BEIRUT (AFP) — Tarek won’t bother going to the local cinema to see Hollywood hits “Valkyrie” or “Revolutionary Road”. Like most Lebanese, he can watch them at home for a dollar thanks to a rampaging culture of piracy.
“Why should I pay 30 dollars to buy a film when I can get a copy for three dollars or less,” said the 15-year-old, flicking through a stack of copies of the latest Hollywood blockbusters at a Beirut stall.
Soaring piracy of DVDs, CDs, business software and cable networks has devastated the cinema, video and related industries in Lebanon.
According to the International Intellectual Property Alliance, a private sector coalition that represents US-based copyright industries, more than half of CDs, DVDs and software sold in Lebanon are copies.
“This situation is one of the main factors preventing Lebanon from joining the World Trade Organisation,” said Wissam al-Aamil, head of the economy ministry’s office for the protection of intellectual copyright.
