Comment
Site shutdown won't stop illegal downloads
By Meng Jing (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-12-10 13:12
I recently went to see the Hollywood blockbuster 2012 in a cinema. The movie was worth my 60 yuan, but the experience will be just an exception. I prefer to watch films on the Internet, for free.
So the recent shutdown of btchina.net, one of the most popular download sites in China, was a real disaster for myself and millions of other Chinese. For the protection of copyright, the government shut it down in the hope it would stop illegal uploads and downloads of movies.
A former classmate in the UK accused all Chinese people of being immoral: "If you don't pay for movies, the investors will lose money. Then no one will make movies in the future."
I understand her point, but I don't think she understands the life of "immoral" Chinese. Are we willing to download and watch free movies on computers if we can afford to go to cinemas?
A couple of years ago, I was a graduate student / waitress in the UK. I earned 5.73 pounds per hour from my part-time job. With the 5.73 pounds, I could choose either to buy food for myself to survive for half a week or to treat myself to a 90-minute movie in cinema.
You cannot have the cake and eat it too.
Recently, I met a company owner in Beijing who destroyed all of his seven polluting cars, worth around 1.5 million yuan and he received a 100,000 yuan subsidy from the government to buy new cars.
Asked why he was willing to do that, he said it's good for the environment, and his company could afford to.
It's reported that university graduates in Beijing earn an average 2,655 yuan per month the first year after they leave college. I wonder how many movies they can watch in cinemas after they pay for their rent, food and transport costs.
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