Are there differences between US and Canadian Voyager DVD Sets?

[Leathco]

I began picking up all the DVD box sets of Star Trek on the cheap when and where I can find them. I picked up Voy season 1 and 2 locally from Wal-Mart. The sets come in plastic cases where the plastic splits in the middle.

Afterwards I ordered seasons 5 and 7 from the same person on eBay. These boxes look the same externally, but there are differences when I got them. The plastic don't split in the middle, but the colored plastic DVD holder slides out the bottom. The artwork isn't printed as clearly and seems slightly off-centered. He DID have the proof of purchases shipped with them, it seems they are perforated to tear off the bottom after purchase. Also, the US ones have episode listings on the back, and these eBay ones just have a print of the piece of paper advertising the discs thats inside the wrapper on the US sets. The only reasons I know they are canadian is due to the proof of purchases, they have the Maple Leaf emblem on them and rating scale is canadian.

Also, where the plastic DVD holder itself is taped so the holdeers open like book pages, the US ones are lined up well, where as the eBayed ones are slightly out of line.

The discs themselves look identical. They are definately pressed DVDs, not burned. Image quality is exactly the same as well when playing the discs. Only the packaging looks different.

So, are these legitimate versions or (well made) pirate versions?

 

[Udat]

Does it matter?

 

[Leathco]

Does it matter?

It matters to me. I'd like to know if I paid 30 bucks per set for the authentic ones or cheap knockoffs, considering they were advertised as official.

 

[Akiraprise]

How about some photos?

 

[Praxius]

Since I live in Canada, I can say that the rating markers would be a give away that it's legit, and there have been a number of movies I bought over the years from places like Blockbuster and Wal-Mart where proof of purchase markers are dotted for tearing off (which I never did)

It'd cost someone more to go through all the effort of perforating parts of the box, pressing the discs themselves (rather then simple disc copy/burn) scanning, color correcting and re-printing copies of the box, etc.... then it'd cost to just buy the real thing and re-sell it.

The equipment, ink, programs, hardware, etc. required to make as much of a duplication as you described..... then sell it on Ebay for probably less then the original sale price on shelf.... would simply be a waste of time.

DVD discs and their quality remain the same both in Canada and the US, since they usually come from the same manufacturer.... however depending on which country you get the DVD's from, what year you got them, etc. could all be a factor on the differences between the two, as some businesses will get companies within a particular country to do all the box work to save on shipping costs.... or the next batch of Box sets/DVD's the following year may end up having slight changes made in design due to something possibly occurring from the previous batch.

It's possible that the Canadian versions you got were an earlier batch, where the US versions you picked up locally were newer and probably printed on newer, better quality printers with higher resolutions, alignment and color balances, etc.

I highly doubt they're pirated versions.... as far as I know, pirates don't go through that much effort to duplicate DVD box sets because it just costs too much.

Sure I have heard Canada is known elsewhere around the world as having a Video/Movie/Game Pirating problem.... but that has more to do with Movie Theatre Cam Copies before being released on DVD/Blueray (it's easy to get into a threatre with a camera around here and the fines are minimal)

And the other aspect of our pirating is simple disc copying and selling online or at flea markets.... where the most effort I ever seen a pirate go to was a crappy scan and bubble jet print of the game/movies graphics onto an obviously burned disc.

Buy one movie legit, copy it to fifty cheap discs, print off some cheap decals to slap on them.... sell them for half or even a third of the original price and they make a profit.

The moment you try and make them exactly like the real thing and get into duplication of boxes etc, you're not going to make a profit, and you're more or less just wasting your time, especially since most people who seek out pirated products just want to watch the movie/show or play the game.... and give little care about the package it came in.

And most pirates won't try and sell to someone & claim it's legit because of the risk of that person turning around and going to the cops when they find out it's fake... they'll usually look for people who are seeking out pirated copies and sell to them.

I'd suspect you have a legit version.... it's just not a very good legit version, lol.

 

[Leathco]

Thank you Praxius. I actually didn't know about the pirate Canada stuff; I thought most of that was overseas.

Anyhow I'll post some pics later today, but I'm comforted knowing they're prolly legit.

 

[Praxius]

Thank you Praxius. I actually didn't know about the pirate Canada stuff; I thought most of that was overseas.

Anyhow I'll post some pics later today, but I'm comforted knowing they're prolly legit.

Well apparently, particularly Quebec and Ontario I believe, Canada is known around the world for our pirating of movies and such and it's been such a big issue for some that some hollywood companies were thinking of delaying movie releases in Canada for a week or so in order to reduce the amount of cam copies online shortly after movie release.

some sources:

IIPA Blames Canada for Movie Piracy (Again)
http://www.zeropaid.com/news/10014/iipa_blames_canada_for_movie_piracy_again/

Canadians drop gloves, punch US in face over piracy list
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...es-punch-us-in-face-over-piracy-watchlist.ars

Canada still bad boy of piracy: IFPI
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...-still-bad-boy-of-piracy-ifpi/article1551057/

50% movie piracy from Canada: Hollywood
http://www.canada.com/globaltv/national/story.html?id=b3dea202-82da-4ad9-b6f8-277923bc1f6b

As much as 50 per cent of the world's pirated movies come from Canada, prompting the film industry to threaten to delay the release of new titles in this country. According to an investigation by Twentieth Century Fox, most of the illegal recording, or "camcording," is taking place in Montreal movie houses......

.....In Quebec, it is much more advantageous because you get both English and French. You cover a bigger part of the world," said Ellis Jacob, chief executive of the Cineplex Entertainment theatre chain. "They are using Canada because they can have the movie out on the street in the Philippines and China before it even releases there." Jacob said he was warned in a letter from Bruce Snyder, president of Fox's domestic distribution, that if Canada doesn't do something to curb its growing piracy problem, Hollywood will.

Personally I can't stand Theatre Cam Rips.... The picture is crap, the sound is crap, the camera's always moving around, jittering, or someone's coat get's tossed over the camera during a scene because of ushers walking around, thus you lose a chunk of the movie.... and let's not forget about people's heads and people constantly getting up and down, and the talking and the laughing, etc.... I'd rather go to the theatre myself or wait until it comes out on video then to sit through 2+ hours of that crap.

But as it sounds to me, I don't think you have to worry about your DVD's being pirated.