Film piracy is becoming an increasingly serious threat tothe Dutch video rental industry. According to the latest data, 80% of videooutlets are suffering declining business, with drops of as high as 15 %compared to 2003.

Industry body, the NVDOdescribes the situation as 'disastrous', with the main reason for thedecline being the enormous number of movies downloaded illegally from theinternet - and subsequent black market sales.

According to Platform Filmtheft, one in four films watchedin Dutch households is an illegal copy.

Last year, according to estimates from the Dutch ProtectionEntertainment Rights-organization, at least Euros 40m was spend in theNetherlands on illegal DVDs.

In addition to piracy,the video rental sector also faces growing competition from supermarketchains like Blokker and Albert Heijn, which sell DVDs at bargain prices.