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Recently I have been ordering Japanese DVD titles from Malaysia that have never been released in North America. These DVDs are region 0 and NTSC. Unlike the Japanese region 2 versions, these DVDs are subtitled in English. The supplier claims these DVDs are licensed for distribution in Malaysia and are approved by the Malaysian Ratings Board. The covers have holograms and a sticker of approval by the Malaysian authorities. The supplier I have been using ships DHL. If I order on Sunday evening, the DVDs are delivered on the following Wednesday. About the same speed as Amazon Prime. I have never had a playback problem on conventional DVD player with any disc sourced from Malaysia.
From time to time I have inadvertently purchased bootleg software on E-Bay. In one case the seller claimed that that software was located in Texas but it was shipped from Shanghai. Within 15 days the seller closed up shop on E-Bay with fewer that 20 sales. The counterfeit packaging is quite convincing, holograms and all. You cannot tell the difference unless you have a genuine article to make a comparison. The differences are minute. It is very hard to tell a counterfeit CD/DVD by the packaging. In retrospect there was something suspicious about the transaction.
I had been under the impression that Malaysia was in Region 3 and a PAL country. Therefore the presence of Region 0 and NTSC DVD product seems dubious. The supplier is very reliable and the email communication while anonymous is prompt, courteous, and helpful. There is nothing suspicious about the transaction. If this is a counterfeit operation, the scale and durability is massive. The supplier carries over 4,000 Japanese titles. Is there a legitimate explanation of NTSC and Region 0 DVD product on this massive scale in Malaysia?
Tom Orlofsky
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They may be bootlegs but maybe not. My guess is these disc transfers ultimately source from Hong Kong where NTSC-encoded DVDs are common. Multi-region players are quite common in this part of Asia and I would assume in Malaysia as well. I suspect they are NTSC because the original source is Japanese (whether that source was legally or illegally obtained) and it isn't easy to convert from NTSC to PAL and preserve full quality. In Hong Kong, Chinese subtitles are added. It is possible Malaysia uses the same masters and adds Malay subtitles, though many Malaysians are of Chinese descent and speak and read Chinese.
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