Bootleg DVDs! (1 Viewer)

[BillyH]

DumDum here has gotten taken with 3 bootleg DVDs in a row on Half.com. Is this more common then I once believed? The first two were quickly and respectfully handled by the sellers with refunds to my account at half.com but the third one is proving to be more troublesome. I have sent this person multiple emails, some polite, others less so, but he has replied to none. After a week of tries I gave up and filed a complaint and left a nasty feedback. This copy of "Auto Focus" was so obviously a bootleg that I'm surprised they had the big brass ones to sell it in the open. I mean, someone had taken a camera into cinema and shot it off the screen! Talk about abysmal sound and picture quality!!!! You can even see the blackened heads of other movie patrons sitting closer up to the screen. You can see were the bootlegger squirmed in his seat, and when his head bobbed around. There is even missing pieces where he must have changed tapes and/or batteries. Does anyone know how these abominations are made? Domestic or foreign? Any ideas on how we as a group of enthusists can make a difference in the attempt to stop this? Take care out there children. Evil lurks around every corner!

 

[Keith Paynter]

Buyer beware. End Of Discussion. (forum rules)

 

[Jeff Kleist]

They are made in countries like Malaysia Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Though Korea and Taiwan have recently started cleaning up their acts, the others it's not seen as a big problem.

I hope you still have the packaging at least where you sent the $$, call the MPAA 1-800-NO-PIRACY and also report them to the post office for mail fraud

 

[Malcolm R]

Is this more common then I once believed?

Far more.

 

[Justin Bauer]

Yeah, I was taken with a Silence of The Lambs Criterion edition. As soon as I opened it, I saw it was a bootleg. The DVD artwork was shoddy and after looking at the cover more closely, it was obvious it was printed off an inkjet printer. I learned my lesson on purchasing DVDs from private/individual sellers.

 

[Nathan V]

I can't believe this forum's still open.

 

[StephenA]

Reminds me of when I went to the flea market near me on Easter Sunday. All the booths I went to that had DVDs, all the DVDs were bootlegs. It was blatently obvious with some, because there were Anger Management and What a Girl Wants "DVDs".

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Stephen, if you see that call the cops, most of them will bust w/o waiting for the MPAA SWAT team if it's that blatant

 

[Brian W.]

I can't believe this forum's still open.

I can. It's not a discussion of where to buy bootlegs -- it's a discussion of how to avoid them.

 

[Dan Rudolph]

I've accidentally bought bootlegs on several occasions. I got a bootleg Mononoke off yahoo auctions, but I had it a year before I realized it was a boot. I got a boot Spider-Man game from there as well. That guy wouldn't respond to my e-mails. I got a bootleg Braveheart off eBay. Ebay's refusal to do anything is why I won't shop there anymore. This seller claimed it wasn't a boot (despite the typos on the cover, which was obviously printed with an inkjet) and wouldn't give me a refund.

 

[Qui-Gon John]

I can't believe this forum's still open.

Actually, I think the forum rules just pertain to giving out information on how to obtain bootlegs. Below is cut from the home page, Home Theater Software disclaimer.


Note: Please, no discussions about copying video/audio sources, defeating copy-protection encoding, and obtaining illegal, bootlegged product. Thank you!


Therefore, just a discussion about a bootleg itself, or how bad the quality of them is, or the reasons one should not support them etc. should be allowed.

 

[Jerome Grate]

So many of my friends and family get caught in to buying bootleg. I tell them look, when they release the darn thing legally, you can always catch it for less than 20.00, why bother. I definetly try to watch out for those dot coms that claim to have movies (we all want) on DVD. Some has even gone far to claim them as imports. Disguisting tactic and practice. Definetly buyer beware.

 

[Jonathan White]

1 in 5 DVD's sold in the UK are bootlegs, there is a large article regarding this, in this months Empire magazine.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

The thing that's irritating about half.com is that when I try to sell genuine discs and note that they're NOT bootleg, half.com refuses to accept that as the description and forwards it to their fraud police. It's as if the whole thing is set up just for the bootleggers. I got this when I tried to list a spare Princess Mononoke.

With trial and error I found that 'genuine region 1 disc, not a fake' will slip through their system, at least so far.

 

[Jon Martin]

The thing that's irritating about half.com is that when I try to sell genuine discs and note that they're NOT bootleg, half.com refuses to accept that as the description and forwards it to their fraud police. It's as if the whole thing is set up just for the bootleggers. I got this when I tried to list a spare Princess Mononoke

They must just have a filter in the listing engine that won't allow the word bootleg in any listing.

I've bought and sold many DVDs on Half and never have encountered any problems with bootlegs. I haven't even seen them listed since they won't list any items until they have the UPC and other information regarding its official retail release. Are you sure you didn't mean to say Ebay?

And someone was selling an AUTO FOCUS bootleg after the legit DVD was released??? That doesn't make sense.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

Yes, half.com is bootleg heaven, which also nicely screws up many of the price grabbing sites, since half.com amost always has the lowest price due to bootlegs.

When buying from any third party, product knowledge is key. If it looks too good to be true...

 

[dan fritzen]

If half.com is so filled with bootlegs we should complain to these price grabbing sites and then that will either remove half.com or force half.com to clean up their listings better.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

The problem is that for discs that have a legitimate issue, it's easy for the bootleggers to grab the UPC from a legitimate vendor and use that to sell their phony disc.

 

[MarkHastings]

Avoid Bootlegs...Shop at Amazon.com

The only boots you'll find on Amazon are these:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...lance&n=507846

 

[Brian Kidd]

What sucks is that the bootleggers make it difficult for honest people to sell their stuff. For example, I have a copy of MICKEY MOUSE IN LIVING COLOR. I've opened it and viewed it a few times, but it's not something I necessarily need to keep. However, I have fears that if I put it on eBay or Half.com nobody will bid on it. I'm kind of between a rock and a hard place. I don't want to put too huge of a price tag on it because it is used after all and someone might get a little peeved to spend a bunch of money on a used disc, but if I charge what I think it's worth, people might think it's too low of a price and that it's a bootleg. So, I've just held on to it. eBay and Half were both really great when they first started out, but now you take too much of a chance when you purchase things. If they were better about tracking down bootleggers it would be a different story.

PS. Please don't think I'm trying to hawk my discs in the guise of a post. I'm really not.