MOSCOW, October 17 (RIA Novosti) — In the four years since the easing of trade regulations in Cuba, the island nation has seen a huge boom in the amount of illegal goods and media flowing into the country and while the government could take steps to crack down on the illegal products, so far they have left this burgeoning grey market alone, thus allowing a flood of western media to spread among its people.
Most Cubans regularly purchase what is called the weekly “package”, which includes a variety of current TV series, films and Internet publications, as well as magazine articles in PDF format, the Gulf Times report. The “package” is distributed via a chain network, and the selective content can be home-delivered. “The hard-drive disk is taken to the distributor, and the distributor then does his or her business,” says Isbel Diaz, a computer expert in Cuba, who is involved in the underground trade. It is as it were an “offline Internet” service, Diaz adds, as quoted by the Gulf Times.
The Cuban black market also includes the illicit distribution of fake perfume, rum, beer, coffee and hygiene products. The vendors of these products have trouble with the law more often, however, this segment of trade is becoming increasingly acceptable. "Certain activities, previously deemed unacceptable or socially negative, started to become legitimate”, says sociologist Maria Espina as quoted by AsiaOne. This is, in her opinion, a natural way for the people to satisfy their needs in the absence of genuine consumer market mechanisms.
Most Cubans can’t access the Internet, as private households are not allowed to; also people can only listen to radio and watch TV approved by the government. This informative isolation has rendered the bootlegging of the US, Mexican and European TV programmes a profitable business. A flash drive can be bought for less than a $1 in Cuba and the device can be filled with TV shows, movies and recorded broadcasts of the recent major sporting events for $2 in one of the many private homes in Havana.
The authorities tolerate the underground trade of foreign video and audio content is that they see it as a relief for the population, starved for smuggled goods like TV series, movies, music and software, AsiaOne reports. The government is much more sensitive about news media content, foreign news is controlled and regulated heavily.
In Cuba, only state-affiliated institutions or foreign enterprises have broadband internet access or satellite TV, therefore “it is very suspicious that such a large amount of information contained in those ‘packages’ can be updated on a weekly basis”, says Isbel Diaz. Given the circumstances, it is fair to suggest that distribution of the Internet content may be sanctioned by the government.
International producers of media content, sold in Cuba, naturally are not protected under copyright law. Pirated content sometimes is even shown on official TV, which is “carrying shows from American channels without paying for the rights", says Cuban TV director Juan Pin Vilar, as quoted by AFP. Nobody objects on the American side, because "there is a kind of tactical willingness (in the US) not to bother Cuba because culture… is a very effective means of communication," says Jorge de Armas, an influential Cuban exile in Washington as quoted by AFP.
