JEDDAH, 4 January 2006 — Mansour is a black market dealer in Jeddah. His illicit trade isn’t in drugs, alcohol, or pornography, but rather a different type of contraband: DVDs.
Mansour, who didn’t give his full name for obvious reasons, is a pioneer in a new approach to marketing illegal goods. He is promoting his trade through the magic of text messaging to cellular phones.
Dealers like Mansour are spamming mobile phones, offering discounts for multiple DVD purchases, and even free home delivery. They often use female pseudonyms when they send their SMS messages in the belief that they help avoid the scrutiny of authorities. These tech-savvy pirates are offering prices as much as half off the street value of pirated DVDs in Jeddah’s Khalediah district and Tahliah Street, two popular centers of the illicit trade.
Arab News contacted Mansour through his mobile phone after receiving an SMS message. He boasted about a catalogue that included current premiers. Mansour did not hesitate in his willingness to set up a rendezvous point for the exchange, and even tossed in a special introductory offer.
“This is just a temporary price,” said Mansour, who spoke with a Yemeni accent and, telling from the background noise, seemed to be speaking in a public place. “You should hurry and take the biggest quantity.”
Arab News asked him for older movies, such as “Gone With The Wind”, and it became obvious that his knowledge of American movies was limited. Still, he was ready to deliver.
“Give me a list of the names and I’ll do my best to get them for you as soon as I can,” he said.
Mansour also offered Arabic movies, famous Arabic plays and music CDs.
With the limited entertainment facilities in Saudi Arabia, especially for young single adults, watching movies at home has been for decades on the top of the list of alternatives.
Legal DVD copies of movies can be bought throughout the Kingdom at legal outlets, such as Megastar, at a much higher cost. However, new features can take up to a year to appear on the shelves of legal retail outlets, unlike the street stalls that can offer movies as fast as they appear in theaters. Also, legally purchased copies of movies in Saudi Arabia are often edited down to censor racy scenes. A lack of movie theaters in the Kingdom is another reason for the mushrooming black market here.
DVD pirates like Mansour are offering prices that start at SR10, or less than $3, per DVD. Arab News found at least one dealer who has set up a website to promote his catalogue, even offering a DVD and CD mass-copying service for other pirates. He boldly includes his email address and phone number for direct contact on the Web page.
Mansour, who seemed very busy and eager to get off the phone, quickly asked for a delivery address and promised a bigger discount if the order was more than 10 DVDs.
“Just give me a call when you’re ready and I’ll come to you with my available collection,” he said before hanging up.
