Movie Night

In the states, if you want to watch a movie, you go to the theater or stream a movie from one of the seemingly endless options like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and cable on demand. Things are a little different in Quito.

While copyright laws exist everywhere last time I checked, they aren't taken seriously here. Piracy of intellectual property is a serious crime in the states and people pirating entertainment like music or movies is illegal and theoretically should not happen. Although, let's be real here...who hasn't partaken in some entertainment plunder before?

While movie and music piracy exists in the states, there is at least a guise of consideration in place. People steal from their PCs at home, from the comfort of their couches with their pjs on. (Criminal masterminds!)

In Ecuador however, piracy is a much more open crime. There are pirated DVD stores on almost every block. The stores are lined with cheap cases and printed covers on a basic ink jet printer.

DVDs exist from movies that were produced in the 1950s all the way through and including movies that are still out in theaters. The quality and language of the movies vary but you can get a brand new DVD for $2.50 or 5 movies for $10.

So much for copyright laws.