I saw Star Wars: Rogue One well before it was set to be released in China. On Christmas Day, I walked into a DVD shop, saw I pirated version, and I just couldn't resist. It was like the universe was giving me a Christmas present. Now that I have seen it 29 times, I am fully looking forward to seeing it again with friends. First, I would like to enjoy the Imax version of the film. Second, I also want to see my friends heads' explode from seeing this film's awesomeness for the first time. Putting that aside for a moment, my actions bring up a common reality of living in China. It's fairly easy to support copyright and intellectual property theft while living in the Middle Kingdom. But, let me back up for a second.
Some high minded individuals might say, "you shouldn't be doing that. You should be supporting and rewarding the creators of movies and music and art in general." And I would agree with that. However, when you live in China, you really do not have that luxury. Netflix hardly ever works here, Even when you are buying older DVDs here, you have no guarantee that the disc came from Paramount, Disney, or whoever. Having your friends ship you DVDs from America is just a waste of their time and your money. When You want to watch TV shows or movies on your TV or Computer, there are two basic choices. You can go to a DVD shop, or you can illegally torrent the files you want.
I prefer buying DVDs. Where I live, DVDs are absurdly cheap. It's about 10 RMB per disc. That is roughly $1.66 per DVD. Somebody might counter with "torrent downloads are free." Well, yes. But, given how shady some torrent sites are, the potential for malware is greater. Over the years, I have ended up with three separate laptops getting clogged with spyware and spybots. Sure, there is a way to ensure that doesn't happen, but I am not the most technically savvy of people.
Another option is the streaming service like Youku. You can watch movies for free, and since it's aimed at a Chinese audience, movies come with Chinese subtitles. There are two issues with Youku to consider. The first is censorship. A lot of films will be edited for content. For example, some of the more bloody sequences in a film like Machete were cut the last time I watched it on Youku. Also, Youku only really works on your cellphone or tablet. It's not an option if you want to be lazy on your sofa and watch a movie on a widescreen TV.
你好
In my opinion you are more likely to get malware from the DVDs. Also before downloading you can check the quality by reading the comments.
I am not that technically savvy and I have never gone any malware torrenting.
Yeah, but I mostly watch DVDs using a DVD player and a flat screen TV. They hardly ever go into my computer.
ah fair point
Love China's back alley bootleg dvd markets.
Back in the day, I used to get most of my movies and games from Chinese pirate stores - still surprises me how it could happen in the open, sometimes on main streets in Beijing. Does anyone have an explanation? Bribes, not respecting foreign companies/content creators, etc?
When it comes to business, China has it's infamous Chengguan -- city municipal code enforcers, and they actively solicit bribes and hunt for excuses.