Pirates Attack Blu-ray Titles

Authorities in China last month seized a large stash of pirated Blu-ray titles, showing that the land of rampant piracy is hard at work on getting in the exploding high definition market. But while it may appear the anti-piracy measures instituted in Blu-ray have failed, there is a silver lining to this story: the pirated titles were actually DVDs.

Turns out that pirates are ripping Blu-ray titles into the AVCHD video format at 720p - only half the resolution of a genuine Blu-ray title. Further still, these pirated titles appear to also be missing most, if not all, of the extra content as well as any lossless soundtrack. To any Blu-ray owner, these knock-offs will be highly obvious.

But unfortunately, that is not the target audience. Most of these discs are targeted at those consumers who may be just entering the high definition world, and with no experience, may be unable to recognize the fraud.

The typical purchasing rules apply to Blu-ray as well. Always buy your Blu-ray titles from a reputable dealer and if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.