Anybody in Japan or know Japanese well?
- Thread starter Krug
- Start date
RangerWickett
Legend
Why would you be ordering DVDs from a Japanese vendor? The DVDs probably won't work on US Region players.
What you want to do is get a Hong Kong dealer, and someone who speaks Chinese. A couple of friends of mine went to Hong Kong for one guy's bachelor party, and one of the guys, Arick, was from Hong Kong and was able to get ridiculously good deals for anime. Like $20 for a full series on DVD. And they weren't bootlegged or anything. Just weirdly cheap.
What you want to do is get a Hong Kong dealer, and someone who speaks Chinese. A couple of friends of mine went to Hong Kong for one guy's bachelor party, and one of the guys, Arick, was from Hong Kong and was able to get ridiculously good deals for anime. Like $20 for a full series on DVD. And they weren't bootlegged or anything. Just weirdly cheap.
Psst!
Can I interest you in some beachfront property in Central Nevada?
dave_o
Explorer
Dannyalcatraz said:
Dude, he's not necessarily duped -- a lot of things in China are mondo cheap. I think beer there is around fifty cents to a dollar in USD, meals at resturants run three to five dollars, and non-bootlegged DVDs tend to run around ten bucks. This, of course, is coming from my friend who is living there presently, teaching English, but he's a pretty upstanding gent.
Japan, however, may be slightly more expensive, but I was under the impression that most electronic consumer goods (such as DVDs) were produced and sold at very, very low rates, hence the widespread and mass importation from said countries.
Pardon me...
I'm an entertainment lawyer.
Every month an article crosses my desk about how rampant bootlegging is in China/Hong Kong- music, TV, Movies, and computer programs are all being copied illegally there.
In some cases, the bootlegs are even manufactured in the same factories as the legitimate product, done when the production lines are allegedly offline.
This, of course, is only the most recent outgrowth of the massive knockoff industry that China has. Earlier this year here in Dallas, a couple of local businesses were shut down by the Feds when they were discovered to have illegal Chinese knockoffs of big name leather goods, jewelry, and software.
That said, I sometimes forget that not everyone reads the same reports that I do.
But trust me, if you see a steal of a deal on a DVD or some software from China, realize that it may well be STOLEN. Some officials estimate that as much as 50% of such goods sold or originating there may be bootlegs.
Really- some of these copies are so good that about the only way you CAN tell they aren't legit is by the price or where you're buying them.
I'm an entertainment lawyer.
Every month an article crosses my desk about how rampant bootlegging is in China/Hong Kong- music, TV, Movies, and computer programs are all being copied illegally there.
In some cases, the bootlegs are even manufactured in the same factories as the legitimate product, done when the production lines are allegedly offline.
This, of course, is only the most recent outgrowth of the massive knockoff industry that China has. Earlier this year here in Dallas, a couple of local businesses were shut down by the Feds when they were discovered to have illegal Chinese knockoffs of big name leather goods, jewelry, and software.
That said, I sometimes forget that not everyone reads the same reports that I do.
But trust me, if you see a steal of a deal on a DVD or some software from China, realize that it may well be STOLEN. Some officials estimate that as much as 50% of such goods sold or originating there may be bootlegs.
Really- some of these copies are so good that about the only way you CAN tell they aren't legit is by the price or where you're buying them.
Derulbaskul
Adventurer
Dannyalcatraz said:
This is the real problem: the factory owners allow their factories to be used for this. It's a big problem with clothing, too.
Personally, I plan to find out which factories are making the WotC miniatures at some point and go and pick up a complete collection on the cheap....
NB: I'm kidding.
RangerWickett
Legend
Dannyalcatraz said:
So, um . . . I'm a little confused here. It's made in the same factory, is practically identical to the real product, but is cheaper. So it's stolen. That I get. What I don't get is how the companies producing the products (who are obviously the ones who are losing money here) can't just check their factories to see how many copies are being made versus how many there actually are.
It's just a weird situation, or so it sounds to me.
dave_o
Explorer
RangerWickett said:
Clearly, the stolen products are manufactured by gnomes who clandestinely run the factories long into the...middle-afternoon (or whenever the factories shut down). That, or most factory supervisors in China are incredibly corrupt or have a real soft spot for the common man.
Or some wildly complicated socio-political reason that, while I may be able to research and share, is really, really not worth it.
Last edited:
Similar Threads
