Internet close to killing off the videoclub in Majorca

PALMA
THE video club could be a thing of the past in Majorca in less than a year if central Government doesn't do more to fight piracy.
That's the message from Juan Antonio Tormo, the President of Pimem's Majorcan Federation of Videoclubs, who warned that: “The videoclub sector is going to be the first to close in Spain because of a criminal activity.” Video clubs in Spain have managed to survive competition from multi-channel televison and the street vendors who sell illegal, pirated DVDs. But it seems that the internet could be the straw that broke the camel's back, with numerous sites allowing internet users to download videos easily, if illegally. “Either the central Government begins a real fight against piracy, as has happened in other countries, or the last shops will start to close from May 2009,” said Tormo.

The videoclub sector has been decimated in recent years. “Fifteen years ago there were some 400 videoclubs that were members. In the last five or six years about 3'000 people have lost their job. It's continuing to drain away,” Tormo said. “The three historic videoclubs in Palma, the Piscis on the Calle Manacor, the Hitchcock on General Riera, and the Videoart 7 on Aragon, are already thinking of throwing in the towel,” he said. “They are establishments that have been in business almost 30 years. When they go, there will be many more right behind.” Paradoxically, the current economic crisis is quite good news for the videoclubs. “We offer a legal and economical night's entertainment,” said Tormo, “and many people are now preferring to spend a night watching a movie at home than going out with friends.” He said this was small consolation at a time when the business was being threatened by the “ineffectiveness of the authorities”.
Tormo gave an example of the problems facing videoclub owners, saying that “there are people who come into the shop, piece of paper in hand, who devote themselves to taking down the names of the new titles so that they can then go home and download the movies”.