Warner Home Video (WHV), a company responsible for the distribution of
videos and DVDs in 98 countries, has decided to close its branches in
the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Czech news agency, CTK, reports
that the decision comes as a result of the high degree of piracy in the
two central European countries, as well as the saturation of the home
video market. Sales of DVDs in the Czech Republic dropped by 19% last
year, a figure that experts say illustrates the high rate of digital
piracy. As of October 2006, the license for distribution of WHV
programs in the Czech Republic and Slovakia will be acquired by Magic
Box entertainment, a division of the central European group AQS.