Pirated DVDs of Hollywood films flood Chinese mark

[yrsoft2f]

BEIJING - Poking around a pirate DVD to MP3 down the block from the Apple Store in central Beijing one recent afternoon on her lunch break, Zhou Xin eyed the floor-to-ceiling selection of Oscar-nominated films, indie flicks and B-movies such as "Nude Nuns With Big Guns" before grabbing a sleek copy of "Black Swan," complete with a blurb in English and Mandarin, for closer inspection.
"It looks creepy,Best iovsoft Blu-ray Ripping program," said the 26-year-old, who works in public relations. She replaced it on the shelf and picked up "The Social Network," which she purchased for eight yuan, or about $1.22.
Asked if she had ever bought a legal foreign DVD, she replied: "Never. And even if I wanted to, there's nowhere to go. Mac DVD to Mp4are like democracy - they don't exist in China."
Thanks to globalization, rising incomes and the spread of the Internet, Chinese consumers such as Zhou have an interest in Hollywood movies like never before - "Avatar," for instance, grossed more money in China than any other country besides the United States. But their options for legal viewing of foreign films remain scant.
China allows only about 20 foreign movies into theaters each year, and has strict licensing rules for the sale of home entertainment products. Censors must approve of all films for legal viewing and would certainly frown upon fare such as "Black Swan," with its explicit ###### scenes,Ideal DVD ripping software for you to rip DVD to a, and "The Social Network," which is about Facebook - a service that the Chinese government blocks.
With no outlets akin to Netflix, Blockbuster or iTunes legitimately selling or renting a broad selection of titles, Chinese movie buffs opt for illegal Internet downloads or pirated DVD to AVI. More and more piracy has migrated to the Web in China, though reliable estimates of its magnitude are hard to find. Still, bootleg Blu-ary to AVI produced and packaged, some with "extras" even better than those found on legitimate discs - remain a huge business and give an indication of the scale of the problem: According to a report in state-run media, the country's pirate DVD industry raked in $6 billion in 2010. By comparison, China's box-office receipts totaled $1.5 billion last year.
Authorities say they are taking robust action to thwart copyright infringement of items such as films, music and clothing and claim a crackdown has netted 3,000 people since October. But the fundamental problem, Hollywood studios and many Chinese consumers agree, is that China's censorship policies and restrictions on home entertainment products make it nearly impossible for consumers here to buy legal copies of American films. The Motion Picture Assn. of America has estimated that nine out of 10 DVDs sold in China are bootlegged, and piracy rates for downloaded films are almost certainly as high or higher.