Chinese Pirates Crack Blu-ray DRM, Sell Pirated HD Discs

[SilentTigeR]

Movie pirates are distributing fake Blu-ray movie titles in China, which are essentially ordinary DVDs passed off as Blu-rays.

According to a http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122688367525432273.html?mod=googlenews_wsj, the counterfeit Blu-ray discs are ordinary DVDs that hold the same movie content as the original Blu-ray but it is encoded in the AVCHD format. AVCHD is based on the MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) video format, enabling recording of high-definition 1080i and 720p video onto cheap DVD discs.

"We are concerned and are assigning priority to this issue," said Mike Ellis, the Asia-Pacific managing director for the MPA.

The issue came into the surface last month when authorities raided a big stash of the new pirated discs in China, which is often at the leading edge of piracy trends.

The MPA estimates that within the next six months the high-definition discs could account for 10% of $224 million that its member companies lose from piracy in China. While a legitimate Blu-ray discs costs about $30, a pirated Chinese disc goes for as little as $7. More PlayStation 3 News...

[Kellog]

7$ for pirated DVD doesn't sound very cheap in my mind, when you can also download HD versions from net & burn yourself, if you want to support pirated movies. I guess normal DVD copies are much more cheaper ? (Less than 1$/pcs ?)

The quality of 1 DVD AVCHD disc can't be perfect, when average movie usually takes > 20GB. I would rather backup my original BR:s using 2 x DVD9 discs with uncompressed & unnecessary sounds ripped, if possible.

The idea of watching HD movies is ruined quite easily, if you have to compromise the quality too much.

[sorceror]

7$ for pirated DVD doesn't sound very cheap in my mind...

It isn't. These are being sold as if they are Blu-ray discs - $7 for a Blu-ray ain't bad - but they are just DVDs. Hard to tell from just visual inspection unless you know what to look for.

[revoo]

Its amazing what they can accomplish over there! But its really nothing special hddvd and blurays rips have been available online for a long time. Nothing like downloading a movie in 720/1080p and watching it on the ps3