Street vendors continue to sell pirated DVDs

Street vendors can still be seen selling pirated DVDs, often containing pornography, in cafés and residential areas despite government efforts to wipe out the trade.

Some industry analysts said the problem is declining, but street salesmen have been spotted working openly in coffee shops on Shaikh Zayed Road and going door-to-door in the residential area of Jebel Ali Gardens.

Pornographic films are sold alongside unreleased Hollywood movies and older classics.

Mohammad Al Maraw-shidi, director of compliance at the Dubai Department of Economic Development, said hawkers are breaking at least two laws.

"They are selling stolen products in places not licensed for DVD sales."

The pornographic content of some DVDs is also "strictly illegal", said Juma Al Leem, head of censorship at the Ministry of Information's department in Dubai.

There may be moves to make café owners responsible for hawkers using their premises, Al Maraw-shidi said. Industry analysts agree this would make an impact.

Letters were sent to café owners last year warning them not to turn a blind eye to illegal DVD salespeople.

"Café owners should share responsibility, if it's a repeated phenomenon."

None has been prosecuted and Al Marawshidi said most café owners respect the law.

Al Marawshidi said he is reluctant to push the issue because owners may not recognise hawkers.

"Some pretend to be customers and then approach other tables in a respect-able way."

Hawkers are using different methods to attract customers because of government pressure, Al Leem said.

Consequently, they are becoming harder to catch, thus making the battle against piracy more complex.

Chris Thornton, general manager of Video Master, which is licensed to distribute movies from major Hollywood production houses, said a chief problem in measuring the success of government pressure is a lack of statistics.

"You are really just poking your finger in the wind to see which way it's blowing."

Still, Dubai is "leading the UAE and the UAE is leading the Gulf."

About 50 per cent of all DVD sales in the UAE involve pirated goods, while in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait "it's in the high 90s".

Dubai's pirated DVD sales are closer to the EU's rate of 30 per cent, Thornton said, and the problem is decreasing.

"Certainly they don't come to my house as much as they used to. Compared to a year or two ago, it's much better. They've been chased off the streets."