Warner Bros' grand experiment of releasing Hollywood movies onto DVD in China on the same day as they debut theatrically in the US may have backfired. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Chinese release, was uploaded onto Usenet last night.

A DVD screener of the motion picture has been uploaded with Mandarin subtitles. The screener features near-DVD video quality and English sound.



The movie will not be shown in Chinese theaters.

The 'Pants Experiment' was the first attempt by a major Hollywood studio to combat rampant piracy in the Far East market by releasing a movie there on DVD on the same day as its US premiere.

If the experiment is any indication, the new policy of trying to curb piracy by offering a cheap, legal DVD release for the Chinese market may fail.

It seems people just like trading pirated movies - no matter what the cost.

The Motion Picture Association of America says the industry loses more than $3.5 billion annually due to DVD and videotape bootlegging.