Asian Bootlegs

[dafoe]

Now I've had it!

Since I've never seen the X Files, and it's supposed to be a great show, I decided I would buy season 1 on Ebay..

I if I liked it, I could buy the other seasons. If not, I could resell season 1 on Ebay and be done with it. Simple enough, right? Wrong!

I clicked on about ten different auctions. Every last one of them was an "Asian Collector's Edition." Which is (as far as i know) a synonym for bootleg.

Don't the studios care that people are pirating thier discs? This is not the first time I've dealt with this. I ran into the same problem when trying to get caught up on my Friends collection. I had to buy the sets at Walmart.

I can understand Ebay's (unethical) motivations for not pulling these auctions. But wtf are the studios when Ebay is being flooded with this shit?

[pacmania_2001]

Not a huge fan of eBay when it comes to their intellectual property rules. I was selling legitimate VCDs and DC games on their and they shut my auction down despite the listing down from mine was selling Finding Nemo whilst it was at the cinemas.

So yes, eBay is a pile of shit when it comes to IP.

[dafoe]

A couple of months ago I was bidding on a Boy Meets World set- for my girlfriend's birthday. I recieved a letter from Ebay stating that the auction had been cancelled per request through the VERO program. In other words Disney had contacted them.

Let me just say I am not one of those losers that surfs Ebay looking for infringing items to report- I've got better things to do. Also, I don't have any problems with bootleg items if they are not available for sale commercially.

A while ago, while Hannibal was still at the theatre, I came across a copy (being sold on Ebay) of the movie on VCD. First of all, if you want to see something that is available for sale, buy the damn thing. Secondly, this guy was probably selling some shitty cam of a movie, that he downloaded, to suckers at $30 a pop- for a 25 cents cd-r.

So, I reported it to Ebay. Thier response was laughable. They claimed that they could not verify that it's was a bootleg!

The studio has not released the film, on any format, for sale anywhere in the world. Yet Ebay isn't sure if the movie is a bootleg Give me a break.

I shouldn't have to wade through a pile of bootleg trash to find a legit copy of something. Ebay can stick thier DVD section where the sun doesn't shine.

[The village idiot]

Now then, let's take a different approach....

So you find an DVD for cents on the dollar for sale. In the picture you can see a price sticker for a major retailer for the original price. You think " how can they sell it for so much less". Immediate thoughts go to stolen merchandise. How many of those discount disks come from a five finger discount? They are new and really factory shrink wrapped, but not legal. How does a person deal with this?

[pyscrow]

Now then, let's take a different approach....

So you find an DVD for cents on the dollar for sale. In the picture you can see a price sticker for a major retailer for the original price. You think " how can they sell it for so much less". Immediate thoughts go to stolen merchandise. How many of those discount disks come from a five finger discount? They are new and really factory shrink wrapped, but not legal. How does a person deal with this?

But that is not a pirate copy, it is a legit copy! in this case you are recieving stolen goods, not infringing copyright!

[dafoe]

Now then, let's take a different approach....

So you find an DVD for cents on the dollar for sale. In the picture you can see a price sticker for a major retailer for the original price. You think " how can they sell it for so much less". Immediate thoughts go to stolen merchandise. How many of those discount disks come from a five finger discount? They are new and really factory shrink wrapped, but not legal. How does a person deal with this?

You're right. Some of those discs probably are stolen. But I'm guessing that's the exception. You would have to be complete retard to walk into Walmart, steal a dvd(s) and list them on Ebay. Not only is it wrong, but it would be a complete waste of time. You would have to risk being arrested for shoplifting, list the item on Ebay, package the DVD and then go all the way to the Post dffice to ship to the winning bidder. For $5-$10? That would be pretty ignorant.

I went through a Julia Roberts phase. I decided that I was going to collect all of her movies on DVD. I picked up almost 20 of her movies. I never opened them- I was much more interetsed in collecting them than watching them. Besides, I'd already seen many of them. I'm not the type that likes to watch a movie more than once.

Anyway, I've come to the conclusion that buying the movies was a waste of time and money. A year later, they are still in my collection, unopened. I would sell them in a heartbeat if I could get a reasonable price for them.. But I'd rather keep them than give them away on Ebay. Matter of principal. Some people would get what they could for them just to be rid of them. That doesn't mean they are stolen.

Back to the point: If I know, or suspect that it's a bootleg, then I don't buy it. If the seller is from Malaysia or some other bootleg hotbed then I stay away. I don't assume something is stolen just because it's cheap. It depends on the situation. Common sense and gut instinct are usually a pretty good barometer