China cracks down on film pirates

In Shanghai, where there is a huge international film festival planned, the Chinese authorities have started a crackdown on illegal DVDs and pirated videos.

According to Associated Press, here, there are suddenly a lot of stores that have been temporarily closed or have boxed up unauthorized DVDs to avoid having them seized in police raids.

Peddlers of pirated CDs, who flog their wares from suitcases, are nowhere to be seen. Lan Yiming, deputy head of Shanghai's culture inspection bureau, told AP in a telephone interview that cracking down against the pirate DVDs is his job and duty.

Although he did admit that it was all to create a good cultural environment for the international film festival and give guests from home and abroad a good impression.

It is not clear if anyone has been arrested, or if the pirates will be back on the streets after the eighth edition of the annual Shanghai International Film Festival has left town. µ