The Package (El Paquete) Is Illegal But It's Cuba's Number One Employer

The Package (El Paquete) Is Illegal But It's Cuba's Number One Employer
Aug 25, 2015, 4:15 AM ET
By DAVID FAZEKAS and SERENA MARSHALL

You get it once a week. It costs 5 CUC (Cuban convertible peso), which
is roughly $6.50, and comes fully loaded with the latest in television,
music, movies, apps, magazines and news. It even offers computer
educational programs and an Excel spreadsheet with things for sale
equivalent to Craigslist in the United States.

It's called "El Paquete," or The Package, and has become the primary way
Cubans receive American media, news and entertainment.

The way it works is pretty simple. Once a week someone comes to your
house, drops off a hard-drive fully loaded with new content. The client
then has 24-hours to download everything, or whatever particularly
interests them. The next day, the delivery guy comes back, picks it up
along with your payment.

The following week, an entirely new package arrives with entirely new
content.

The business has been around for nearly five years, while some Cubans
say there has always been an alternative means of obtaining media, and
has become the largest private employer on the island. But it remains
very publicly "underground," as it is illegal, but allows Cubans who
don't have access to the Internet the ability to connect. While the
government is increasing Internet connectivity and reducing the price
across the island, it still remains limited, and for many prohibitively
expensive.

But that doesn't stop the practice. It allows Cubans access to news
programs like Univision's "Al Punto" and HBO's "Vice," magazines such as
"OK!" and "Cosmopolitan," as well as the latest movies, like "Jurassic
World."

Video:


Source: The Package (El Paquete) Is Illegal But It's Cuba's Number One
Employer - ABC News -
http://abcnews.go.com/International/package-el-paquete-illegal-cubas-number-employer/story?id=33279812