商務禮節美語第211期:Piracy 盜版(上)

Carl下課，看到室友Benny買東西剛回來，好象很興奮。

Benny: Hey Carl! Check this out! I just picked up three brand-new Hollywood haven't even been released in theaters yet!

Carl: mean they're counterfeit copies?

B: Sure! They only cost a couple of bucks each!

C: Yeah, 're illegal copies.

B: So? What's the problem?

C: I just don't think it's right to buy pirated goods. I don't want to sound too judgmental, but I think it's wrong.

Benny興奮地叫 Carl，Check this out!快來看。原來，Benny買了三張盜版影碟，都是尚未發行的好萊塢大片。盜版可以說counterfeit goods, 也可以說pirated goods. 盜版碟很便宜，每張只要a couple of bucks兩美元。Carl說，I don't want to sound too judgmental, judgmental is spelled j-u-d-g-m-e-n-t-a-l, 意思是對別人妄加評論，但Carl還是要說，買盜版碟不對。

B: But Carl, those Hollywood film companies make millions and millions of dollars! It's not like I'm hurting some poor kid in Africa. These guys are billionaires.

C: Yes, that's true. But there's a simple rule to find out if something is wrong or not: Ask yourself, "What would happen if everyone did what you are doing?"

B: Well, if everyone bought pirated copies, no one would buy originals.

C: And if that happened the Movie companies would go bankrupt and you'd never be able to enjoy cool new films, right?

B: I guess so.

Benny覺得，自己買盜版，受損失的只是那些身價數十億美元的好萊塢製片公司，所以沒什麼了不起。Carl讓 Benny想想，如果大家都象他一樣買盜版，會是什麼結果。Benny承認，那就沒人買正品了。正品叫original, original is spelled o-r-i-g-i-n-a-l, original. 沒人買正品，製片公司就會go bankrupt破產，那就沒電影看了。Carl還說,

C: Also, think about the initial investment. When a drug company makes a new medicine, it takes years to test it before they can sell it. If we buy the fake version, the drug company might not have the money to test some newer medicine. Movies are a big investment, too.

B: But the prices they charge are insane! I could buy 35 pirated DVDs for the price of one original!

C: Actually, I agree with you there. The movie studios do need to reduce their prices to something more reasonable. But that doesn't change the fact that it's still stealing.

Carl提醒說，拍電影跟開發新藥一樣，需要大筆投資，這一點也不能忘。Benny爭辯說，可正版影碟實在是太貴了。The prices are insane. Carl在這一點上同意Benny的看法，覺得製片公司需要把價格降低到更合理的價位，to reduce their prices to something more reasonable. 但他堅持說，這改變不了買盜版就是盜取的事實。Carl是否能夠說服 Benny 以後不再買盜版，我們下次繼續聽。