JEDDAH, 6 July 2004 — Hundreds of people visit the Al-Khaldiyah Shopping Center everyday, many looking for counterfeit brand name items at a fraction of the price of their genuine counterparts. Fake Rolex and Bulgari watches are available for SR250, as well as pirated computer software exchanging hands, at times, for less than one percent of the price of an original copy. The mall is filled with stores selling fake Diesel, Nike and Armani, to name but a few. However, the front parking lot is also attracting the attention of shoppers.
A walk outside reveals over a dozen men carrying plastic bags whispering, “DVD, DVD,” as they walk by. In an area shaded from the streetlights overhead, standing between two parked cars are two teens looking through a collection of at least 100 of the latest DVD movies, some only just released in theaters in the United States. Titles such as “Troy”, “American Pie”, “9 1\2 Weeks”, and hundreds of others are available from the street vendors for only SR25. Arab News interviewed one of the vendors, a Bangladeshi. “Most of us get our DVDs from one source,” he said. “We buy them for SR20 and make a five-riyal profit on each one. That’s why there’s no discount. All these movies are pirated copies brought in illegally from Malaysia. They are original DVD quality and completely uncut. If there is anything wrong with the DVDs, the customer can exchange them. Lots of my customers know me by name and I am here everyday. One woman, a VIP, buys at least SR2,000 worth of movies from me every month.”
The vendor explained that the police are not the ones they fear so much, but the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. “The police only care about the traffic buildup that is caused when we sell to people in their cars,” the Bangladeshi said. “The muttawas are a different story. They swoop in from time to time and try to catch us. The guys they catch are made to sign a sworn statement saying that they will stop. All their movies are also confiscated,” he said.
At the local office of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, one of their members told Arab News: “We drive by there and catch some of these people. They are spreading corruption among our youth and leading them away from Islam.”
He said that those caught face possible caning and jail terms. “When we catch one of them, we confiscate his movies. We forward them to the local police who forward them to the Ministry of Information. There, a determination is made as to whether the movies contain indecent and illegal content or not. For the movies that are a violation of the law, they are forwarded with a criminal complaint to the court, where a Sheikh decides the sentence to be imposed. There could be a fine, jail term or caning,” he said.
Arab News purchased 10 movies of which eight were original uncensored quality DVDs. There were options available for East Asian and other language subtitles as well as director’s cuts and additional footage, but no Arabic subtitles. These DVDs were as good as the originals available in legitimate video stores that sell from SR65 and above. Some DVDs are available with more than one film such as the entire “Rocky” series on one DVD, or the “Godfather” parts 1,2 and 3‚ on another.
Abdullah Al-Toime, 23, an electronics technician, regularly buys movies from Al-Khaldiyah’s front lot. He told Arab News: “This is the closest thing we have to movie theaters. All the latest movies are here two or three weeks after they appear overseas. Buying a single DVD costs almost the same as a theater ticket in other countries. I think it’s good that they are here.”
Seif Al-Mutairi, 21, a university student, agrees and says the availability of these movies in the market adds a new dimension to spending the summer in Saudi Arabia. “Most of my friends are away for the summer, and watching the movies I want when I want helps pass the time,” said Al-Mutairi. “I don’t think it should be illegal. After all, many of these movies play on satellite anyways.”
Yusuf Husain, 42, a security guard, feels the vendors’ presence is a nuisance. “First, they bring a crowd that jams up the sidewalks and traffic in the lot,” he said. “Next, the people selling them do not look like people you would want your children associating with. Many of them sell pornographic movies.”
When asked, another vendor said that he had stopped selling pornographic movies and was trying to maintain a reputation as a reputable movie source. “I stay away from those movies because I don’t want to have a bad image. Besides those things are available on satellite,” the vendor said. “Subscribe to XXL,” he joked.
When asked when he would have a copy of Michael Moore’s “Farenheit 9/11”‚ this DVD entrepreneur said, “If it’s out in America, I should have it within a couple of weeks.”
