Cashing in at the movies (page 3 of 3)

One of their biggest headaches continues to thrive around the region: piracy. Though piracy has traditionally been common in the Arab world, it has exploded over the last few months.

Southeast Asian gangs seem to have taken firm control of the multibillion-dollar business, and pirated CDs and DVDs of the very latest Hollywood attractions are often easily available all over the Middle East, weeks before the films have even been released in the United States.

The pirates have become so bold and aggressive that groups of Southeast Asians carrying bags of pirated CDs and DVDs from office to office is now a common sight in Dubai and other parts of the region. These groups are equally active in the heart of Dubai Internet City and Dubai Media City - two areas that one would expect to be strongly anti-piracy due to the very nature of businesses there.

Piracy is clearly one of the greatest challenges for the movie industry, especially for the exhibitors, who estimate that they lose at least one in three viewers to it. Although regional governments have introduced anti-piracy legislation, enforcement is difficult, so gangs feel free to sell pirated goods openly and without any fear of prosecution.

If governments don't do more to tackle piracy, there will be no happy ending for the exhibitors who have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in building luxurious, ultra-modern cineplexes.