1,000 copied DVDs seized

@ Charles Vella

I fully concur with you. Punishing only those selling these bogus DVDs and CDs isn’t enough, undoubtedly not. Those purchasing them are doing something which goes against our law; hence they must be punished as well.

If I go in a supermarket and steal something I do get punished. If I pay in order to obtain drugs I get punished too, even though I paid for it. (Of course that’s how it should be) So what I’m saying is that those buying something illegal should be punished severely too, and not get away with it only because they paid for it. After all, what they are paying for is for a crime to take place.

@ claire roberts - Oh come on!! The price IS NOT RIGHT! 1st of all you don't get the quality one would find in an original DVD and the money for them goes in the pocket of the individual, and NOT in the pocket of the producers of the films who give us great movies from time to time!! If piracy was to be injected all over the place and if we where like Eastern countries like China Etc where piracy is at it's peak then it would be hell for those who create the movies we love to watch! Would you steal coffee of a shelve at your loval supermarket? Would you steal a pen from your mate? But you're saying that YOU WOULD STEAL A MOVIE?! ...From what you wrote than YES...! You would steal a movie! Piracy is STEALING and it's a CRIME! If any thing the autorities should catch not only those who sell but even those who PURCHASE such counterfeit DVD's / CD's ...come on this is 2008!! And yes, i do get ALL my DVD's from play.com! It's reasonable and the price is RIGHT! WAKE UP!

Yeah the price might be right.... Right as in compared to the prices offered by our stores. It happens many a times, however, that people get a DVD or CD from the "monti" and once you play it at home it turns out to be to be some other movie or perhaps not the CD you wanted. Moreover, many times it also turns out to be defective. Once that happens, what do you do?

Well, when you take it back to them and ask for your copy to be changed they give you eerie looks and won't change it. Unless you start bickering, then yeah, they might change it. I didn't invent this, Ms. Roberts, but just gave cast-iron facts given to me by some friends who did use to buy copied stuff from the "monti".

i lived for many years in malta and felt buying c,d etc from the monti was good value,.,compared to the stores who were over the top with their prices.,.,,..,i never felt ripped off at the monti.,.,.,what,s wrong with having copies?.,.,we all knew it,.,so why not continue.,,.the price is right!!!

I don't know why people bother to go to the open air market to get their music and their videos. It's so easy after all to obtain them for free from the internet. And according to a local program I watched, this is perfectly legal as long as it's for your own personal use. And if you're sceptical about this, you can log on to www.play.com and you can order music cds, books and dvds which are much cheaper than the same items in Malta.

I , for one have promised myself never to buy a book again from Malta, as most paperbacks on sale here are almost double the price than play.com.

Come on people : Use your heads ; Be legal & take it easy on your pocket !

@ Charles Vella

I utterly agree with you when you say that Maltese DVD stores sell DVDs at too high a price. I really cannot fathom that, as I am sure that they would sell a lot more if prices were more reasonable. Exotique’s owner, Grace Borg, should ponder that one out and I’m sure her business would have a great boost. (I just mentioned Exotique as I think it’s one of the best ones on the island)

@ Andrew Gatt & Julian Brincat

Yeah… That is probably the case, again! It’s always the same people. Needles to say, unless our law gets harsher on such cases this will never cease from happening. Maltese people know where to go and get these DVDs and CDs from, so I’m sure the authorities are not oblivious to that.

Wanna bet it's the same people........from the same place............for the same offence...........for the umpteenth time?

Everyone knows that this is widespread in Malta and everyone knows where to get them from but still not that much seems to happen. Loads of established video rental shops actually rent out counterfeit movies to make matters worse and continue to do so. Why is it so hard to control? Have a stroll down the monti and see what you dig up!!!

I agree totally with you Keith... Court sentences should be harsher! And just a € 500 fine wouldn't do much considering how much money these people make out of copied DVD'S! However I cannot understand how people still purchase copied DVD's when On Line i get all my original DVD's for the same price as copied ones!!! However I am still puzzled... howcome if I enter a local DVD shop the price for a DVD is for example € 20.00 while THAT SAME DVD costs € 6.95 from ANY local ONLINE STORE and/from shopping outlets in the UK like Zaffi, HMV etc? Isn't this daylight robbery? ...however these days I use my head and shop online for BETTER deals rather then those offered in local Maltese DVD stores! One suggestion... if the prices from local stores where REASONABLE and HONEST i'm sure that piracy will be at an end for good!

I sincerely hope they will be punished harshly this time round. Many a times they just get free with a real light sentence and it doesn't take long for them to restart doing their "job". Court sentences on such cases should be much more severe then they are at present.

Undoubtedly, if these people earn enough money out of all this and they see that when they get caught nothing really serious happens, then all this will go on. They just want to make some easy profit without working, as the rest of us do.

What's more serious, however, is that people go buy their copied DVDs or CDs from them. Indeed, if no one were to help them by buying stuff from them they would find something more legal to do. Thus, action on both parts should be taken; those buying the stuff and those selling it.