SUBMITTED BY Fred Hill

September 19, 2005 —

Copies of Revenge of the Sith are on sale now in China on DVD, however it is not the same DVD that you will be able to get in November. Days after the movie came out worldwide, it hit the streets for around 75 cents (USD). This is the same pattern that was seen with the two previous prequels.

Signs of China embracing global market rules abound, from Beijing's decision to loosen its currency's peg to the dollar to the willingness of Chinese companies to pursue acquisitions abroad.

But one thing never seems to change, and it's as obvious on street corners today as it was six years ago. In 1999, when "Star Wars Episode 1--The Phantom Menace" debuted, it was quickly pirated on DVDs that sold throughout China for next to nothing.

Fast forward to May 2005--four years after China joined the World Trade Organization and embraced its stringent rules on intellectual property rights. When "Star Wars: Episode III--Revenge of the Sith" opened in U.S. theaters, copies again hit the streets of Beijing within days. Sold out of bicycle baskets by roving vendors, available in mom-and-pop retail stores everywhere, the counterfeit DVDs retailed for about 75 cents each.

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