E-commerce site Alibaba bans sale of DVDs, CDs to target black-market discs

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One of the world’s largest e-commerce sites for small businesses said it will ban sales of pre-recorded DVDs and CDs, culminating a two-year effort to curb the sale of counterfeit discs on the site.

Alibaba.com has worked for years with the Motion Picture Assn. of America to remove fraudulent products that were being sold on the site, which is an online marketplace that connects buyers and sellers. But the process of removing black-market discs was time consuming.

Sellers ‘put things in different categories to get around what we’re trying to do,’ said Linda Kozlowski, Alibaba’s director of international corporate affairs. ‘We made a business decision, as a company; it wasn’t efficient or effective to continue selling any DVDs or CDs with audio-visual content on them.’

Chris Dodd, chairman of the MPAA, issued a statement Tuesday applauding the Hong Kong-based company’s decision.

‘They have recognized that all of us have a shared responsibility to deter these criminals who seek to live off the hard work and passion of others by selling counterfeit products,’ Dodd said.

Hollywood has been pressing China for tougher enforcement of intellectual-property laws. The industry estimates it loses billions of dollars each year to piracy.

-- Dawn C. Chmielewski