I always wondered what fake DVDs from China looked like. Well, here are some. These are actually the higher quality variety. Some of the low end ones contain the same packaging, but have tons of data compressed onto a single DVD. For example, the entire first season of “Prison Break” is frequently jammed onto two DVDs. You can sometimes see compression artifacts and some of the episodes might be of lower quality. For example, the audio might not perfectly sync up or the aspect ratio isn’t quite right.   Totally tolerable though for about a buck and a quarter as evidenced by the huge quantity of pirated DVDs that are bought and sold each day.   And, this is the exception, rather than the rule. Shoppers from Hong Kong (“Honkeys”) love coming to Dong Men to visit the DVD stores.

Even some TV series that haven’t finished yet are out on DVD. For example, I’ve seen Season 6 of 24 sitting on the shelves or sitting in a box of a street corner salesman. I’m pretty sure this is only the episodes that have aired, but still it’s a pretty impressive business. The DVDs on the street will run about 60 cents, the higher quality ones in Dong Men (hard to distinguish from the real thing) will run maybe twice that. The *real* DVDs are probably half of the US prices.

How is it possible to have such rampant piracy?   The government pretends to not notice.   It’s a reasonable way for some folks to make a living.   And those people who are making a living this way are not a burden on the government.

Pirated DVDs:

Stay tuned for a fake clothing report. I guess I’ll have to break down and buy a fake Polo shirt one day. They are quite easy to spot.