Piracy

I went to meet some friends last night and we ended up in Edgware Road. I haven't been in this road for months and I wish I didn’t go last night…

Until then, I never noticed how the street transforms into an open-air bazaar late at night. I counted at least 6 street vendors selling fake designer goods (most of them display their goods on foldable tables which they carry arround) and the latest pirate dvd's.

While sitting on a terrace, we were approached by 3 Chinese women, one after the other, selling "dbd’s". One of my friends bought 3 dvd’s for 10 pounds. I got tempted when the last one approached us and I asked her which dvd's she had.

Just when she opened her tesco-bag to show me the dvd’s, two guys came out of nowhere, flashing their badges and identifying themselves as police officers. Both were in civil uniforms , so I didn’t take them seriously at the beginning. This changed when I saw the first one pulling the woman aside and handcuffing her. The second one asked me if I bought dvd's from her. After explaining him that I didn't know her and that I didn't buy anything from her, he started giving me a lecture of a life time about dvd-piracy being a form of theft, that buying pirate dvd’s would make me a thief, for stealing from those involved in "the film industry" and how it could lead to my arrest! Fortunately, I got away with a warning. Meanwhile, my (so-called) friends, especially he who actually bought the dvd’s minutes ago, had the laugh of a lifetime, while others on the table next to us gave me their condemning looks. Of course, out of all people, this had to happen to me...

I heard the Chinese women screaming in the background that the dvd’s aren’t hers and that she found the bag on the street.

This is my advice to you: Never even think of buying pirate dvd’s on the streets, simply download them :-)