Buckling down on piracy

Honestly, when I was living in Paraguay it was pretty nice for my host family, who lived on about $15,000 a year (a family of five, not including me), to be able to buy 5 DVDs for only $1.25. Many of the movies had not come out on DVD in the U.S. but were still available for sale on almost every street corner in the market of Ciudad del Este. I knew that the movies were pirated, but it was hard for me to not enjoy spending time with my host family doing something they could afford.

I lived about ten minutes from Brazil, and we went to Brazil often. I just read an article on Yahoo News about how U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder told an audience in Rio de Janeiro yesterday, Feb. 24, that the U.S. is seeking closer cooperation with Brazil in fighting piracy of intellectual property. I think this is an important step in responding to the effects of globalization and in ensuring security of property ownership on an international level. However, it will be difficult to imagine my Paraguayan family not having the economic means to watch movies as they used to.