The Bayside Diner - Australian On-Line Auction Watchdogs

It is a well known fact that there a vast number of pirated and illegally copied DVDS listed for sale/auction on the internet. Perhaps no greater number of them are sold to unsuspecting buyers using on-line auctions.

The truth is, the vast majority of pirated DVD's / Movies originate from Asia.

Given that fact, it is not an easy thing to protect yourself from buying an ileagal copy via an on-line auction, except perhaps to not buy one in the first place.

WHAT'S WRONG WITH BUYING PIRATED MOVIES ?
POOR QUALITY - Some are recorded via a hand held digital cam corder at a cinema. Background noises include the coughs and cinema goers talking as well as the obvious heads bobbing about at the bottom of your viewing screen. Others are recorded/copied from original DVD's which have copy protection. That copy protection will produce "spikes" where a few seconds of a movie will need to be edited out. As much as 30 mins in a full length feature can be chopped from the illegal copy.
PRODUCERS LOSS OF FINANCE - Each DVD sold returns to the Producers some profit margin. Illegal copies are stealing from those people what they are entitled to. So next time the local Cinema increases it's ticket price, this is just one of the reasons why. That means supporting pirated videos is creating a cost to everybody.

The bottom line is this - When you buy a Pirated Movie, you are supporting a thief!!

How to spot a Pirated Movie
Often, you will not know you have purchased a Pirate Movie until you have actually received it or played it. The most obvious tell-tale signs are spelling errors on the labels. Example "SUPERTRAMP LIVE IN CONCERT" on a pirated DVD might actually read "SUPERTRUMP LIVE CONSERT".
And of course, when you play the movie at home, you may see a jumpy image (hand held camera in the cinema), and the obvious bobbing heads at the bottom of the screen.
So... to identify a pirated copy listed on an auction you need to look at these issues...

Is seller in Asia ? (That will be your first reason to suspect a possible pirated copy)
Check the spelling in the listing. "Anne of Green Gables" should be spelled just like that, ...... not "Ann of Green Gaybels"
Is it too cheap? Distributors have rock bottom recommended prices that still return a profit. If current retail is $35, a wholesale price of $29 is a reasonable discount price. That $35 DVD will have cost the wholesaler $18 at the very least. So a selling price of $5 out of Hong Kong immediately tells you that it is a pirate copy!
Check the feedback. Just one feedback comment of "Pirate video - stay away" should be ample to have your alarm bells ringing.
The biggest warning is this... Seller states in listing "Video is brand new and does not come in a case" This is will then definitely be a Pirated copy, mass produced off a home computer.

You may also bare in mind this... if you choose to save some dollars by buying a Pirated Video, the person you are buying from is ripping you off. Blank DVD's can be purchased bulk for as little as 10 cents each. It is only minutes for the pirate to make a copy from a hand held digital recorded copy from the cinema. So in reality, that Pirated Copy is really only worth less than 25 cents.