Updated March 6, 2007

DVD NEWS DIGEST
(February 23, 2007)

Feb. 24 issue - Billboard: Top 10 DVD Sellers in US

1 - Open Season Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
2 - The Marine WWE Home Video
3 - Flyboys MGM Home Entertainment
4 - The Guardian Touchstone Home Video
5 - Saw III Lions Gate Home Entertainment
6 - Gridiron Gang Columbia Pictures
7 - Facing The Giants Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
8 - Little Miss Sunshine 20th Century Fox
9 - The Illusionist 20th Century Fox
10 - One Night With The King 20th Century Fox

Reuters: Hollywood Fights Asian DVD Piracy

Hollywood has stepped up its efforts to fight against the ever-growing DVD piracy in Asia by offering rewards for informers within the area through its international arm, MPA.

According to the Asia-Pacific area's representative, organization has set aside $150,000 for informers who can provide information leading to a closure of DVD piracy rings or illegal DVD factories in the area.

The problem is seriously worrying in some of the countries in Asia -- it is estimated that 90% of Indonesia's DVDs are pirated copies and 80% in Philippines. MPA estimates that because of piracy, Hollywood loses over $600M annually in Asia.

Yomiuri Shimbun: Film Piracy Bill in Japan

Liberal Democratic Party legislators plan to submit to the Diet in March a bill for a law that would ban the videotaping of movies at screenings for the production of pirated DVDs or for distribution on the Internet.

The law would penalize those who record such a movie without the copyright holder's permission with up to 10 years in prison or a fine of up to 10 million yen.

Under the current law, videotaping a movie as it is screened does not constitute a crime.

However, there has been a recent rise in the number of pirated films being released on DVD or through the Internet immediately following their release, apparently due to the motion pictures being secretly filmed with a high-quality video camera in the theater.

The pirated DVDs run about 1,000 yen each--less than the price of a movie ticket. The nation's film industry is estimated to have lost more than 80 billion yen in fiscal 2005 due to piracy.

Daily Post [Wales]: Solar DVD Players Will Save Lives

A renewable energy company has developed a prototype solar-powered DVD player to help health workers in poor communities in Africa.

The project will help to provide support to mothers in countries where maternal mortality rates are high.

The company produced a prototype to enable SafeHands to provide training for local health workers in all aspects of pregnancy from prenatal to postnatal care. The training programme is this year being rolled out in remote areas of Ethiopia and in other countries later.

end

____________________________________________________
Copyright© 2004, the DVD Forum | All Rights Reserved