When piracy is OK,; AP (oops, Reuters) hypocrisy

[CBGLuthier]

EDIT: DAMN MY EYES. Reuters, not AP

Puff piece article about the selling of VCDs in Afghanistan. Maks it sound like the greatest thing and never ONCE mentions that these are all illegal copies.


KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - In the city that spawned Afghanistan's Taliban, music and TV were crimes punishable by beatings and jail just a few years ago.


Now, India's Bollywood and its raunchy song and dance numbers and wet saris compete with Mr Bean and women's wrestling in the Sadat music and film market, a chaotic cacophony of sound where it's always night inside and it's always packed.

"I like Mr Bean, he is very funny," says 12-year-old Mohammed Rahim, from behind the counter of his father's Ariana VCD Center.

"I watch him all the time."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050927/en_nm/afghan_bollywood_dc

[Nickster]

1. Not necessarily illegal copies. VCDs are sold overseas as the primary

format instead of DVDs. You can of course make illegal copies in the VCD format, but that doesn't necessarily mean all VCDs are illegal.

Here's a list of a few commercial VCD stores online so you can see a few examples.

http://www.mpegtv.com/vcd.html

[salvorhardin]

2. How do you know they're pirated copies?

VCDs are still manufactured and are very popular in some parts of the world.

[CBGLuthier]

3. My mistake then

I didn't realize VCD was used by the studios.

In the words of Gilda Radner;

Never Mind. :-)