Külföldi torrent oldalak When Piracy Addresses Youth Unemployment

It was such a traffic jam filled friday evening. Apparently, I learnt that some schools had got holidays hence the traffic density of parents picking their children from boarding schools. Knowing what to expect on my way to Mukono, I decided to visit a friend in Kyebando where we somehow ended up in a 'modern day Video Library.'

Why do I call it 'modern day Video Library'? Unlike the video libraries of old where we used to go and borrow VHS tapes to watch movies and later return, most of the current libraries hardly deal in VHS tapes. They are characterised by the prevalence of DVD movies that tend to be pirated.

The proprietor has a collection of various titles of movies from old to new movies. He also has a Computer workstation in place fully integrated with a Music and TV system that allows him to relay what he is doing on the PC to the speakers and TV simultaneously.

Hardly had I settled there for 10 minutes than a boda-boda rider comes in with a DVD complaining that he didn't understand the movie. He was interested in watching a localised movie (one with a local language voice over – film enjogerere), the proprietor immediately availed him a DVD meeting his requirements.

Customers kept walking in and out picking DVDs of their choice for weekend viewing. Each paid a paltry Ushs 1,000/= (25 US Cents) to get movie. While at it, a young man in his late teens saunters in with sagging trousers and kindly requests the business owner to take a copy of his friend's song and play it as and when he deems fit. Without hesitation, the proprietor copied the song from the flash and sampled it instantly.

As we continued our discourse, a middle aged man walks in, pulls out a flash disk and requests that some videos of songs be removed from his flash and replaced with those of the most recent local artistes' songs. Once sorted, he paid Ushs 300 (8 US Cents) for each new song that he was given.

Before he could leave, a young parent walks in with his baby and demands for a series. Unfortunately for him, the series were unavailable leading him to rummage through the entire library collection for an alternative. He later settled for three movies that he paid for a handsome Ushs 3000/= (80 US Cents).

This is when I dared ask him how the entire business model works and without hesitating, he broke down for me the section of Movies. It is a three tier model that runs as follows:

⦁ Apparently, there are a few companies/individuals in Kampala that download these movies from the internet and make master copies. Their sources on the internet are a secret they guard jealously. They then make master copies of the movies for both the English and local languages comprehending audiences. Each master copy is sold at a hefty Ushs 80,000/= (US$ 22) to Super Dealers.

⦁ The Super Dealer then burns as many copies out of these master copies selling each for Ushs 7,000/= to UShs 10,000/= (US$ 2 – US$ 2.8). These Super Dealers have the task of selling to the various 'video libraries' that have mushroomed all over the city.

⦁ The video library on obtaining a copy of the movies from the Super Dealer then proceeds to burn multiple copies for consumers to borrow. By picking popular movie titles, they are in position to make many times more from each movie title than what they paid for the original copy. The cost of borrowing or entirely taking the DVD is set at a standard Ushs 1000/=. Only eight requests for a movie title are enough to break even.

The entire business model I have just shared with you is dependent on pirated movies and songs and a tour of most players reveals that they are youthful entrepreneurs who are making an effort to be economically relevant. Many of them have no idea that what they are doing is illegal and hence have even bigger plans of upgrading their piracy expectations.

With a youth unemployment rate of 80%, one wonders what is likely to happen the day a tough stance is taken against piracy and these youths are rendered jobless.

One thing that stands out clearly is that they have tapped into a market niche that very much appreciates the model in operation. In these video libraries you find people of all walks of life.

From maids to working class professionals, they all appreciate having access to cheap movies to watch in their free time as well as having an opportunity to select music songs of their choice in either video or audio format all for less than a dollar.

Therein lies the challenge for the bodies that are likely to be tasked with combating piracy in Uganda.