The problem of piracy is getting worse.

The main thing is against China.

According to statistics, in 2004, the music, film, and software industries in the United States lost a total of $2.5 billion to piracy on the mainland. Therefore, after the general election, these industries jointly petitioned the White House, calling on the United States and the WTO to take legal action against China.

However, the issues involved in this kind of great power struggle are too complicated.

If it weren't for a fierce president with great courage, he would never dare to make a rash move.

President George W. Bush is bold enough.

However, the United States is still mired in the quagmire of the Iraq war and is in a difficult situation at home and abroad, and it is difficult for the United States to make a heavy hand at this stage.

Don did not attend a joint meeting on solutions to piracy in January.

However, he was given detailed minutes of the meeting.

The White House has made it clear that it will be patient for a short time. At present, the United States is in a difficult situation and is unable to solve this problem, at least until the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq and the domestic environment stabilizes before it can be implemented.

This term of office is no longer possible.

It's up to the next president to perform.

Don knew that when he became the next president, he happened to encounter a financial crisis and couldn't do anything. As soon as the financial crisis passed, the Okuhei government's soft policy was soft, which only increased the export of Hollywood cultural products to China, but did not fundamentally solve the problem.

It is the next president who will really make a move.

In the short term, there is no way.

Hollywood, which has suffered the most from intellectual property infringement, certainly does not want that to be the result.

In Hollywood, New Globe has the richest intellectual property, followed by ...... It's Time Warner!

Tang En knew China's environment and national conditions, and he did not hold out the slightest hope and was unmoved.

However, Warners is a different story, and they intend to take action to counter the rampant problem of DVD piracy in China.

Warner Bros. CEO Barry Meyer brought Warner Pictures president Barry Meyer to the door.

"Don, the authorities are in trouble, but we can't sit idly by, and I think Hollywood should unite and take steps to resist Chinese DVD piracy. Barry Meyer came to the parlor, and before he sat down, he said impatiently.

Don looked at him amusedly, "Hollywood unites, then you should find the MPAA." ”

Barry Meyer was very embarrassed and said: "After the MPAA changed its chairman, it completely became a dog leg of the White House." If the White House refuses to take a stand, they will not participate. ”

"Then you're looking for me?"

"Universal and Warner have the most intellectual property and have suffered the most losses. I think we can organize an anti-piracy coalition and bring together people who are in the mood for it. ”

"Use a business alliance to counter the will of the state? Barry, you're overseeing conspiracy theories, aren't you? China is not South Korea!"

Don was really angry.

This Barry Meyer wants to be a leader in Hollywood, this is human nature.

But the idea is too naïve!

At this time, his henchman Bembali Meyer said: "Without the policy means, we still have the economic means, not necessarily impossible." What Wall Street can do, Hollywood may not and can't do. ”

Tang En twitched the corners of his mouth and said speechlessly: "What has Wall Street done? In the past 30 years, it is an indisputable fact that the federal government has become more and more strict and ruthless in its supervision of Wall Street. Taking 10,000 steps back, even if Wall Street can influence some of the White House's decisions, they can't influence countries on the other side. Not so much not on Wall Street, not even better for Hollywood!"

"If you don't try, how do you know it won't work?" Barry Meyer was not convinced.

Don glanced at him, "So, Warner already has a plan?"

Barry Meyer smiled: "Don, I heard that you have only been to China once? Hehe, you may not know much about the situation in China. We are different, we have launched a lot of business cooperation there, such as Hengdian Film and Television Base, such as Warner Wanda Cinemas, these are all film-based projects. I have a lot of friends over there, and I will have their support. ”

Tang En was stunned and didn't speak.

Okay!

You are a China expert, you are amazing!

Seeing that Donn didn't speak, Barry Meyer thought he had persuaded him, so he smiled and said, "Let's be honest, we already have a plan to deal with piracy." ”

"Yes, listen up!" Don looked very humble.

At this time, Barry Meyer spoke again, and said eloquently: "Why is piracy rampant? It's very simple, the price is low, and it can better meet the consumption needs of Chinese movie fans." As long as we drastically reduce the price of genuine disks, we will be able to counterbalance piracy. We have decided that in the coming months, we will release 125 genuine DVD movie discs in China at ultra-low prices, as a way to deal with the economic losses caused by Chinese pirated discs to Warner, and at the same time cultivate the legitimate consumption habits of Chinese users. ”

Tang En seemed to be listening to the book of heaven, so he felt that his statement was too whimsical, and asked curiously: "How low is the super low price?"

The price of genuine DVDs is high.

$20 for the regular version, $40 for the hardcover version, and $60 for the deluxe version...... If it's an ultra-high definition version like HD-DVD, hey, the price of a set can reach $100!

With such an outrageous price, developing countries do not engage in piracy and simply cannot afford to watch movies.

"Because China has strict import restrictions, many new Hollywood films exist in the form of piracy. We've talked to them and gotten permission to distribute the DVD. Although you can't enter the theater, it's also a sales channel after all. We'll price it $1.98 if it's an old film, and $2.65 if it's a new movie. If you add additional content such as multiple languages and filming and production highlights to the DVD, you can increase the price to $3.38. ”

Is it super cheap?

That's true.

Compared with the pricing in the European and American markets, such a price is indeed ultra-low.

However, compared with piracy, there is still a big gap.

The current exchange rate is 1:8.

The price of the old film is 16 yuan, the price of the new film is 20 yuan, and the price of the deluxe version is 26 yuan?

It's too expensive!

At this time, the retail price of pirated movies was 10 yuan. If you go to the kind of specialized hypermarket to buy...... 3 yuan, 5 yuan can buy a plate.

If you go to the videotape rental disc, it only costs 1 yuan.

Of course, pirated disks are usually VCD disks, which are far inferior to DVD disks in terms of resolution, clarity, smoothness, and content richness.

But, who cares?

China's film market is now only in its infancy, and fans' movie-watching tastes have not been improved at all.

"Difficult!"

Don En blurted out without thinking.

He can guess that Warner must have made a lot of sacrifices and compromises and made great efforts in order to be able to sell genuine films in the mainland. However, there will definitely be no good results.

"If we think we can enter this market, we can solve the problem, not create it. "Bally-Meyer swears by that.

Don shrugged, "Okay, then I wish you all the best of luck." ”

Barry Meyer frowned, "Don't you plan to do it with us, Donn? Even if you can't clean up all the pirated discs, you can at least open up a living space for genuine discs. ”

Don pondered for a moment and sighed, "Barry, I can feel your enthusiasm. But...... I have to say, you're going in the wrong direction, completely wrong!"

"Oh?"

"The video market in Asia, especially in China, is dominated by VCD discs, not DVDs. ”

Barry Meyer said disapprovingly: "In front of DVDs, VCDs have no soil to survive. DVDs are available in multiple languages, with multiple subtitles, multiple angles, as well as menus and hyperlinks. A large-capacity DVD disc can present more cinematic elements, which are far from being comparable to a VCD disc. Even though the price of our genuine disks may be higher than that of pirated disks, the content we provide is of better quality and more exquisite!"

Either way, Warner is indeed paving the way for Hollywood this time and contributing to Hollywood.

Although Tang En was very unoptimistic, he didn't want to hit him too hard, so he said: "What you said is right, DVD disks do have too many advantages compared to VCD disks. Compared with pirated disks, there are more advantages. But, Barry, there's one prerequisite you overlook, if you want to watch DVDs, you have to have a DVD player. ”

Barry Diller was slightly stunned.

Barry Meyer was a little nervous, and he was mainly responsible for this matter, so he hurriedly said: "Not necessarily, the current VCD player can also play DVD discs." ”

Don shook his head and said, "Mr. Meyer may usually use big brands of players such as Sony and Philip, which are naturally powerful. However, as far as I know, there are many miscellaneous brands of VCD players in China, or pirated VCD players, and the price is ...... That's about $30, and there is no function to play DVD discs at all. ”

"Huh, won't you?"

There's something strange about Barry Meyer.

Today's DVD players are paying more and more attention to compatibility. VCD disc player can't play HD-DVD discs, this can be understood, even DVD discs can't play, that's too exaggerated, right?

Don said softly, "You say I don't know anything about the situation over there...... I'm sorry, but I probably know a little bit better. The piracy industry chain is very complex and very large. If there are pirated discs, of course, there will be pirated DVD players, and pirated copies can often only be used in conjunction with pirated copies. The problem of pirated disks is far from being solved by selling cheap genuine disks. The Chinese Government has stated on many occasions that it will severely crack down on piracy and resist piracy, but is this possible? All kinds of piracy, counterfeit and shoddy products, with an annual output value of trillions of dollars. A piracy market of this magnitude can create tens of millions of jobs every year. What do you think the government will do?"

Barry Meyer said incredulously: "But if it's all genuine industry...... They will create more wealth. ”

Tang En said: "More wealth has been created, so what? It will only allow more wealth to be transferred to the genuine industry, which will further exacerbate the gap between the rich and the poor and increase the difficulties of the lives of the people at the bottom." The piracy industry solves the employment problem of some low-end people, allowing them to have jobs and food. The genuine industry makes less money and is wronged, which is much better than those low-end population groups who can't live. ”

Barry Meyer let out a wry smile, "Donn, I didn't expect you to be a sociologist!"

Tang En shook his head, "It's really not a high-end theory, as long as you go over there and do some market research, you will definitely be able to draw some more accurate conclusions and judgments than me." ”

。 Nine Heavenly God Emperors