The day Lebanon’s music died
A bulldozer crushes pirated CDs and DVDs at a parking lot in the Beirut suburb of Kfarshima on Feb. 24. The Lebanese Intellectual Property Unit affiliated with the judicial police forces destroyed about 100,000 pirated CDs and DVDs confiscated from Lebanese vendors and traders. Soaring piracy of CDs, DVDs, business software, and cable networks has ...
A bulldozer crushes pirated CDs and DVDs at a parking lot in the Beirut suburb of Kfarshima on Feb. 24. The Lebanese Intellectual Property Unit affiliated with the judicial police forces destroyed about 100,000 pirated CDs and DVDs confiscated from Lebanese vendors and traders. Soaring piracy of CDs, DVDs, business software, and cable networks has devastated the cinema, video, and related industries in Lebanon. More than half of the CDs, DVDs, and software sold in Lebanon are copies, according to the International Intellectual Property Alliance, a private-sector coalition that represents U.S.-based copyright industries.
A bulldozer crushes pirated CDs and DVDs at a parking lot in the Beirut suburb of Kfarshima on Feb. 24. The Lebanese Intellectual Property Unit affiliated with the judicial police forces destroyed about 100,000 pirated CDs and DVDs confiscated from Lebanese vendors and traders. Soaring piracy of CDs, DVDs, business software, and cable networks has devastated the cinema, video, and related industries in Lebanon. More than half of the CDs, DVDs, and software sold in Lebanon are copies, according to the International Intellectual Property Alliance, a private-sector coalition that represents U.S.-based copyright industries.
Meanwhile, check out question 6 of the latest FP quiz: What percentage of the world’s music downloads are illegal?
Loyal Passport readers know that we love a good crushing picture. Here are two classics:
- Peruvian slot machines
- The bottles of Indonesia
ANWAR AMRO/AFP/Getty Images
More from Foreign Policy


Russians Are Unraveling Before Our Eyes
A wave of fresh humiliations has the Kremlin struggling to control the narrative.


A BRICS Currency Could Shake the Dollar’s Dominance
De-dollarization’s moment might finally be here.


Is Netflix’s ‘The Diplomat’ Factual or Farcical?
A former U.S. ambassador, an Iran expert, a Libya expert, and a former U.K. Conservative Party advisor weigh in.


The Battle for Eurasia
China, Russia, and their autocratic friends are leading another epic clash over the world’s largest landmass.