Well, folks, a lot of people had some high hopes for Avatar to represent one of the greatest milestones ever made–the hardest movie ever to pirate.

See, the general consensus said that, when you show a movie in 3D, pirates can’t “cam” it, or shoot it in theaters with their camcorders, because the images will come back double.  But as it turns out, this limitation isn’t a wall so much as it is a speed bump.  Get ready to laugh yourselves stupid as you take the following quiz:

How long did it take pirated copies of Avatar to end up for sale on the streets of Beijing?

A. One day after the film’s release

B.  One week before the film’s release

C. One month before the film’s release

The answer here is B.  They didn’t even have to wait for the movie to hit a theater before copies were on sale in the streets.

Word is that it’s possible that studios themselves are involved, or at least their employees, as people with access to the titles are sneaking copies of the film out the door and selling them to Beijing for massive duplication efforts.

And if this is the case, then Hollywood’s going to have a much tougher time with its rights issues than previously thought.