Updated 23 May, 2012, 6:39 pm IST

All About Piracy

31 Oct, 2009, 8:59 am IST | by Dushyant Khilnani

The High cost of cheap software.

All About Piracy

PC
The most popular and universal mode of playback of any audio/video content is the computer. All you need is to update the codecs and use software such as Windows Media Player, Winamp, VLC, etc. Computers have large screens making them the easiest method of viewing video.

Mobile phones
The easiest way for content to be shared and pocketed is the mobile phone. Even though a mobile phone has a small screen, it is a popular option as it can be viewed easily while travelling. Usually all mobile phones support the most popular 3GP and MP4 formats which help reduce the file size. As the content can be compressed into a smaller size, a single movie can be stored in less than 200 MB. Most mobile phones allow users to swap the memory card. Sharing media from a computer to a phone is the easiest and fastest means of piracy. Memory cards are dirt cheap - around Rs 200 to Rs 500 for a 2 GB card. Watching porn on mobile phones is easy in classrooms, toilets, automobiles and offices with the least threat of being caught. In many cities, the mobile phone repair-walla boldly advertises that he would download audio and video content onto your memory card. Those who cannot afford an Internet connection or a computer use thes shopkeepers to get content on their mobile phones.

PMPs
With larger screens compared to mobile phones, PMP devices are another form of watching video on the move. These devices have a built-in hard drive (fairly large capacity of around 40 GB and above) and can store a large collection of audio and video content. The PMP also supports the popular DivX formats apart from WMV, MPEG-4 and MOV, with newer players available that also support the most recent MKV format.

The screen resolution is good and the picture and audio quality is excellent, which makes watching video a great experience. Since these players are mainly for playing media content and are a little more expensive and bulkier than a mobile phone, few can afford them.

Gaming consoles
Game consoles such as the older outdated PS2 can play a DVD movie without any modifications. The newer PS3 can play Blu-ray content off the shelf, but as Blu-ray media is presently expensive, HD movie piracy is a little slow in the country. Mod chips and tweaking software can enable gaming consoles to easily play pirated content for a small price. But as the gaming consoles are presently expensive, most well-to-do families are the only ones who can afford these playback devices.

DivX/DVD players
The most recent and cheapest form of viewing pirated content is the DivX DVD player. Costing barely Rs 1,400 (or even less), these are capable of playing DVDs and DivX movies. The recent addition of the USB port to these players enables users to play content off flash drives and external storage devices without burning expensive optical discs. This not only saves money and time, but makes it easy for a person to share the content with friends. Portable players also allow people to watch pirated movies.

LCD� TVs
Last but not the least; the latest LCD TVs also make it easy. Top TV brands have now started embedding their latest products with USB ports which can play DivX video and audio by directly connecting a USB flash drive to the TV. Watching high-definition movies on a TV is the most exciting experience. With pirated HD movies freely and easily available on the Internet, households are moving on from older CRT TV sets to the newer LCD TV and saving on the cost of buying an additional DVD/DivX player.

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Tags: Piracy , software , movies , music , ebooks