I promised myself I would wean back my blogging, but I came across this piece of news, and I just couldn’t help myself: looks like Hollywood (read: the MPA) is unsheathing their knives and have targeted Chinese torrent sites, in particular, as they are distributing pirated movies with seeming impunity.  Blah, blah, blah, the post goes on to say about the billions of dollars that are being lost in China, and how the government is aiding and abetting this as they are restricting the amount / number of foreign films being released there.

A couple real interesting things here.

1. Google actually owns a 5% stake of the site in question, Xunlei.  Nothing too profound here, just thought I’d point that out.  Oh, and say that, perhaps Google has had its fair share of copyright and piracy issues with YouTube, and knows a thing or three about settling them.  On the other hand 5% ownership probably amounts to a negligible amount of liability, and is probably what Sergei and Larry have hiding in their gold-plated couches at any given moment.

2. Chinese Torrent Sites aren’t really the problem.  Sure, tons of people use them.  Perhaps, for Xunlei at least, as many as the Wikipedia numbers suggest.  But I think that’s only one part of the equation.  The real question people should be asking themselves is if movie piracy is a significant problem, exactly how “mainstream” is it, and are there any other quasi-legal “distribution channels” that exist where might be *more* significant than, say, torrent sites?

My money is on “not as much as they MPA worries about, but its not zero”, and “yes, there are *other* distribution channels that exist that might be more significant.

What might those be?

Well, I don’t know where you live.  But in Toronto, there are several locations where you can buy pirated DVDs — *physically* — off the shelf, for as little as $1 a pop.  The just released stuff might be more expensive, but at a “volume” discount, it might be $20 for 6.

No, these aren’t dudes selling it out of the back of their car.  These are folks who are in malls — physical locations — raking in thousands of dollars a weekend selling boot leg movies.

And let’s not be obtuse.  Of course they are Chinese Malls, found in the multitudes of Chinatowns around the city (we have many).  In Toronto, you can look to good ol’ Pacific Mall, for example.  Market Village is another.  First Markham Place has tons.  They all do, in fact.  Like 5-6 per mall.

If you’re so inclined, here’s a tip: Don’t go on week days — they only have *Chinese* pirated material.  Weekends is when they bring out the Hollywood stuff.  One enterprising place has even hired a “kwai-lo” to help the crowds on weekends.

Every few months or so (may be six-ten) the local constabulary put on a good show and make a few arrests, and hand out hefy fines, but you can bet your bottom dollar that the majority of them are back doing the same thing two weeks later (probably because it only takes a couple weeks to recoup the costs of the fine).

Long rant, but here’s the bottom line.

I’ve been around Toronto, but I’ve also been to a lot of other Canadian and American cities.  And you can bet that I’ve seen folks selling bootleg DVD’s *everywhere*, and again, I’m not talking about of the back seat of some car, or on the street.  I’ve seen’em in all kinds of ethnic malls, and other places most concerned people don’t care to look.

And its no secret.  I mean, its like they’re selling candy to kids who can’t control themselves, at 90% off.  And you’re still making several 100% in profit.  In many ways, its *better* than selling drugs (and let’s not get into how organized crime might or might not be involved in any of this).

So, Hollywood interested in taking down torrent sites?  Sure, why not.  But there’s a real distribution channel that exists to funnel pirated movies into the hands of ordinary folks, that I rarely, if *ever* see mentioned.

And that, to me, is the real irony.

Or stupidity.

Or shortsightedness.

… well, you get my drift.