Posted on 03/16/2004 10:07:16 AM PST by GulliverSwift
JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia - 15 March 2004 — Pirated DVDs of controversial Hollywood blockbuster “The Passion of Christ” have hit the streets and are selling like hot cakes, according to street vendors.
The film is being sold outside of supermarkets, and out of the trunk of cars for the price of SR 30 or less. A copy obtained by Arab News was of high quality.
A street vendor said on condition of anonymity vendors underestimated demand for the movie because the dialogue is in Latin and ancient Aramaic rather than English. “My customers don’t like subtitled movies, but they are buying this one.”
The film, which its director Mel Gibson claims is a faithful rendering of the Christian gospels, has whipped up a storm of controversy in the US because of fears its depiction of Jews could fuel anti-Semitism.
“A majority of these DVDs come from the Far East by way of GCC states,” he said. “Pirated CDs and DVDs of latest movies are often available in Jeddah weeks before the films are even released in the United States.”
Mel Gibson’s movie company, Icon, is suing a Hollywood post-production company claiming bad security allowed three employees to copy the film.
The bootlegs eventually turned up online and on the black market.
According to the 2003 International Intellectual Property Alliance report, “Saudi Arabia should remain on the watch list. The piracy situation in Saudi Arabia continued to improve for most sectors i n2002 ,with cooperation from the Ministry of Information and sustained raiding that has eaten into piracy rates for the motion picture and business software industries.”
In January of last year inspectors in Kingdomwide raids on shops dealing in pirated CDs and computer programs confiscated unlicensed and pirated software worth SR3. 5million.
Last October the Ministry of Information in cooperation with the Security Board of Jeddah also clamped down on stores suspected of selling pirated software, and seized over 20,000 CDs loaded with copied Playstation games and over 300 Arabic and foreign DVD movies and over 23,000 videotapes.
The Ministry of Culture has now started implementing a royal decree which provides for fines of SR250,000 for sale and distribution of Playstation CDs in the first instance. Repeat offenders will be charged SR500,000 in addition to a jail sentence and having their shop closed down, according to Al-Yaum newspaper.
Misfar Saad Al-Misfar, deputy minister of culture, told the paper his ministry confiscated more than 350,000 pirated Playstation CDs from East Asia.
A copy obtained by Arab News was of high quality.
Amazing. They get the DVD acros the world before any of us can get it.
I remember Yasser Arafat, in trying to curry favor with the Christian world:
Two years ago, in the weeks before Christmas, the PA chairman declared Jesus to be a Palestinian Muslim and staged a media spectacle over being forbidden to attend the Catholic Christmas mass by Israel.
Well, there's a silver lining to that cloud, then!
On the one hand, I hate to see Mel lose even a penny, because his hit is an object lesson for Hollyweird.
On the other, this may very well be good news.
/sarcasm?
Ping.
At several points in the movie, I saw an odd pattern of dots flash on the screen. Is that some sort of coding to track down pirates?
What the devil means for harm, God uses for Good. Even though we hate what the Muslim religion stands for, Jesus died for them too. The only way to completely destroy Islam is to reach them with the love of Christ. God does work in mysterious ways. How many will finally have an opportunity to see and hear the gospel?
Why sue unless you only made the movie to....make...money!!!13 posted on 03/17/2004 8:56:54 AM EST by biblewonk
What the devil means for harm, God uses for Good. Even though we hate what the Muslim religion stands for, Jesus died for them too. The only way to completely destroy Islam is to reach them with the love of Christ. God does work in mysterious ways. How many will finally have an opportunity to see and hear the gospel?14 posted on 03/17/2004 9:14:16 AM EST by CajunConservative
I hate to see Mel lose even a penny, because his hit is an object lesson for Hollyweird. On the other, this may very well be good news.Piracy is an attack on all artistic copyright generally, and is naturally opposed by all artists in solidarity if for no other reason. Gibson clearly is never going to need to work again after the profits he'll see from this movie. And in fact it's sort of like leaving your Bible in an unlocked car. You'd miss the Bible if it were taken, but you could hope that it were taken - and learned from - by anyone who would steal it.
So in that sense piracy is less than a tragedy in this case, if someone repents. But it does make one squeamish to read of Muslims who might support terrorism illegally profiting by The Passion.
Oh I don't have a problem with him going after the one's who made the pirated copies. They deserve to face the legal consequences of their actions. However, the question remains will the movie even be allowed to be shown there?
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