Not sure if this is the best forum for this, but here goes . . .

China has been, of course, legendary for the ready availability of pirated DVDs. These DVDs varied in quality from high-quality glass-mastered disks to the poorest transfers from someone's camcorder taken into a movie theater. Pirated DVDs have also been the bane of the Hollywood studios.

Well, Hollywood finally got smart. On this latest trip, I didn't see pirated DVDs in the usual locations (though, I suspect they're still available at the tourist-oriented "fake" markets). Instead, I saw genuine DVDs produced specifically for the Chinese market. These genuine DVDs sell for around $5-6 USD, as opposed to the $1-3 that was customary for the pirated product. Though genuine, they do differ from the U.S. DVD releases in that (1) they lack special features, (2) they contain a rather lengthy propaganda/advertisement for genuine DVDs at the beginning, and (3) though they contain the English language soundtrack, they have Chinese subtitles that can't be turned off, and English title frames (for instance, when you see on the screen, "Three years later . . . ") are replaced with Chinese ones. I realized this after picking up a copy of Zodiac, which I've wanted to see, and watching it on my brother-in-law's home theater in Shenzhen. The final titles of the movie lay out what happened to all the major players and were, of course, in Chinese. I had to go on the internet to look up what happened. Also, needless to say, these DVDs are region coded to Region 6 (the U.S. and Canada is Region 1) and can only be played on Region 6 players.

The net result is to make these DVDs singularly unattractive to foreign buyers looking to score cheap DVDs to take home, but very attractive to Chinese buyers who can get a Chinese-customized, studio-quality original for just a few dollars more than a pirated DVD.

Hollywood studios, I salute you for an intelligent solution to a nagging problem.

Now, here's what I did. I went to a Shenzhen department store and bought a Region 6 DVD player that will (1) work on 120/240v 50/60 Hz, and (2) convert internally between PAL and NTSC. The player, a Phillips, cost $70. Then I bought a bunch of DVDs that I wanted to see. My wife will translate the Chinese titles for me, and I don't mind at all the loss of the special features. Best of all, bringing home these DVDs is completely legal -- they are genuine, not counterfeit, and therefore legal to bring in (resale is a different story but, of course, I have no intention of doing that).

So, it looks like a win-win-win situation -- Hollywood sells more movies in China, albeit it a lower margin than in the U.S. Chinese DVD buyers get a higher quality product. And we-who-like-a-bargain-when-visiting-China have a legal means of obtaining low-cost DVDs.