Beware of pirated CDs and DVDs online

BERLIN - CDs and DVDs sell extremely well on the Internet. And while some consumers have embraced the downloading of music files after buying them, many online customers prefer the traditional purchase system: order on the Internet, delivery by mail.

But what is to be done if a DVD from your favourite band’s concert turns out to be a pirated copy?

Should you do anything? Unlike someone who buys DVDs of questionable origin for little money at the flea market, someone receiving fake goods after paying full price can certainly see themselves as having been cheated. And that perception would certainly be fair, as you would have unquestionably received an inferior product.

Rewritable storage media

“Rewritable DVDs and CDs do not hold as long as the original copies,” explains Karl Froehlich, editor-in-chief and publisher of the German Internet portal Speicherguide.de in Munich. The reduced life expectancy of writable discs is a result of the different manufacturing processes involved.

“When an original DVD is made, the information is pressed on unchangeably,” Froehlich says.

Writable storage media are intentionally created so that their data markings can be changed using a laser light. Because special colour materials are used, the discs are more sensitive to sunshine and heat than silver-grey video DVDs and CDs from the industrial presses.

Under optimum storage conditions - cool and in a dark cellar - rewritable CDs and DVDs can be read for 35 to 70 years. Average music listeners however tend to play their discs often, take them along on trips, or leave them around for days in a car - all things that will bring about a much shorter storage life.

The situation is even more critical with DVDs, since DVDs consist of two discs that are glued together during manufacture.

Low quality blanks that are glued uncleanly can be susceptible to air and moisture. One distinct feature of rewritable discs is the colour of their underside - many shimmer brown, blue, or violet - and the descriptions like DVD-RW, DVD-R, CD-R or CD-RW that can be found on their underside near the hole.

“Beyond the quality the DVD, the quality of the printing is a primary indication of forgery,” explains Hartmut Spiesecke, spokesman for the Federation of the Phonographic Industry in Germany.

Original CDs usually include a booklet printed in four or more colours, according to the Federation. Only rarely does it involve a single sheet. Poor printing quality should be considered a sure sign of a copy.

Original CDs and DVDs normally show extensive license and production notes, including a listing of participants, original copyright holders, and the country of production.

Original discs also generally have an SID code (Source Identification Code) on the bottom. This consists of 4-digit number and letter combination.

Be sceptical of online bargains

To avoid the problem of possibly getting a counterfeit disk in the first place, be sceptical of bargains you might find on the Internet, advises Anke Kirchner, a consumer rights consultant in Duesseldorf.

“If a watch from Gucci is offered at a fraction of the original price, then it’s clear that it’s not an original,” Kirchner says.

But should buyers also be mistrustful if someone is offering a new DVD for less than the normal price?

“You can always presume that the offerings are legal,” says phonograph federation spokesman Hartmut Spiesecke. This is because online portals like eBay or Amazon allow only legal offerings. Affected parties should inform the portal operator and not be shy about suing.

If illegal goods are delivered by post, then Amazon customers can rely on that company’s A-Z guarantee. All articles bought at Amazon or its associated marketplace - known as the zShops - fall under that promise.

“If the article deviates significantly from the listed description, then the buyer gets his money back,” says Christine Hoeger, spokeswoman for Amazon.com. Users who receive a pirate copy by mail should also inform the company so that the seller can be banned.

DPA 

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