversions into one good copy.

From any one cam, some video fields will be junk taken during a film frame transition. Get enough cams together, and you can get every frame of film.

If you want high resolution, zoom in. You can patch together a full image from multiple cameras. It's like doing a panorama. See panotools for a great example.

As is done in astronomy, one can use multiple images of the same thing to reduce image noise. This works for the sound too.

If you record from different theaters, you can deal with the problem of theaters cutting out damaged sections of the film. You can also identify and remove watermarks.

Note that this kind of software has legitimate uses for home video conversion and for various fair-use reasons. Feel free to start a project.

Re:cam could be best

[DarkManaX]

If only it were that simple... lighting, for instance comes into play making composition very difficult. Zooming in is only going to add more problems, as hidden cams and/or hand-held camcorders don't have stabilization for the most part, and compiling it all piecewise would be a huge pain in the ass for any editor.

Re:cam could be best

[tonsofpcs]

Yes, Desi Arnaz came up with the idea of shooting a TV show that is run once in a play like fashion with multiple cameras (he usually used 3, and we still use "3 camera shoots" very often today for live shows), multiple film reels then sticking everything together later, cutting and transitioning where needed/wanted, but maintaining mostly the original flow. This isn't a new idea. Get a good video editing app that allows you to edit frame- (or even field-) accurate and take your source footages and line them up, split all where you choose, setting one to active/top/bottom [depending on your (N)LE's methods].

Re:cam could be best

[Stellian]

From any one cam, some video fields will be junk taken during a film frame transition.

I think it would be very difficult to match the exact focus, diaphragm and position of the cameras, impossible with shots from multiple theaters. Every defence in the lighting or geometry of the image would create a pumping effect.
I propose a much simpler solution:
Take a PAL (50 Hz) camera and modify all it's Xtals with PLL oscillators 4% slower (48 Hz). The Phase Loop is locked on the cinema frames (24 fps), for example by using a photo-diode pointed to the screen, so that every odd/even frame of the camera falls on the same frame of the projector. Then simply extract the digital movie and accept a 4% speed-up, or slow it down digitally to a 24 fps avi.

In my experience however, the worst problem with cam releases are the very high noise of the CCD and the low dynamic range (contrast) of the image. This is because film has a much broader dynamic range than TV/LCD monitors, and a professional telecine takes this into account and lights up dark scenes. When this contrast range is smashed with a low quality camera, what you get are saturated, very white areas with all details lost (a 100% white face with only the eyes visible), or very dark scenes where it's hard to distinguish between the movie action and the grains.

As is done in astronomy, one can use multiple images of the same thing to reduce image noise.

Bah. Just use a higher resolution CCD. I agree though that this sort of equipment is much more expensive than a consumer camera.

Good

[Anonymous Coward]

Good, because I got a crappy Asian one with Asian subtitles and it was awful. I want a good one!

Re:4th comment :)

[Sparhawk2k]

I actually really enjoyed it. They stuck pretty close to the book (at least what I remember) and I enjoyed the fact that it was almost entirely dialogue driven. It reminded me more of an older thriller in some ways. I also enjoyed the "lectures" more than the action sequences and I loved the cast they chose.

It seems to have become a joke to attack the movie and it seems like even the critics are copying each other. Most of the horrible reviews are either attacking the story or how dialogue driven it is. Both of which are basically just attacking the book...

The fan rating on Rotten Tomatoes is 73% and it is 6.5 on IMDB. That's not great but its not horrible either, especially with an arithmetic mean of 7.0 and a median of 8. 27.6% of the people who saw it gave it a 10. Its just pulled down a lot by the 10.4% who gave it a 1 and the way IMDB tries to adjust to minimize the fanboy effect. Oh, and it seems to be much more popular among females... At least on IMDB.

It's Funny. Laught

[KarMax]

FTA "When the reporter confronted the vendor on the street about the issue, he got a pledge from the "sales associate" on duty that the better stuff would be along shortly. I guess it's just the sheer audacity of the statement that makes it almost humorous..."

Is in /. because is Funny ( if you don't like this kind of post you can config that)

Besides that

The Copyright _MUST_ be respected.

I'm against the "piracy market" in some way, but what about the P2P? (or People to People :)

Always comes the same point: When i _SHARE_ a movie with my friend, I'll be breaking some laws... but keep in mind this: "I will be a better human being"

When your profit is directly related with the prohibition of something SO NATURAL like SHARE, YOU are fucked up.
The act of share a movie/cd/book always exist, now with the "new" technology, is easier and more popular. (The ria acts like a child when blames the "rules")

FTA: Apparently, a couple of really "hot" movie DVDs are being peddled in Shanghai. One title hit the bogus street shops just hours after the film held it's debut at the Cannes Film Festival.

AFAIK the ria doesnt have jurisdiction in China.. don't know for sure.

Re:I can't believe...

[Anonymous Coward]

I thought it was just supposed to be a book that made stupid people feel smarter...

It's a plot!

[dufachi]

It's an evil plot by Opus Dei! :p

I knew it!

[Spy der Mann]

It must be a Vatican conspiracy! They obviously hired the templars thru secret rites so the Davinci code steganographed in the movie wouldn't be available to the public! The secret must be preserved!!! HACK THE PLANET!!!

I thought that by better, you meant better...

[Anonymous Coward]

I was hoping against hope that by better you actually meant that pirates were after getting their hands on the uncut version and were after making it into a better movie.

In fairness you could not make the movie much worse...

New version

[OldManAndTheC]

Using (pirated) PC-based video editing software, enterprising movies pirates have issued a new, improved version of the Da Vinci code. A plot summary follows:

Middle-aged Harvard professor Robert Langdon is giving a lecture in Paris when he is confronted by a police detective, who shows him a picture of a man who has been murdered in a gruesome fashion. Langdon, who has been living in an airport terminal, takes off in search of the holy grail, which has been stolen by a young Leo di Caprio. A gratuitous time warp takes him back to WWII to save Matt Damon from being killed by Nazis. Returning to the present, a slingshot around the moon reveals his presence to vengeful mobsters, who are unimpressed by his skill at ping-pong and shrimping. Escaping from them via Fed-Ex cargo plane only leads him to a close encounter with a volcano and a young Meg Ryan, with whom he has a cheesy and banal romance that only a woman could appreciate. With a newfound attitude towards the fairer sex he agrees to coach a group of weepy baseball players, but mysteriously, without even sleeping with any of them, he contracts AIDS and dies. But that doesn't stop our hero. He returns from the dead, bangs a mermaid, and brings joy to millions of kids before returning back to Paris where he started, which makes you wonder why the hell he left in the first place.

Re:New version

[KarmaOverDogma]

It is a rare and fine thing to see such well prepared, carefully constructed and downright funny sarcasm.

My hat (virtual hat) is off to you ;-)

Re:New version

[graffix_jones]

You left out one part of the plot though... where he finds his other red shoe... I think he lost it while banging the mermaid.

Re:New version

[Anonymous Coward]

Have you ever read "Peanuts?"

Re:New version

[pcgabe]

And, here's how it should have ended:
Torrent
Direct

Re:New version

[Anonymous Coward]

Actaually, that is EXACTLY where that quote came from. I think it was Linus going on about Lucy having something like the 1000th crabby day or crabby response in a row, or some similar idea. He gave her a framed award, shook her hand heartily while congratulating her profusely and the like, IIRC.

Looks like you and I read the same strip ;-D

Yours in dry humor,
Karma Over Dogma.

(I post off topic responses like this "anonymously," since I make so many. otherwise my commnet box would be loaded with this kind of thing)

Re:I can't believe...

[Anonymous Coward]

And by awesome you really mean awful, right? The Da Vinci code is to books what J. Christ is to messiahs: overrated, dull, and unoriginal. Don't mean to start an argument on personal tastes but hey, yours suck!

USE THE ICONS

[Anonymous Coward]

Look at the goddamn icon. It's a foot - the icon for humor. Jesus people, stop posting like this is real... It happens to EVERY humor story.

Ahoy Matey!

[Solokron]

Pirates re-cut DaVinci Code on ship to be more appealing to the masses. Aaaarrgh!

OK

[AoT]

Check and Check

New, Improved Da Vinci Code?

[patio11]

After seeing Dan Brown's foray into crypto (Digital Fortress) I wonder if that Sicilian capo with the cipher "you'd use to keep out your little sister" couldn't improve his codes...

I think the most inane thing, in a very inane book, was when the world-renowned linguist/prodigy who spoke umpteen dialects and was consulted by the NSA for his Chinese expertise couldn't tell the difference between Chinese and Japanese in less than thirty minutes. Oh, but it gets better (at least, if you have any clue about either of the two languages): apparently, Japanese being written only in kanji is a) possible b) easily confusable with Chinese and c) not intelligible to a reader of Chinese.

Anyone else find it ironic...

[patio11]

... that a Chinese black-marketeer is blaming outsourcing for his quality woes?

Re:I can't believe...

[cp.tar]

... that this wasn't moderated Flamebait.

Didn't know there was anyone who thought the book was good, let alone awesome... people everywhere bash it so rightfully and so unanymously...

I'd actually thought the movie couldn't be worse than the book, especially in the infamous Croatian translation... but from the sound of it, maybe they put Croatian translators to work on the movie.

Re:I can't believe...

[aero2600-5]

Believe it or not, it never occured to me until just now that people that don't practice a religion that involves goddess worship would not like the book. As a follower of the 'Old Religion', I found the book really interesting because of all the small details in the book about goddess worship that were true.

Aero

The true meaning

[JohnnyCanuck]

Where copyright means it was copied correctly.

that's how it is in China

[Lalo Martins]

Here in Beijing, there are CD/DVD shops pretty much on every block, and in none of then can you find "legal" products, at least not for non-Chinese stuff. In any place with lots of pedestrian traffic, you'll find "street merchants" with boxes full of DVDs. Stores that carry "legal" imported DVDs are quite hard to find, if you really want them.

Movies that are showing in the theatres will usually be in the stores a few days *earlier* than in the theatre; most often, they won't show in the theatres at all. And a few weeks later (about two weeks after the theatre premiere), you'll have the decent-quality DVDs, although those second-batch disks are typically either sans subtitles, with subtitles copied from some other random movie, or really bad "all your base" subtitles. The third batch are the actual DVD copies that come usually a few days before the "legal" DVDs are released in the rest of the world.

If you're a good customer, and the second batch is expected at some point in this same week, the clerk will sometimes even tell you, "no buy this, the better quality come tomorrow".

The Shanghai poster neglected to mention prices. A regular DVD costs an average 10 yuan, 15 or 20 if it comes in a box rather than envelope (not so much for the box, but because these are usually slightly better). A DVD9 ranges from 20 to 40 yuan. One USD = 8.14 yuan.

Re:that's how it is in China

[Anonymous Coward]

You're getting ripped off; I've been buying DVDs from my local grocery store here in Chaoyang and getting boxed DVDs for 10Y range, though these are older titles. I could probably buy envelope DVDs from the vendors in the subway under Dongsishitiao for 5Y range, but with better-quality stuff so cheap, it's not worth it.

The store I use is about two blocks south of the Goose and Duck, so I'd just assumed that its prices were higher to take advantage of all the foreigners in the area -- no idea DVDs were even more expensive in other places.

Re:that's how it is in China

[Lalo Martins]

that's actually my favourite one too :-) I guess I'm just outdated wrt prices. I haven't been buying anything lately...

Good post

[@madeus]

A good post, and all too accurate sadly. The post about DSL/Cable hogging is quite relevant too I thought (it certainly annoys me for many of the same reasons).

It seems it's always okay to use as much bandwidth as you possibly can or to copy media as you like, but it's not okay when it's your bandwidth or your software that's being abused.

Re:I can't believe...

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't read the book first, honestly. It was the worst book to ever cross my eyes. I don't usually read shit, but this one with all the hype... The movie should provide a nice 2 hour summary and if you like it, then the book might be a good extra.

Re: Foucault's Pendulum

[M. Baranczak]

I'm glad somebody else noticed that. I got about 40 pages into the "Code", then realized that I've already read this story before, only the last time it wasn't written by some Crichton-wanna-be hack. And then of course they had to get Ron Howard to direct...

The way it is in China

[DumbSwede]

Having just gotten back from China I can tell you that ANYTHING you want on DVD is available for a BUCK. High Quality packaging and everything with FBI warnings and disclaimers in place. They use to just make VCDs that everyone had players for, then they went to DVD-5 and compressed the quality of some movies a bit. Now they rip full DVD-9 and market it as DVD-9 or HDVD. The "Broke Back Mountain" rip I saw (my wife made me watch it with her, BTW BORING!) had the "For Academy Viewing Only" disclaimer scroll across the screen about 3 times, but he quality was great. In Guangzhou lot of people have 50+ inch plasma Hi-Def TVs. I'm sure they will pirate Blu-Ray when it comes out. I saw lots of PSPs in use while I was there.

I was sorely tempted to snap up DVDs for bootlegging before coming back home but resisted.

I'm not sure I have much of a point other than piracy is here to stay in China. Copy-protection won't matter one wit because it is done by professionals with the equipment to do it right, and it is so firmly a part of the society I don't know anyway you could stop it if you really tried. I for one like the fact that if things become too draconian here stateside I always have a source that can hook me up in the East.

Re:The way it is in China

[Jugalator]

Having just gotten back from China I can tell you that ANYTHING you want on DVD is available for a BUCK.

Yes, that goes for DVD recordables too.

Seriously, what makes China that different? Piracy is rampant pretty much everywhere. It's just that pirated material is sold there. Good for those who're lazy enough, but I can't say it's hard to let a computer stay on over the night and spend a few minutes burning your own high quality pre-release DVD.

In Guangzhou lot of people have 50+ inch plasma Hi-Def TVs.

Yes, so? People have that in Sweden (where you come from?) too...? My sister has one for example. Hardly shocking. Well, it is if you believe all of China still are some kind of poor population, but that's not really the case anymore.

I'm sure they will pirate Blu-Ray when it comes out.

Yes, and I'm sure that will also be distributed to homes via BT sites too.

As you're a Swede, you already know we have very cheap 100 Mbps connections over here, with The Pirate Bay going strong, so only the sky is the limit as for pirated material here if that's what you wish to do. No need to travel and impress yourself by going to China?

Re:The way it is in China

[bayankaran]

"Copy-protection won't matter one wit because it is done by professionals with the equipment to do it right, and it is so firmly a part of the society I don't know anyway you could stop it if you really tried."

I am not Chinese. But you made a wild unsubstantiated statement.

Developing economies like India and China has official versions of audio-visual content priced very high. Last I checked an official DVD of a typical Hollywood film goes for USD8 and above in both the countries. This is equivalent to paying $80 and above in US for the DVD of a feature film. Will an American buy if a DVD costs $80? You will try to get your fix illegaly.

Remember watching a film in theaters costs anywhere from 50 cents to 1.5 dollars in these countries.

So rather than going for the "volume" will bring profits approach, the industry associations and producers go for "ours is a luxury item" approach.

Between, I make films - you do a search on my ID and you will find films made by myself - so I know a bit of what I am talking about.

Re:The way it is in China

[DNS-and-BIND]

Developing economies like India and China has official versions of audio-visual content priced very high.

I've been living in China for 2 years now, and I have yet to see an authentic DVD on sale ANYWHERE. I ask Chinese people where to buy legit DVDs, and they don't know what I'm talking about.

Remember watching a film in theaters costs anywhere from 50 cents to 1.5 dollars in these countries.

Nope. Movie ticket costs $7.50, with half price Tuesdays and $3.12 before 6pm.

Re:The way it is in China

[Braino420]

I am Ron Burgundy?

Re:The way it is in China

[Rincewind42]

Seriously, what makes China that different? Piracy is rampant pretty much everywhere. It's just that pirated material is sold there. Good for those who're lazy enough, but I can't say it's hard to let a computer stay on over the night and spend a few minutes burning your own high quality pre-release DVD.

I buy the pirated DVD's. Not because I'm lazy. But because the blank DVD's where I am actually cost more than the pirate disks that include all the packaging. So why would I burn my own?

good

[m874t232]

So they'll fix the bad plot and bad acting and remove all the superfluous scenes?

Oh, I get it now: doing that will require the latest in computer graphics, artificial intelligence, and image synthesis; that's why it's on /.

5 yuan = bad quality

[McDull]

If the reported paid only 5 yuan, he could only get a pirated CD with bad quality. For a better one, or some people say, "the copy of the legal copy", you need to pay 7 to 12 yuan, depending on your bargain skills.

Re:4th comment :)

[Boronx]

The movie was much better than the reviews I'd heard. It was fun and mostly well put together, and seemed much shorter than its 2 and a half hours. That said, I can see how the subject matter would cause many to recoil. Who wants to learn their divinely inspired sacred scripture was compiled at a conference that was at least as political and practical as it was spiritual, and was attended 100% by mortal men?

Yes, I am anti-media.

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, I am anti-media (which, I suppose, you might term "pro-pirate"), but not without reason.

For example, a common mantra is "artists deserve compensation." I could point out, yet again, that they do not *get* this compensation, rather it goes to middlemen, eaten by crazy accounting practices where things make millions of dollars but no "profit" because of the money the studios & such charge themselves. And I could point out that DaVinci, Michaelangelo, Plato, Socrates, and a whole host of others did just fine sans copyright (or any other sort of imaginary property). However, that would not be directly relevant.

Rather, I should point out that no one *else* gets to do work *once* and expects to be paid many, many times for it. It is a form of "rent" that real economists know will get squeezed out of the economy... absent government intervention, that is.

Further, rather than sensibly giving us fixed terms, they've keyed them to the life of the author. At least (and ironically), *corporate* works have a fixed term. This makes it very difficult to find out if something is still under copyright or not. And the Copyright Office files can be waaaaay out of date, which doesn't help any. But no, it's still under copyright, and it will be for 70 years after they're dead. This is unreasonable, this is unfair, and this is stupid.

You don't agree? Well, it's also a great vector for stupid contracts of adhesion. You didn't know you could read this part first? Too bad, you *could* have known. This post is copyright to me (C) 2006. By reading it, or having any copy on your computer, however briefly (i.e. the copy you're reading right now), you agree to the following terms. If you choose not to agree, you owe me statutory damages for your infringement of my intellectual property ("IP").

From the desk of IANAL:

A) You may not use, make, import, acquire, help with, support, or otherwise assist in making, writing or creating any form of Digital Restrictions Management (often called "DRM", or less accurately "Digital Rights Management"). You are, however, permitted to do whatever you like in the way of disabling, circumventing, or bypassing it per the terms of this license. Obviously, this license cannot exempt you from applicable law to the contrary; the previous statement only means that the license does not prohibit such activities, the rest of section A notwithstanding.

B) To the extent you can be bound to do so under applicable law, you agree to vote for, politically support, endorse, or otherwise agree with pro-circumvention and anti-IP laws, policies, and statements. Clause B as a whole is void if it is contrary to applicable law, consistant with the severability clause of this license.

Non-Compete Clause -

You may not accept any job competing with licensor. This means that you may not do any pro-copyright work, such as lawyering on behalf of the plaintiff in a copyright case, drafting pro-IP laws or extensions (anti-copyright laws, filing DMCA takedown notices (putback notices are fine), including those which significantly shorten copyright terms, are acceptable), or anything else inconsistant with anti-IP principles. If applicable law requires consideration to uphold this term, you are entitled to 1/20th of one cent or something with equivalent cash value (i.e. any random cupon). If applicable law requires that it be limited in time and/or within some geographic area, the largest area and the largest time must be chosen. If it recognizes no specific time or area, this applies for the next calendar year and within a range of 100 miles from your current residence.

Severability -

If any part of this license is held to be contrary to applicable law, that section is void and the rest of the license stands. In choosing how much of the license to void, the smallest section of the license that leaves the license, as a whole, to be consistant with its anti-"IP" mission must be chosen.

Termination -

This license expires w

Re:Yes, I am anti-media.

[NutscrapeSucks]

In case it wasn't clear, I'm "pro-pirate" myself, and it was mostly a meta-comment about Slashdot and not an attack on the fine Netizens who provide me free MP3s.

Just that I somehow manage to drive 75MPH to work every day without posting essays on the Internet about how Speed Limits are immoral and the Highway Patrol are corrupt assholes who incorrectly pull over Grannys.

Re:Yes, I am anti-media.

[shawb]

Just that I somehow manage to drive 75MPH to work every day without posting essays on the Internet about how Speed Limits are immoral and the Highway Patrol are corrupt assholes who incorrectly pull over Grannys.

Head on over to any automotive forum for those posts.

davinci code

[achacha]

It wasn't even a good movie, couldn't they at least wait for X-Men 3.

This does bring up an interesting point, RIAA and MPAA are so busy suing average folk in the US that they don't really make any serious efforts against the huge pirates in China. Chinese pirates will continue to go about ripping off movies and software because the Chinese government would rather side with its people than some evil foreign capitalist organization.

Holy smokes!

[Zaphod2016]

Guys, can we lay off these DaVinci-code piggybacking non-stories, please?

I mean, if nothing else, can we at least pick a new movie to obsess about for awhile? Star Trek v. Star Wars or something?

Why the fuck?

[d_jedi]

Why the fuck is slashdot giving these scumsucking leeches who illegally profit off the hard work of others recognition?

This sort of shit really pisses me off.. why the fuck did China gain admittance into the WTO with this appalling shit going on? They're not even hiding the fact that this is going on..

Sorry for the profanity, but this really makes me angry..

Re:Why the fuck?

[shutdown -p now]

Why the fuck is slashdot giving these scumsucking leeches who illegally profit off the hard work of others recognition?

Maybe because there is some ironic justice in that they profit off other leeches, for the most part. In fact, I wonder if that's just what you meant by "scumsucking"?

Re:Why the fuck?

[EzInKy]

Why the fuck is slashdot giving these scumsucking leeches who illegally profit off the hard work of others recognition?


Because it demonstrates the futility of the **AAs efforts to preserve their current distribution/profit models in a world where there is near universal access to information.


This sort of shit really pisses me off.. why the fuck did China gain admittance into the WTO with this appalling shit going on? They're not even hiding the fact that this is going on..


What would you have China do, send their tanks to round up the millions of people who buy and sell copyrighted material and place them in reeducation camps? They were admitted to the WTO because China is the world's biggest market and intellectual property is not end all of end all of global trade.


Sorry for the profanity, but this really makes me angry..


No reason to apologize, we all get angry. What really ticks me off is the refusal of the content industries to recognize that this is capitalisism in its truest form. If the street price of a DVD in China is a buck then why the aren't they selling their friggin' DVDs to the Chinese for a buck?

Re:Why the fuck?

[Scrameustache]

Why the fuck is slashdot giving these scumsucking leeches who illegally profit off the hard work of others recognition?

We can't just ignore the MPAA. We'd like to, but we can't.

Oh wait, I parsed "illegally" as "imorally". You meant the bootleggers?
They're making statements about quality and promising a better re-release of their illegal wares. That's hilarious! They're so professional : )

Re:Why the fuck?

[hugh]

For one, there is no such thing as copyright in China. So selling copied CDs/DVDS is *perfectly* legal there. Musicians and suchlike have to make their money from touring & merchandising because of this. Which works just fine! It's bloody-mindedness to think that American law can be enforced worldwide, and that the MPAA/RIAA have some sort of global reach.

Go take a good look at the world outside your borders before spewing this American imperialist crap again. A lot of the world runs a lot better than the US without your laws, thank you very much. And let's not forget, the US *completely* ignored existing worldwide copyrights and patents when the country was in its infancy (shock, horror).

So go dry your eyes, you'll get no sympathy here.

Re:Why the fuck?

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't get into art to make money.

What the hell for?

[Anonymous Coward]

The Da Vinci Code is totally boring. Even if they make it sharper and less dark, it is still boring.

And the girl is probably a long lost decendant of J.Christ according to the book.

Customer service

[stewwy]

At least this proves that at least one section of the entertainment industry is listening to its customers!
Its a shame that the two most progressive and customer centered sections of the industry are the pirates and the porno guys!

Long live piracy

[himanshuarora]

hail piracy

Re:I can't believe...

[PRC Banker]

I saw this bootleg DVD a couple of days ago, as well as MI3. It is very unusual for Chinese pirated DVDs to be low quality, even on first release. The pitures were pretty grainy on both, the background sounds on MI3 awful.

What strikes me is that the MPAA/whoever must have kept pretty good wraps on all of the DVD screeners/cinema digital copies/critic released copies to stop these two films, both highly desired at the moment by the Chinese public, under wraps.

The city in which I live (population 5 million) does not have a single shop which sells legal copies of Hollywood movies.

Fuck davinci!

[Vo0k]

I want my "Thieves Den" mod for Oblivion! The pirate ship STILL hasn't docked in the Bay!

Look

[Anonymous Coward]

It's the Monty Python foot, laugh!

Pro-Piracy?

[twattock]

This looks like news that should be reserved for a new domain, like slashdot.cn or slashdot.ru. I can't believe this got posted...

Re:I can't believe...

[coffeechica]

Yes, it is amazing that Dan Brown went as far as browsing Wikipedia for five minutes to do his fact checks.

The Skinny on DVD pricing in Beijing, China

[Anonymous Coward]

How much you pay for a DVD in Beijing, China, is up to you and is in part dependent upon where you shop.

In the area of town frequented by _lots_ of foreigners (bars over near the embassies), DVDs in boxes have a starting price of 20RMB.

The very same DVD can be bought for 10RMB out where many of the universities are. If you go exploring the parts of the city where there are very few foreigners, DVD prices can drop to 7RMB or lower (5RMB would not surprise me.)

Those prices, 20, 10, 7, are all for the *very same* DVD.

China is a market economy that is largely driven by how much the buyer wants to pay. Of course there are limits to how low they will go, but there is no limit on how high they will start at if they think you'll pay more.

The ratio of the number of legal DVDs of western movies to pirate version would be about 100:1 and the only one of note that I've seen has been The Matrix Triology - 20-30RMB for each region 6 DVD.

How much does a single Matrix movie DVD cost in a store in down town Los Angeles? I'll wager it is a lot more than $4. But ask yourself this - why should the (legal) Chinese version of a DVD movie be 1/5th or less of that in the USA or elsewhere?

If the local cost of DVDs in China is truely reflective of the manufacturing cost then people elsehwere in the world are quite seriously (and willingly, it seems) being taken for a ride.

I DON"T believe...

[Potor]

... the story in the first place.

Having lived in SE Asia until quite recently, and having seen high quality copies of everything from the Incredibles to SW 3 weeks before they hit the cinema, I am certain that high quality boots are available of DvC.

My guess is that he choose the wrong vendor.

am i the only one...

[smash]

... who initially parsed this as the idea that the pirates were going to edit the footage and get rid of some of the long-windedness?

I've read all the dan brown books, but from what I've heard of the movie, it's quite tedious.

smash.

Better quality movies

[shadowspar]

Now if Hollywood would only admit that their current crop of films sucked and promised better ones next month, then we would be on to something.

Oblig.

[MK_CSGuy]

192 comments in a pirates story and no mentioning of the FSM??
You all should be ashamed of yourself

Re:Oblig.

[pnaro]

RAmen!

Story

[kanzels]

They should improve story a little bit, I heard it isn't the best one after all that hype.

Improved Pirate Version

[Ivan Matveitch]

Jesus marries a pirate and takes to the high seas. He walks on water, boards your ship, and steals your movies.

You cry; you play a plaintive tune on your stringed instrument of choice.

It's a new industry

[Anonymous Coward]

Movie pirates now have:

quality control,
customer relations,
release versions,
schedules.

They're turning into a real industry. Soon they'll have lobyist, conventions and seminars.

Don't laugh. The tobacco industry became legit and they make an addictive poison

Piracy !!!!!

[ravee]

Yesterday, I decided to buy and read the DaVinci code book and I visited a reputed shop. And surprise, he had stocked the pirated version of the book. The funny thing is he was of the impression that this was the original version. I have seen shops which sell pirated DVD containing three Star Wars Movies in one and it cost only 75 cents. And amazingly it is done in open and nobody cares. Of course whether the person will get the real satisfaction in watching the movie or not is entirely different thing.

I always stick to buying original even if I have to pay more for it. This is because then the author of the book or the people who slogged to create the product will get some returns. If I can't afford it, I would rather not buy the product than buy pirated goods.

Love the sig n/t

[Anonymous Coward]

asdf fdsa f safsdfadasd fasf asd dasfdsfs

saving mp3 streaming is just as good

[cheekyboy]

You have tonnes of channels on mp3 servers such as shoutcast etc...

All you need to do is just record the whole lot with auto name splitting down to HD.

iRadio does a good job. And if the cut isnt perfect, edit it, you can 'splice mp3s' without re-encoding.

Just like recording digital tv or analoge vcr, but more automated.

who cares?

[Anonymous Coward]

What I really need is an updated version of the davinci virus.

Pirate Update

[artemis67]

Reportedly, the new version will have more action in it. And more humor. And more romance. And more puzzles. And they are going to give the protagonist a sidekick for more comic relief. Oh, and the pursuit of our heroes by the bad guys won't mysteriously drop off in the third act.

In fact, the pirate update has already been available for a while.

Re:Cmon people!

[Anonymous Coward]

That's a great site and I like their t-shirts. So how do I steal one? I want to fuck their corporate money-grabbing asses.

You are wrong I say!

[kahei]

You are making the unwarranted assumption that people who commit/abet copyright infringement do so as a 'special' activity. For instance:

frail nerds tell each other that they aren't bad persons

The thought that watching a copied DVD makes you a bad person never crosses anyone's mind. Someone brings round a copy of a movie, and they're like "Let's watch this," what I am going to say? Am I going to get up on a chair and go "NO! THAT WOULD MAKE US BAD PEOPLE!" No. Party because that would make me a twit, but mainly because, meh, getting up on the chair takes effort.

Or again:

you'll be lauded because you've provided moral cover for someone.

Nobody _needs_ moral cover. Watching that DVD would infringe copyright laws, I guess, like the first time I drank a beer or bought a pack of cigarettes infringed a law, and like the phone company overcharges me and people cross the road when the Walk light is really pretty well red but there are no cars around.

It's all just stuff that makes ya go "whatever". It's hard to ban behaviour that doesn't _feel_ bad.

Of course there is at least one pasty-faced Slashdot troll who _does_ try and pretend it's a big moral issue: you. I dunno if anyone will go for that, though :)

Re:You are wrong I say!

[NutscrapeSucks]

Nobody _needs_ moral cover. Watching that DVD would infringe copyright laws, I guess, like the first time I drank a beer or bought a pack of cigarettes infringed a law,

Well, that's the "normal" view (aka my view) on matters -- "Don't get caught!"

But the RIAA/MPAA is very much trying to throw down a "moral" gauntlet on this activity, including propaganda and a legal system that's weighted to heavily discourage personal piracy. And the more "sensitive" among us I believe really dislike being labeled a "bad person" and feel they have to rise to the occassion and justify themselves.

Of course there is at least one pasty-faced Slashdot troll who _does_ try and pretend it's a big moral issue: you. I dunno if anyone will go for that, though :)

Not really, when not making meta-comments, I tend to stick to OS Advocacy trolling ... these Big Media discussions are so full of repetitive groupthink that they are utterly boring and not worth stirring up. You could literally cut and paste the comments from one story to the next and nobody would notice.

Death Blow was great.

[Bender Unit 22]

The quality was excellent. Can't wait for Cry, Cry again

Hello Gentlemen

[tmateosian]

All your Davinci code are belong to US!

Why is this on /.-Slash numbers.

[Anonymous Coward]

"Second, Slashdot has a voting system (so-called moderation) where users vote on whether they agree or disagree with posts. X people make a point, Y people vote it up. Observe a consistant pattern for the next 100 stories on the topic. Once you've identified the pattern, there's no problem in analyzing it."

In other words statistics and psychology triumph the "there's no groupthink here, and what is is a small portion."*

*Let's ignore what "news for nerds" implies about clustering.

Why is this on /.-Term limits

[Anonymous Coward]

Agreed. The "I pirate to protest copyright length" is a fallacy.(1) The majority of material found illegally in the wild falls well within even the original terms, and slashdot covered a story awhile back were the movie wasn't even released yet. Also the only thing that really falls into the public domain is the copies. The high-quality original along with any support material is safe. Of course the ideas have always been free from copyright regardless of term, because you can only copyright specific implimentations. That's why there are many implimentations of "space opera", other than George Lucases version.

(1) I should point out that I'm not the only one to notice this. The only ones who never seem to learn anything from these repeated discussions (which go back years) are those who desire piracy to begin with.

AMV Hell

[hackwrench]

AMV HELL is the funniest thing around! http://amvhell.com/

Re: TLM is being re-released

[Anonymous Coward]

Disney's The Little Mermaid is being re-released on DVD in October 2006, so rejoice, support consumerism, and get the 2 disc edition...

quality?

[FirmWarez]

The Pirates, a Delaware based Limited Liability Corporation, recently announced their completion of ISO 9001 requirements. Captain Aarg, Chief Overseas Transportation Officer, said "with the extensive effort required to obtain and secretly move our products, quality isn't just an end result, but an important aspect of each link in the chain". The Pirates believe that customers will rapidly appreciate the improved quality of items they find in back alleys and under trench coats. Ling Mee Sin, a clerk with a The Pirates franchise, commented "You bring cash!"

"/."-court in session The honorable Taco presiding

[Anonymous Coward]

"I'll bite. I think most people agree copyright infringment is wrong and should be delt with somehow."

Remember that slashdot story awhile back about the general public being OK with casual illigal copyright infingement?

"What they don't agree with is the *AA treating all their customers like criminals with (sometimes really nasty) copy protection that the real criminals know how to get past anyway."

I agree. The real crimminals should turn themselves into the law, so all us law-abiding people can get on with our casual copyright infringing.*

"Or the *AA creating ridiculous numbers and blaming all losses (even stuff thats not a real loss, like them missing their target growth) on copyright infringment, regardless of how crappy a product is."

Funny how a forum that resists all "groupthink" efforts, has no problem labeling all content as "crappy". As in "I pirate because all content is crappy".

"Ot them using mafia tactics of "I don't have much proof and might not win in court, but I'll drown you in legal fees if you don't pay $3000 for something we think you did."

Better to judge the case in the court of public opinion were majority rules, and "proof" is anything you want it to be. At least it's cheap.

*Or did you not notice that "pirates" need "customers" in order to be pirates? Much like the vicious cycle that is spam, or illegal drugs.

DaVinci Code of the Carribean?

[Aqua_boy17]

When I read the headline I thought that maybe Johnny Depp would be replacing Tom Hanks in the leading role.

Anyway, it's good to see more pirating. Remember that every blow stricken for pirates is a blow against Global Warming.

Translation: Crappy USA quality will be upgraded

[Anonymous Coward]

This only means that they are now selling a crappy USA NTSC version of the video which has roughly 640 x 480 resolution like all USA TV sets. They plan to upgrade this to the European PAL version which is roughly at 800 x 600 resolution as soon as they get their hands on a European DVD.

Those of us fortunate enough to live in Europe are shocked when we first see the fuzzy TV pictures that Americans (and Canadians) put up with.

agreed

[BitterAndDrunk]

It's a book for people who don't read books.

Dan Brown's a crap writer.

Re:agreed

[jhp64]

It's a book for people who don't read books

written by a person who doesn't write books.

Re:agreed

[BitterAndDrunk]

You must have enjoyed the DaVinci Code, judging from your nonsensical attempt at a flame. I'm very sorry for you.

Re:agreed

[jhp64]

You must have enjoyed the DaVinci Code, judging from your nonsensical attempt at a flame. I'm very sorry for you.

Look: the book has no character development, bad dialogue, and not much plot. On top of that, too many of the chapters end with cliff-hangers &mdash this plot device gets old pretty fast. The only worthwhile thing was the back story, and I don't think that that was particularly well-presented, either.

That is, I'm saying that it's badly enough written to not really qualify as a book. Maybe as an outline or a rough draft of a screenplay or something else, but not a book.

As Dorothy Parker once said (about another book), "This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force."

(Besides, you referred to my post as "nonsensical". If you don't want nonsense, you shouldn't be reading Slashdot.)

Eco? Smug?

[BitterAndDrunk]

Not bloody likely. He'd be some multi-syllabyllic word meaning the same thing as smug.
That guy's got way too much vocabulary for his own good. (Loved Fouc, but it's the first book in 8 years where I had to look up words)

Re:Eco? Smug?

[coffeechica]

I was just going for the Cliff's Notes version of his comment. Foucault wasn't even that bad. Hardly any passages in Latin.

When I saw the title....

[Conspiracy_Of_Doves]

I thought they mean 'better version' as in 'The Phantom Edit'

latin don't bother me

[BitterAndDrunk]

I took 3 years of it in high school, I can normally muddle through it with rusty, rusty skills.

It's the English that kills, man!

Re:latin don't bother me

[coffeechica]

I read it in German, so English words would have thrown me off stride too!

Still, half the fun about his books comes from the language, whichever it is.

Re:latin don't bother me

[BitterAndDrunk]

Oh yeah, he's got flava ;) I love his sense of humor as well, quite dry and clever.

My Dealer said the same thing

[GrayCalx]

In other news my dealer told me he was "less than satisfied" with the latest shipment of weed he got. He promised that next week's will be "much more dank". And if i could just bare with him during these difficult times, he would "take care of me" when the good stuff arrives.

No, it's front page to troll the christians!

[spun]

This is frontpage news not because of anything to do with pirating. That's just the excuse. The real reason is that the editors and many readers, myself included, love to make religious types irate. Nothing could be funnier than seeing some self-proclaimed holier-than-thou type go all froth and spittle when their supposedly peace promoting fairy tale is questioned. Religious types have had to shut down major logic circuits in their brains in order to believe the unbelievable, making their attempts at defending their chosen sky-god particularly amusing.

Re:No, it's front page to troll the christians!

[Anonymous Coward]

The movie is fiction and your reason for the post is utter bullshit. Enjoy your hypocrisy while you can.

Dan Brown's writing style

[totallygeek]

I cannot read. Let me say that my attention span causes me to skim pages, skip words, go back and forth. Because of this, I end up reading with no comprehension if something goes more than a few pages. Character development is difficult for me to follow. Along comes Dan Brown with a writing style that has short chapters, little descriptive notation, etc. He has been criticized for his writing style, but I find it easy to follow. Admittedly, I listened to the 13-CD audio book for Da Vinci Code, but I read Angels and Demons and Point Deception (?) (the meteorite book). I can pretty much only read a Stephen King novel if I have seen the movie, but I can start and finish a Brown novel without difficulty. I did not finish Digital Fortress because I lost interest in the story.

Inaccurate information is what good stories are all about. I doubt there are many that bitched about the Indiana Jones trilogy for similar reasons. I enjoyed watching National Treasure, which was rife with errors. Any science fiction film -- don't get me started. For us computer nerds, I enjoyed many movies with tons of errors: Virus, Wargames, Sneakers, Lawnmower Man, etc. I think some people need to lighten up and enjoy a story every so often. Da Vinci Code is a work of fiction, building on convenient coincidences and half-truths. That statement describes half the history books I have read in the past.

Can't we all just get along?!?!

Re:Dan Brown's writing style

[Anonymous Coward]

Your writing style is amazing for someone who cannot read...

Reminds me of Seinfeld "The Lost Kicks"

[Is0m0rph]

% Cry, Cry Again, Kramer is bootlegging. Kramer: (laughing) The French guy fell off the bike. Oh man, that's precious. (eats popcorn) % Jerry's apartment watching the tape. Jerry: No, no, no, no, no, no, no! What were you thinking when you shot this? Kramer: That's fine. Jerry: Do you even know what this scene is about? Kramer: It's about a guy buying a loaf of bread. Jerry: No, bread is his soul. He's trying to buy back a loaf of his soul. (Gesturing taking a loaf of bread.) Kramer: Wha? Where? Jerry: Kramer there is no way you're giving this tape to Brody and telling him I shot it. Kramer: Nah, he's not going to know the difference. Jerry: I don't care about Brody. I was up on 96th Street today, there was a kid couldn't have been more than ten years old. He was asking a street vendor if he had any other bootlegs as good as Death Blow. That's who I care about. The little kid who needs bootlegs, because his parent or guardian won't let him see the excessive violence and strong sexual content you and I take for granted.

Did anyone else notice

[Anonymous Coward]

A sales assistant at one Shanghai DVD shop said the initial copies were 'pirated overseas' and that 'better quality' versions would probably be available early next month.

I guess the quality just hasn't been the same since the manufacturer outsourced to the US.

The way human behaviour is in China

[Anonymous Coward]

"I don't know anyway you could stop it if you really tried. "

The same way you stop any bad behavior. By giving the practitioner* a stake in the proper behaviour. Human behaviour can be modified. The problem is not that we don't know what that proper behaviour is. We simply lack the will to do the work involved, especially in the face of bad behaviour being the easier of the two.(1)

*In the general sense, and that includes consumers.

(1) Human behaviour is much like water. It seeks the lowest level, unless there's some continuous motivating force keeping it raised to a higher level,

Won't someone Please,

[MrCopilot]

Please, Think of the Robots?

$20 in Malaysia?

[PCM2]

I couldn't purchase one from Disney if I wanted to, so some Malaysian pirate got my $20

Twenty? Wow. Hate to say it, but if you paid $20 for a pirated movie in Malaysia you got ripped off. Last time I was there I seem to recall a DVD5 cost about $4-7 and a DVD9 was maybe $7-10.

I bought the Star Wars Trilogy on DVD-9 at the time. Unfortunately they were the Special Editions ... they didn't have a DVD9 version of the originals (I've since downloaded DVD images). When I went to buy them the guy in the shop -- which was in a small mall, BTW -- the guy said something like "Good movies." I explained to him that I wanted to buy them because, believe it or not, you could not buy those movies on DVD in the United States. He seemed to think I was nuts, but I assured him that it was, indeed, the case.

Second story about that same shop that speaks a little bit to what other people are saying about DVD piracy in Asia. I went back to that same mall a few days later and the store was closed. This seemed strange, since it was some random weekday in the middle of the afternoon. Later someone else explained it to me: The store owner had been tipped off that the Copyright Police would be coming by for a raid that day, so he simply didn't open his doors.

This seemed to be quite commonplace. You would find guys selling pirate DVDs on the street in just about any major tourist or shopping area, and more than once I saw one of them answer his phone, talk briefly, then pack up his table and beat a hasty retreat. Copyright Cops are apparently everywhere, but it doesn't seem to be too much of a problem for anyone so long as they know which palms to grease. All it takes to avoid them is a well-timed phone call.

Re:$20 in Malaysia?

[Overzeetop]

Actually, it was ebay, and probably $5-7 was for shipping. At the time, a few years ago, "real" copies were north of $80, so it was a relative bargain. It's no masterpiece, but the kid like it. *shrug* We'll probably spring for the 2-disc "Mr. Eisner needs a new boat" version coming out this fall, just to get better picture and audio quality.

YHBT. YHL. HAND.

[Anonymous Coward]

His trollish plan worked, it seems.

not difficult

[r00t]

People stitch together panoramas all the time. They do this despite camera features like auto-exposure.

The software doesn't need to be lame.

software takes care of that

[r00t]

You don't need stabilization in the cam.

For each film frame, pick the least blurry video fields. Pick ones that match up well, thus avoiding problems with people walking in front of the cam.

Lighting is not a serious problem. See the panotools project, which stiches together panoramas despite auto-exposure in the camera.