El hueco FTW!

Bye.

But I also feel that it is important to consider some priorities. If piracy was wiped out in Peru, people like you and I in Lima could probably afford $10 for a official DVD, for example. But in a city where most people earn a few dollars a day, and where outside the city the vast majority of people live in mud homes, it is little wonder that piracy exists and that many thousands of quite innocent providers for their families find that selling fake DVDs is the only way to put food on the table. If your young children will have to live on the street if you don’t sell a DVD where some of the proceeds might go to criminals – would you care?

The best way to help cut out piracy and help producers of art is probably by reducing the stark inequality between rich and poor in Peru. Then, as you said, a civilized society can be built free if piracy, criminal gangs etc.

I hope to see a future in Peru where no-one buys pirate DVDs, because the family from the cerros in Ate Vitarte decide to take a family trip to the new multiplex cinema, then go for some Pollo a la Brasa. Today though, at least for now, I’d prefer to see the head of that family sell pirate DVDs rather than see his children malnourished and not get the chance to. Hopefully as the economy goes, we’ll both get the future we want.

First I want you to excuse my very poor english and second welcome you and your family to my country. I will try now to make a few comments and bring you some important facts.

Peru imports more than 120 millions of blank disks per year and less than 10% are used for legal purpose. The rest is for piracy. Those poor people you see at “El hueco” are the frontline used by criminal bands that manages a US $ 100 million plus industry. Don’t let they fool you. Piracy is not a question between poors and richs. It´s a business war between two very big contenders: big corporations and government on one side, and big criminals and corruption on the other side.

It´s true that we in Peru really don’t feel sorry for the the Hollywood industry. And we should not, it´s a very healthy and millionaire industry. But we are very worried for the music and film peruvian industry, that it’s almost non existent because of a weak market ruled by piracy and corruption. For us, the main consecuence of piracy it´s that peruvian movies are not even printed in dvd legally because the producers know that if they have a success, it will be fastly pirated by others. You can find peruvian movies in Argentina, Spain, even in the US, but not in Peru. Our best musicians, actors or talent emigrate to Spain or Argentine because they know that peruvian market is corrupted and they can do for living here, abroad they can be paid for their art.

As we killed our own cultural industry we are also killing our morality. Look what has happened to you in the entrance. In order to take photos you argue your civil rights, you cuote the law. But in the place you choose to do there is no law, there is only corruption. If you have tried to do the same by giving a 50 soles bill to the guy at the entrance you had succeed, believe me.

Reading your chronicles it looks that our piracy centers are tourist attractions and can be improved. That´s wrong. No matter how much money you can put in a crime, it´s still a crime, not a “fancy established” crime. So, there is no possible improvement for an illegal activity such as piracy in “El Hueco”.

Many of us are concerned about piracy, not because of Hollywood, I repeat, but because we want a civilized society and we need a regular music and movie market for our own artists, not a corrupted one. Please consider this.

Best Regards,

Mario

They didn’t listen. I now have dozens of stock-photos of peoples hands.