Harry Potter book in CD form, anyone?

Who needs magic when you have pirates?

Copyright violators in the Philippines have found a new way of illegally distributing the latest Harry Potter bestseller — selling the contents on computer discs on the side streets of Manila.

"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," the sixth installment of the popular boy wizard’s adventures at the Hogwarts school of magic, was released on July 16 and has been enjoying robust sales in bookshops.

But in the Philippines, copies have been transcribed into computer format and CDs can be purchased from street vendors for P300 to P500.

The discs, which can be read on any computer, sell for much less than the book, which retails for about P1,500.

The Department of Trade and Industry’s Intellectual Property Office said it had not heard about the CDs and previously the only books being illegally copied in the Philippines were academic textbooks. — AFP