Piracy - did you ever get caught? - Page 8

s2325 · 09 January 2015, 01:23

Boys in Blue demo [ Show youtube player ]

Superman · 09 January 2015, 11:26

I thought I had been caught once. I had been to my friends house to buy a box of 50 blank disks off him cheaply as he had a Saturday job at 17 bit Software and had "aquired" loads of disks *cough*. Whilst I was there I copied a few games onto about a third of the disks as I usually got most of my stuff from him anyway.

I left him about 10pm and was walking home with another friend holding my box of floppes when a car suddenly screeched to a halt along side and a guy jumped out on us. He was an undercover cop who asked us where we had just been and where we were going. My heart sank immediately as I thought I was in serious trouble. It turns out that there had been reports of a burglary nearby and they were looking for two guys responsible. As I was 17 at the time I got frisked and had to open the box of disks to prove I had no weapons or any tools on me. I just told him I only had blank disks on me so he accepted that and got back into his car and drove off.

To say I was relieved was an understatement

Phantasm · 09 January 2015, 12:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by Superman

I thought I had been caught once. I had been to my friends house to buy a box of 50 blank disks off him cheaply as he had a Saturday job at 17 bit Software and had "aquired" loads of disks *cough*. Whilst I was there I copied a few games onto about a third of the disks as I usually got most of my stuff from him anyway.

I left him about 10pm and was walking home with another friend holding my box of floppes when a car suddenly screeched to a halt along side and a guy jumped out on us. He was an undercover cop who asked us where we had just been and where we were going. My heart sank immediately as I thought I was in serious trouble. It turns out that there had been reports of a burglary nearby and they were looking for two guys responsible. As I was 17 at the time I got frisked and had to open the box of disks to prove I had no weapons or any tools on me. I just told him I only had blank disks on me so he accepted that and got back into his car and drove off.

To say I was relieved was an understatement

i was rather concerned when i got burgled and there were lots of copied cd's (movies mostly) around my house and the burglars had stolen some and left them scattered in the garden when they made their escape.

The police had come to investigate due to the alarm going off and when i got home the police were already there and i was told not to touch anything till the forensics arrived.

i was worried that they might comment in all the discs but they weren't in the slightest interested.

Vot · 10 January 2015, 03:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by Superman

I thought I had been caught once. I had been to my friends house to buy a box of 50 blank disks off him cheaply as he had a Saturday job at 17 bit Software and had "aquired" loads of disks *cough*. Whilst I was there I copied a few games onto about a third of the disks as I usually got most of my stuff from him anyway.

I left him about 10pm and was walking home with another friend holding my box of floppes when a car suddenly screeched to a halt along side and a guy jumped out on us. He was an undercover cop who asked us where we had just been and where we were going. My heart sank immediately as I thought I was in serious trouble. It turns out that there had been reports of a burglary nearby and they were looking for two guys responsible. As I was 17 at the time I got frisked and had to open the box of disks to prove I had no weapons or any tools on me. I just told him I only had blank disks on me so he accepted that and got back into his car and drove off.

To say I was relieved was an understatement

I assume the box of disks cost you whatever you paid + the cost of a new pair of underpants

lol

c0axial · 12 April 2021, 21:57

Yes but not for Piracy

c0axial · 12 April 2021, 21:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phantasm

i was rather concerned when i got burgled and there were lots of copied cd's (movies mostly) around my house and the burglars had stolen some and left them scattered in the garden when they made their escape.

The police had come to investigate due to the alarm going off and when i got home the police were already there and i was told not to touch anything till the forensics arrived.

i was worried that they might comment in all the discs but they weren't in the slightest interested.

Long Time no See

Foebane · 13 April 2021, 00:19

Oh boy, this reminds me of a time when I was at college, I had my A1200, and someone in my course was selling his Amiga for PC for college work and he'd brought in his entire collection of Amiga games, many pirated, in a box, for me to have a look at.

This was back in the early 1990s and I don't remember if I took the entire box home, and then returned it to him later on, but I found a few games I liked the look of (Shufflepuck Cafe being one of them), and then the following happened:

I think I brought the box into the lecture, sort of smuggled it in, to return to him, but this was a lecture being run by THE most unpopular, anal lecturer on the entire course, and this guy was a complete jerk to all of us and was really quite petty.

Well, all I remember was was trying to return the box to my fellow student, inbetween the desks, where at any moment the lecturer could've spotted it and gone into a right tirade, but luckily he didn't. All I remember thinking was months, YEARS later when I realised why my fellow student was so uncomfortable at the thought of the situation, and I didn't even grasp it. He must've thought I was a right simpleton, or wanted to get into trouble. All I know is, we dodged the bullet that day.

gimbal · 13 April 2021, 00:27

Man, that story makes me pucker.

XPD · 13 April 2021, 00:38

I remember one store being slapped on the hand in NZ in the early 90's - they were selling legit hardware, but pirated games with photocopied manuals at full retail price.

A certain well known website/retailer in NZ was legitimately buying games back in the day for his first shop, also cracking/supplying cracked copies out the back door as it were

alexh · 13 April 2021, 00:50

Far worse (in terms of penalty) than Software Piracy was postage stamp fraud. Lots of "scene" swappers used washed stamps or ones covered with anti-reflection cellotape so the frank mark just wiped off. If you got caught it was like 2-4 years jail in the UK. Crazy risk to take for a few pence

Phantasm · 13 April 2021, 01:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by c0axial

Long Time no See

Ummm... Sorry you're gonna have to refresh my memory

Phantasm · 13 April 2021, 01:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by alexh

Far worse (in terms of penalty) than Software Piracy was postage stamp fraud. Lots of "scene" swappers used washed stamps or ones covered with anti-reflection cellotape so the frank mark just wiped off. If you got caught it was like 2-4 years jail in the UK. Crazy risk to take for a few pence

I got a warning from the postman so I stopped doing it pretty quickly after that

Shaitan · 13 April 2021, 07:35

The days of mail trading .. crazy. People would do anything to save a few pennies. I did the glue on the stamp trick a few times. Until I found out that someone I knew could get stamps from their work. Problem solved.

XPD · 13 April 2021, 10:05

Never thought of doing anything regarding stamps.... but they were only $0.40c NZD IIRC back in the day, so was nothing.

Most of my trading was in person, with a couple of mail suppliers.

Then when I got my modem, I was the supplier to a lot of people... and thats enough talk of that

Methanoid · 13 April 2021, 10:23

LOL at these stories... I think I have never revealed but at my copyright trial, a friend revealed that he knew the judge concerned copied disks

Might have explained the light sentence!

Shaitan · 13 April 2021, 12:48

I remember mail trading went through the roof after I got my modem. I was lucky in that there was a lot of local boards, so I didn't have to spend too much dialling long distance. However, I do remember dialling Rebel's board a lot

alexh · 13 April 2021, 13:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shaitan

I got my modem. I was lucky in that there was a lot of local boards, so I didn't have to spend too much dialling long distance.

There were ways around that too and lots of sceners got into trouble (far worse than software piracy) with telecom fraud.

At the time there were lots of local UK numbers floating around for businesses with insecure computer controlled switchboards, local call in, few DTMF tones to get an outside line and then international calls at the cost of a local number (or sometimes 0800 - free numbers). How people thought they'd never get caught I dunno?

Shaitan · 13 April 2021, 13:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by alexh

There were ways around that too and lots of sceners got into trouble (far worse than software piracy) with telecom fraud.

At the time there were lots of local UK numbers floating around for businesses with insecure computer controlled switchboards, local call in, few DTMF tones to get an outside line and then international calls at the cost of a local number (or sometimes 0800 - free numbers). How people thought they'd never get caught I dunno?

I never went down that route. Just racked up large phone bills.

Anubis · 13 April 2021, 14:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by Methanoid

LOL at these stories... I think I have never revealed but at my copyright trial, a friend revealed that he knew the judge concerned copied disks

Might have explained the light sentence!

Huh? What happened and what trial? I had no idea?!

Never thought much about piracy nor got in trouble with it.

Methanoid · 13 April 2021, 14:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anubis

Huh? What happened and what trial? I had no idea?!

Never thought much about piracy nor got in trouble with it.

Arcadia BbS raided Dec 1993. Long story

Telecoms fraud? 0800-890055 anyone?

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09 January 2015, 01:23	#141
s2325 Zone Friend Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Gargore Age: 43 Posts: 17,789	Boys in Blue demo [ Show youtube player ]

09 January 2015, 11:26	#142
Superman Super Member Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: Wakefield Age: 48 Posts: 1,333	I thought I had been caught once. I had been to my friends house to buy a box of 50 blank disks off him cheaply as he had a Saturday job at 17 bit Software and had "aquired" loads of disks cough. Whilst I was there I copied a few games onto about a third of the disks as I usually got most of my stuff from him anyway. I left him about 10pm and was walking home with another friend holding my box of floppes when a car suddenly screeched to a halt along side and a guy jumped out on us. He was an undercover cop who asked us where we had just been and where we were going. My heart sank immediately as I thought I was in serious trouble. It turns out that there had been reports of a burglary nearby and they were looking for two guys responsible. As I was 17 at the time I got frisked and had to open the box of disks to prove I had no weapons or any tools on me. I just told him I only had blank disks on me so he accepted that and got back into his car and drove off. To say I was relieved was an understatement

12 April 2021, 21:57	#145
c0axial Registered User Join Date: Oct 2020 Location: M44 Posts: 6	Yes but not for Piracy

13 April 2021, 00:19	#147
Foebane Banned Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Cardiff, UK Age: 51 Posts: 2,871	Oh boy, this reminds me of a time when I was at college, I had my A1200, and someone in my course was selling his Amiga for PC for college work and he'd brought in his entire collection of Amiga games, many pirated, in a box, for me to have a look at. This was back in the early 1990s and I don't remember if I took the entire box home, and then returned it to him later on, but I found a few games I liked the look of (Shufflepuck Cafe being one of them), and then the following happened: I think I brought the box into the lecture, sort of smuggled it in, to return to him, but this was a lecture being run by THE most unpopular, anal lecturer on the entire course, and this guy was a complete jerk to all of us and was really quite petty. Well, all I remember was was trying to return the box to my fellow student, inbetween the desks, where at any moment the lecturer could've spotted it and gone into a right tirade, but luckily he didn't. All I remember thinking was months, YEARS later when I realised why my fellow student was so uncomfortable at the thought of the situation, and I didn't even grasp it. He must've thought I was a right simpleton, or wanted to get into trouble. All I know is, we dodged the bullet that day.

13 April 2021, 00:27	#148
gimbal cheeky scoundrel Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Spijkenisse/Netherlands Age: 42 Posts: 6,905	Man, that story makes me pucker.

13 April 2021, 00:38	#149
XPD Geek Kiwi Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: Auckland, New Zealand Age: 47 Posts: 209	I remember one store being slapped on the hand in NZ in the early 90's - they were selling legit hardware, but pirated games with photocopied manuals at full retail price. A certain well known website/retailer in NZ was legitimately buying games back in the day for his first shop, also cracking/supplying cracked copies out the back door as it were

13 April 2021, 00:50	#150
alexh Thalion Webshrine Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Oxford Posts: 14,331	Far worse (in terms of penalty) than Software Piracy was postage stamp fraud. Lots of "scene" swappers used washed stamps or ones covered with anti-reflection cellotape so the frank mark just wiped off. If you got caught it was like 2-4 years jail in the UK. Crazy risk to take for a few pence

13 April 2021, 07:35	#153
Shaitan Registered User Join Date: Apr 2021 Location: Ultima - Data Division Posts: 6	The days of mail trading .. crazy. People would do anything to save a few pennies. I did the glue on the stamp trick a few times. Until I found out that someone I knew could get stamps from their work. Problem solved.

13 April 2021, 10:05	#154
XPD Geek Kiwi Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: Auckland, New Zealand Age: 47 Posts: 209	Never thought of doing anything regarding stamps.... but they were only $0.40c NZD IIRC back in the day, so was nothing. Most of my trading was in person, with a couple of mail suppliers. Then when I got my modem, I was the supplier to a lot of people... and thats enough talk of that

13 April 2021, 10:23	#155
Methanoid Retired Quartex Sysop Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Roman Verulamium Age: 58 Posts: 1,873	LOL at these stories... I think I have never revealed but at my copyright trial, a friend revealed that he knew the judge concerned copied disks Might have explained the light sentence!

13 April 2021, 12:48	#156
Shaitan Registered User Join Date: Apr 2021 Location: Ultima - Data Division Posts: 6	I remember mail trading went through the roof after I got my modem. I was lucky in that there was a lot of local boards, so I didn't have to spend too much dialling long distance. However, I do remember dialling Rebel's board a lot

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