GOING HOME

One family's diary, journeys and thoughts

Monday, August 14, 2006

Where is MPAA when you need it?

While I was working at Softitler, a visit of MPAA inspectors meant hassle. Not that there was anything wrong with the way we worked, but when you know you will be looked at through a microscope... you probably know the feeling. The inspectors stopped by every now and then to make sure the intellectual property, i.e. movies and videomaterials we worked with, is safe and secure with us.

I wish they would stop by Armenia one day.

Piracy is rampant here. We have already seen it all: movies recorded straight from the movie theatre, copies of promotional disks that Academy members get, illegal copies of licensed discs with menu and credits cut off... While those were rentals, we just laughed about it (I mean, really - what can one do?). But the other day we bought a DVD of Second Hand Lons, which was posing as a licensed edition from Russia. Only after we brought it home we realized it was a copy of a promotional disc. The phrase "For promotional use only, sale or rental of this disc is illegal" rolled across the screen every 5 minutes or so, and the picture was changing from color to black and white and back every 10 min. Imagine trying to watch one of your favorite movies like that!

So naturally, the very next day I took the DVD back to the store and asked for my money back. A bored-looking guy informed me they are not a rental place, so I can't watch a movie and bring it back. I told him the disc is faulty. He tried to prove to me that it's the way it's supposed to be. I told him it's illegal to sell discs like that, and that, knowing English, I can read the MPAA warning and know where the source disc came from. He laughed in my face!

Yes, I did get my money back eventually, but I didn't enjoy the experience. As in, I am not going back to that store. Considering I am planning to purchase a lot of my favorite Russian movies and take them back with me to the US, they lost quite a customer...

So, where is MPAA when you need them?

1 Comments:

At 1:04 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Was it a real store?

 

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