Hong Kong gives mixed message on piracy

Hong Kong is not the bargain hunter's paradise that it once was for those seeking electronic products. There are bargains to be had, but you are advised to check UK prices carefully before you buy - they might be even cheaper. And even if they aren't, the difference is often so small as to be not worth the bother. It is not going to be easy to take a device back to Hong Kong if it goes wrong.

VCD movies sell from as low as £1, or around 10 Hong Kong dollars

You also have to check that you have all the bits and pieces. One journalist in our party bought a camera at price slightly less than you would pay at home, only to find the difference was wiped out by the need to buy a memory card. There are also cases of 'passing off' - products pretending to be well-known brands.

The Hong Kong authorities have cracked down on software piracy, and titles openly on sale are offered at normal market price. Doubtless you could find pirate copies if you looked hard enough, but you could say the same of Britain. The Business Software Alliance reckons that 57 per cent of software used in the region is illegal, compared with a global average of 37 per cent. This figure, if accurate, means that 43 per cent of software is legitimate, which, in an area once notorious for piracy, must count as a considerable success.

Better late? A new ban on online betting put a Hong Kong punter in a quandary. The man placed bets on the World Cup with William Hill some months before the ban. He asked the South China Morning Post: 'Can someone tell me if it is illegal for me to pick up any winnings?'

However, apparently pirated DVD movies are openly on sale, though at upwards of £10 they are not so cheap as to be much of a temptation. And judging from the price, legitimate DVDs are also on the shelves, especially in the big Westernised stores. More common are Video CDs (VCDs) which cram a feature-length movie into one or two CDs. The quality is said to be around that of VHS at best.

People losing money as a result of piracy can gain small comfort in the fact that local people also suffer from copyright and brand abuse. When one restaurant becomes fashionable in Shenzhen, a dozen of a similar name tend to spring up nearby, so you have to take care to arrive at the right one.

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Report from Computex