News

RCMP Arrests Three For Pirated DVD Sales

The RMCP in Hamilton have arrested four men for violating the Copyright Act by selling pirated DVDs.

5 Comments

  1. Miroslav Glavic says:

    Now they do it?
    Michael, in Toronto (well technically Markham) there is a mall called PACIFIC MALL.

    IT IS A WELL KNOWN FACT THAT YOU CAN GET PIRATED DVDs.
    There is more than one store. I NEVER bought pirated dvds because I can get a movie for $5.99 from ROGERS ON DEMAND, the transit ticket/gas money + my time = more than $5.99 (and paying for the pirated dvds).

    It’s not like these store owners in the mall hide it, it’s wide open right there. So I always thought that it was one guy that goes with a camera into the cinema theatre and films. I bought 3 random movies that I recognized for $10 from the “sales box”, there were other “deals”. There was no tax charged but it can be “defended” that taxes are included.

    I go home and examine the three dvd packages, the case covers are very cheap printouts.
    The dvds are regular dvds with no regular printed “labels” at all. We all know that DVD discs are so cheap now a days. You know those return address label stickers you can get from Grand and Toy, Office Depot and so forth? well that was all that identified what the disk was.

    Dvd cases are beyond cheap.

    EVERYONE in the GTA knows where to go for “cheap” movies (Pacific Mall). Why don’t these places get shut down?

    I am sure the mall owner knows, the rent-a-cop security malls knows and everyone who goes to the mall.

    Pacific Mall falls under the jurisdiction of York Region Police, OPP and RCMP. Why haven’t they done anything?

    I find it interesting that the Copyright holding companies (studios, music companies, etc…) go after the individual (NOT SAYING THAT IT IS WRONG WHAT THEY ARE DOING) but why don’t they go for the supplier?
    If the cops arrest me now, they will get 3 dvds off the market. If they go after the store or it’s supplier, they can get thousands off the market.

    Before anyone bites my head off, these are the first and last pirated dvds I got and they are in a box in my closet. I will not ever show them or watch them again.

  2. voiceofReason says:

    “The profits from these illegal sales are ultimately funding
    organized crime.”

    Oh of course they do because we all know the RCMP still has credibility. Can the RCMP show us evidence that this is a fact 100% of the time? Probably not. So I guess I’ll have to take “their” “word” for it.

    Sarcasm aside, download the stuff yourself. Dont sell it either.

  3. Easier said then done
    As a response to your post Miroslav, what you are proposing is easier said than done. Not only are these stores prominent in Pacific Mall, but also in downtown Chinatown in Toronto, First Markham Place in Markham, Dragon City in Scarborough, and a whole plethora of other Chinese malls and stores scattered all throughout Toronto.

    It should be obvious, however, that they’re not getting their movies from one single supplier, nor is there only one person working on copying these discs. One of the largest issues is that the makers of these discs are not necessarily in Toronto or even Canada. They may be in other countries where the IP laws are more lax or poorly enforced.

    To combat the problem, not only do consumers have to stop purchasing the pirated DVD’s, but governments must work together with other countries and create tighter legislative means to combat the problem.

    Having said that however, just because you are able to order Rogers On-Demand for $5.99, it may still be much more tempting to pay $10 for three movies to many people. Though your argument may be that they are of inferior quality, you have to know what you’re buying. If the film is still in theatres, you’re likely getting a telecine copy of the movie. If the movie is soon to be released onto DVD, you’re likely going to be getting a good copy of a DVD R5 disc. Anyways, that just invites a whole other discussion about the Warez Scene. Point is, it is much more tempting to a lot of people to get a decent copy of a movie or a few movies for that matter for $15 then to have to pay $6.

  4. sooo how does that afect filesharing
    if everyone has access the above criminals get 0

  5. RENT & RIP
    I rent out Dvd’s and I rip them for my own personal use. Back during the VHS day’s I modified my VCR to record copy protected VHS tapes. Can’t stop copying, never can never will. If the companies bankrupt that their problem! If Canada steps up the laws and make copying Illegal then those who sell pirated copies will only result in other laws to be broken and other laws I mean weapons charges will result, hitting a police officer and or investigators. If this DMCA law passes than the American Government just caused a load of trouble in Canada and we will have more gun violations and violence in this country. I say tell the American Government to get their nose the hell out of Canadian law. The movie industry is like drugs, it can be addicted, a person can get pissed if it is a B movie!