Now the focus for big-budget flicks is on satisfying global audiences that can be lured into theatres while the buzz is strong, particularly in markets where piracy is rampant.
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Though the region suffers from rampant piracy, it mainly affects international shipping rather than locals.
How can musicians not in the thick of stardom make money in an age of streaming music and rampant piracy?
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Copyright owners blame the peer-to-peer networks for enabling rampant piracy, and say they're responsible for slumping music sales and lost revenue.
That is, unless it can cut down on rampant piracy in countries where there may be an additional 2.8 million willing (though not yet paying) customers.
And people wonder why music piracy is so rampant.
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Other challenges Hollywood faces as it vies for its share of the Chinese box office -- now the world's second largest -- include rampant piracy and efforts by authorities to protect homegrown films.
Rampant piracy off Somalia has made the country's waters the world's most dangerous shipping lane, has secured Somali bandits tens of millions of dollars in ransoms and pushed up insurance premiums for ships.
The result of this convergence of interests is an absurd situation in which Time Warner tells consumers it would rather endure rampant piracy than take their money for online-only access to HBO.
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While the Blu-ray packages have proven to be a huge seller (even at a time when piracy is running rampant), this in no way confirms that the fans are willing to rush back into toy collecting.
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Console-based games giants Nintendo and Sony have steered clear of China, though privately imported boxes are available and Nintendo recently unveiled a games console designed especially to protect against the country's rampant software piracy.
Still, the incidents of piracy may not have been as rampant as in past Olympic Games.
It launched the iTunes music download service in 2003, rescuing the music industry amid rampant fears that online piracy would destroy it.
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