Channelnewsasia had a report on how cinemas and distributors in Singapore want to stop parallel imports of DVDs and CDs. In a simple word, I think it's pretty c**p. Their reason for banning parallel imports? So that they can earn more revenue at the cinemas! Please lar, if you want to fight parallel imports of DVDs, etc, SHOW THE MOVIES EARLIER LAH! For example, the 'latest' Sin City which is still not released in Singapore was shown in US in early April. We are getting it in the cinemas only now! It's already scheduled to be released in DVD on August 16 in the US.
In this day and age of globalization and internet access, it's quite ridiculous to try and stop things like parallel import. People will just turn to Amazon and other online sites. Ultimately, everyone (including retailers) suffers. You want to keep people in the cinemas... just bring in the shows earlier! It's as simple as that.
Click here for the report.
(For those who don't know, parallel imports are good which are purchased from other countries. For example, a VCD movie meant for Singapore sale (like Spiderman) can cost $12. Some shops buy the VCDs from Indonesia or Bangkok which might cost only $8. The VCDs from other countries are called parallel imports.)
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