Top 10 reasons why we SHOULD support pirated Media

1. Free black plastic bag

You can't get those cool black colored bags anywhere ones sold outside are too big and they are meant for the big rubbish bin.

2. Family bonding activity

Every weekend, when you go to street market vendors, you can see little kids running to the VCD/DVD shop to select their favorite Pokemon cartoon. And then mommy will come along to find her favorite compilation DVD The best of Kevin Costner movies. Daddy is searching for the latest movies and trying to see if there's any new porn. Anyway, the point being that this activity something a family can do together.

3. The Cinema sucks (well in Malaysia anyway)

When you arrive at the cinema, you have to queue for 15 minutes to get your ticket. By the time you get to the top of the line, chances are its sold out. So you end up buying tickets for the next show and have to wait another 3 hours. When the time comes, the ticket usher stops you from bringing in your Big Mac and Fries. So now, you're forced to queue up for another 20 minutes at the snack bar. Of course by now you've missed the preview trailers and the first part of the movie. Its dark and you trip over yourself to find you seat. Even if you manage to get to your seats in time, you are still bombarded with 15 minutes of commercials. Mostly beer commercials about super success that comes from drinking beer. Mid way through the movie, you have your mandatory 'ring' of the chinaman's mobile. Losing things in the dark is almost a right of passage. Finally, after the end credits have rolled, there is no way of relieving your bladder in a hurry, as you hurd out slowly like cattle to the slaugter.

4. The best customer service ever
From the moment you start browsing, you are greeted with an enthusiastic 'wassup!'. Ever willing to recommend you the best of the 'top ten' box office movies (according to a print out from Yahoo! Movies). Strangely enough, all movies (according to them) are excellent and are of DVD quality. How is it the that a movie that premiered last week, can be a newly released DVD? Don't worry, any problems with the DVD, it can be exchanged, no questions asked. Not quite 'money back guarentee' but close enough for Malaysia.

5. Support Malaysian made products

This says it all. Buying local made products helps stimulate economy and improve consumer spending.

6. No censorship

In Malaysia you have several censorship catagories, but quite frankly there really only 2. There is 'G' for General Viewing and '18SX' for over 18s. Here is the funny part, if you go to watch an '18SX' movie, the government STILL censors the movie, removing all nudity, coarse language and sexual references. So what is the point of these censorship guidelines then? There is no such thing in pirated media. You buy what you like and watch what you like.

7. Pirated media is cheap

Since the increase in original CD prices due to import duties, tax and other crap, piracy has been on the rise for the last 10 years. Original media is also slow to release its new releases due to the following of marketing campaigns of each individual country. Piracy offers a cheap alternative to consumers for the latest movies and software available now.

8. Promotes inovation that leads to higher quality products

With cheap readily available 3D rendering computer software, Malaysian pirates can learn to master to accurately copy those complex DVD menu systems that animate and entertain as we search the chapters. This in turn results in high quality DVD reproductions, sometimes better than the original version.

9. Enables high turnover of movie viewing and ownership

Pirated movies are so cheap that you can throw them away after viewing. They are definately cheaper than renting thus allowing for recklessly greedy purchasing habits. Not every movie is a "Lawrence of Arabia", so throw away the crap ones and keep the good ones. Movies are ment to be watched. In this case, in bulk.

10. Piracy is eco-friendly and promotes recycling

Due to the copius amounts of plastic involved with the manufacturing of discs. The overspill of plastic media is abundant both on the manufacturing side and the consumer side, hence a readily available source of recyclable plastic.

*This post was taken and edited from an email I received earlier today.