Where once almost all pirated music was distributed on cassette tapes, the advent of CDs has led to relatively cheap CD "burners" that pirates could install at home and make nearly perfect, digital copies of recorded music.
"The same thing could happen in the video marketplace with DVDs," Creighton said.
DVDs, or digital video discs, are copies of movies stored on small discs much like CDs.
Shannon said the MPAA is shifting resources toward finding pirated DVDs, working with US Customs agents focused on reducing illegal DVDs imported from Malaysia, China, Taiwan and Russia, among others. In some overseas countries, at any time, as many as nine out of 10 DVDs or VHS tapes are pirated copies, according to the International Intellectual Property Alliance.
Currently, there are very few US piracy operations that target the burgeoning DVD business because machines that duplicate DVDs, called mono-liners, cost about US$1 million each, which is far too expensive for street pirates.
"We have not seen DVD factories here yet, but that's going to change very soon," Shannon said.
And it is very likely that just as with videotape copies, the pirates will find willing buyers for pirated DVDs.
Experts said consumers want copies of current movies people are talking about rather than waiting for a legal video release which can be six months to a year after a film hits theaters.
Additionally, Shannon said, piracy is not taken seriously enough by courts where judges hand down relatively light sentences of sometimes eight to 10 months.
With billions of dollars at stake, the MPAA refuses to give up its pursuit of the pirates, but despite routinely busting labs and distribution locations, they never really know how much of a dent they're making in the problem.
"It's too lucrative," said English, boxing up illegal tapes in the Brooklyn storage room. He wiped some sweat dripping down his forehead. "This is just a drop in the bucket."
RSS