Bootleg copies on eBay

[ThunderPeel2001]

My gf just bought The Curious Village on eBay (very decent game, btw -- highly enjoyable). She's been playing it for a few days when I decided to look at the box....... I think most people wouldn't notice, it's very well done, but it's clearly a bootleg.

It looks very professional, it comes with a game manual (full colour, 20 odd pages), a Nintendo booklet, a proper box. The cart itself looks flawless (if it wasn't for the ugly choice of artwork).

But it's a bootleg all right: The print quality is a tad lower than normal. There's no fifth plate on the Nintendo seal. The text on the back is clearly from a review ("Most puzzle games are boring...") and, most obviously, so is the manual itself!

I'm kinda shocked and disappointed

[DanJW]

Question is, what to do about it? Are you going to report the eBay seller?

Makes you wonder if the publishers make any kind of distinction between knowing piracy - where a user warezeseses a game for themself; and fraudulent piracy, wherein cartels actually make a business out of duping people.

[Nachimir]

Yeah, it's not uncommon for people to be selling these kind of fakes on ebay. I tend not to buy games from there anymore, but if I ever do, I only get them from people who evidently aren't making a business of it, much more likely to get a legit second hand copy then.

Makes you wonder if the publishers make any kind of distinction between knowing piracy - where a user warezeseses a game for themself; and fraudulent piracy, wherein cartels actually make a business out of duping people.

That seems to be what many people are very, very confused over. The pirates who make these kind of bootlegs are in business, and P2P is exerting all the same pressures on them.

Yet people wonder why we laugh so hard when adverts at the end of DVDs say "Piracy supports terrorism".

[ThunderPeel2001]

The pirates who make these kind of bootlegs are in business, and P2P is exerting all the same pressures on them.

Wow, I've never really thought about that. Can you imagine: Professional bootlegs sold with their own copy protection?? I bet it's around the corner.

I've sent a message to the seller, let's see what he says. Luckily my gf hasn't left any feedback yet, so I'll make sure something negative gets left.

Yet people wonder why we laugh so hard when adverts at the end of DVDs say "Piracy supports terrorism".

Finally! Non-UK people can appreciate what we have to put up with:

Look at his burning evil eyes!!! "They're out to get YOU" (Yes, this is real.)

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=HToRWLu0BqU

Also real: and we're forced to watch it all the bloody time on DVDs we've BOUGHT!

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=jxtoaTF9hu8

Thankfully, though, someone did an excellent parody of the above:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=8wRxfz_6E7o

Came across these US ones, too:

http://he.fi/video/view/RIAA_PSA

Jack Black: "They steal our internets!":

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=-LkWKvMCzqA

[Nappi]

Also real: and we're forced to watch it all the bloody time on DVDs we've BOUGHT!

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=jxtoaTF9hu8

I have ordered around 6 or 7 DVD box sets from amazon.co.uk so far and every single one of the DVDs has had that clip at the beginning. It's all good though, since the last one I bought had a note with a friendly thumb up picture on a nice blue background coupled with a text:

Nice one!

Thanks for buing this genuine DVD.

We hope you enjoy it.

Obviously you're not a Knock-Off Nigel, but rather the kind of person who generally does the right thing.

Good for you. Hats off.

Caps doffed. The lot.

Still had that clip though...

[elmuerte]

Bleh.. always the same shit, piracy is about selling counterfeit product. It's not the same as downloading stuff, that's only copyright infringement. And copyright infringement isn't always bad. For example the whole abandonware stuff, it's simply copyright infringement. However, there is no legal way to get a hold of those creations. Or at least, not in a way so that the creator (well, copyright holder) can profit from it.

And I loath the copyright notification messages I can't skip. I still don't get the whole logic behind it. I already gave them my money.

[Roderick]

Here in the Netherlands there are a couple of concepts floating around on DVD's, trying to stimulate people not to pirate movies. Some are insulting and stupid, like a couple watching a movie on their laptop when it spontaneously bursts into flames and the woman rants sarcastically: ,,Nice eh? Watching a movie?", as if the pirated film magically destroyed the laptop.

Others are actually pretty sympathetic because they're a positive message. In one of them we get a behind the scenes look into moviemaking (exagerrated) with a man cordially explaining that movie-making costs money and pirating hurts the process. Afterwards, the whole crew gives a round of applause because you bought the DVD legally. It might seem a bit corny, but I like this a lot more than the 'stern warning'.

Every time I get a reminder that the FBI (yes) will fine me for 25,000 Dollars, I give a hearty chuckle.

[elmuerte]

Others are actually pretty sympathetic because they're a positive message. In one of them we get a behind the scenes look into moviemaking (exagerrated) with a man cordially explaining that movie-making costs money and pirating hurts the process. Afterwards, the whole crew gives a round of applause because you bought the DVD legally. It might seem a bit corny, but I like this a lot more than the 'stern warning'.

You mean the "filmwereld" thing?

and

I really hate that commercial. In the beginning you were not able to skip them on rental DVDs. So far the annoying Brein notice, you often got a "downloading is illegal thing" and this thing. All required every time you inserted the DVD. It takes over 2 minutes just to reach the menu.

[thorn]

The text on the back is clearly from a review ("Most puzzle games are boring...") and, most obviously, so is the manual itself!

So they didn't just scan the original game cover? How wierd.

[Nachimir]

They probably made the fake carts from a downloaded ROM rather than dumping from an original.

[syntheticgerbil]

Hahaha, I've had this happen when I bought the first Mario Advance game on Ebay about 4-5 years ago. Same type of meticulous thought and care put into making a complete game with a printout box and manual on glossy paper except with obvious errors that are apparent when you look closer.

Whoever printed the box on mine scanned the original cover art but retyped the blurb on the back and messed it up bad with tons of spelling mistakes and Engrish. The manual was scanned slightly crooked page by page but not retyped and the game cart had a weird hologram sticker. The worst part about bootlegs though is the game will hardly ever save properly, although I don't know if this applies to DS bootlegs.

Problem is I never filed a claim on Ebay or reported it as I didn't get around to examining the box or manual to my purchase until a year later. I probably should have put more thought into my pirated game sooner when I saw the weird hologram sticker, but I figured since it was an early title it had a different sticker. I hope you file a claim right away, as you'll surely get your money back and you won't have to return your item. Always works for me when someone sells me a bootleg DVD or CD. Had a hilarious case of the latter where someone sent me a HP CD-R of a Charle Chaplin soundtrack with the title written on it with a black marker. The seller claimed it was a legitimate import promotional item and that I should pay shipping to return it if I want my money back. Paypal just found my favor, refunded the money, and I trashed his CD-R instead.

[ThunderPeel2001]

Well she got a full refund, which was cool, after one message. So um, yeah.

[brkl]

Did you ask the seller or report it to eBay?

[ThunderPeel2001]

Just told the seller it was a bootleg. They wrote back and said "My mistake. Here's a refund."

[brkl]

You should definitely consider informing eBay. But I guess it's possible the seller was simply mistaken.

[Nachimir]

Double refund?

[brkl]

What? No, the dude might be selling bootlegs. Ebay could delete his account or something.

[Nachimir]

Sorry, question was for Thunderpeel, not you

I should have made that clear.

[Tanukitsune]

I remember the only time I bought a bootleg game... it was a video rental store...

The GBA game greeted me with one of those "This rom was burned by..." I went to the store and demanded a refund... they refused to give it back because I couldn't prove it was bootleg even though I showed them that screen...

So I told them it was faulty...

You should report the guy, or at least talk to him first to see if he's reasonable...

[ThunderPeel2001]

Well, I already spoke to him and he gave a full refund immediately without any prompting. The game itself crashes from time to time, most likely because it's a bootleg.

I'm pretty sure this guy is just some dude in China (yeah, she ordered it from Hong Kong - doh!) who's making ends meet by selling stuff on eBay.

Hmmmm.

[brkl]

Or maybe he's Mafia!

[SignorSuperdouche]

You're probably supporting terrorism by not reporting this guy. Next time some innocent people get blown up just remember: You could have averted the whole thing.

[elmuerte]

and god kills kittens every hour you don't report him

[ThunderPeel2001]

Oh man...