Blu-ray becomes a target for pirates

Movie pirates in Hong Kong have found a new and easy way to make a big profit from pirated Blu-ray movies. The wall street journal reports that a recent raid turned up over 800 counterfeit Blu-ray titles that had been selling for only $7 a piece.

This new tactic has gained popularity with counterfeiters due to the fact that most people simply can't tell the difference between a true Blu-ray movie in 1080p and a pirated version in AVCHD format at 720p.Since the AVCHD format is 720p, the files are smaller. This allows the pirates to pull the movies from the Blu-ray disc using any one of the many available software packages and then burn them back onto regular blank DVDs, significantly driving up their profits.

These counterfeit copies are very well made and can be extremely difficult to spot. One way to check your disc for authenticity is to check for finger prints; a real Blu-ray disc will attract a finger print very easily whereas the pirated DVDs will have slightly more resistance to smudging.
Exercise caution if you buy your Blu-ray movies online from eBay or other auction sites; make sure you check feedback and that you trust the seller from whom you're buying. Although, at 720p, these discs will look very nice on a high definition television, in fact much better than a regular DVD, you want to make sure that you are getting what you paid for.

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