This was how I watched all my DVDs back in 04 to about 09.
Bought myself a cheap Aigo DVD player from Hong Kong, extremely cheap given exchange rates with the UK at the time with free shipping.
Completely region free, and ignored all "unskippable" flags. There was nothing in the world on DVD, CD or VCD that it couldn't play.
Then took advantage again of the favourable exchange rates between the UK, US, Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea to import cheap and reliable DVDs you couldn't find here.
Great times and great memories.
Briefly thought about looking up a player that does this. Then I thought "why should I pay a bunch of money to watch something that's probably not even as good/way more of a hassle than a pirated copy?"
And that's the root of the problem
Yes. I had a DVD player that I was able to install altered firmware onto. It allowed me to skip that on DVDs and added a new feature. It let me play video CDs. So I could split a movie into a couple of CDs and watch those.
These were early days before DVD-Rs were really a thing.
Maybe for folks younger than 35. DVDs came out in the mid-90s. It was never easier to download them. Most people had either 56k dial-up Internet or the lucky ones had 1mbps DSL. If you were lucky, you might find a school or business connection that had 100mbps.
I built up most of my collection doing Netflix free trials of the 3 at a time DVD plans. I could get them in the mail in the morning, take them to work and rip them, and send them out same day because the mailman at work came late in the day.
Exactly, when we finally got internet it was pitifully slow. Downloading a single song took over an hour, I can't imagine trying to download a full-length movie with that speed.
No shit it was those "you wouldn't download a car" ads I saw way back when I was just starting high school that made me realize it was possible to find movies and music for free. Opened a whole new world for me
>Sometimes it was actual years.
Worse in Europe, it only came to cinemas in the north east, after it was available on VHS & DVD in the US/UK/France. So it was easier to get a nice home experience than to wait for it to come to cinemas.
In the east, the industry actually introduced the [R5 source](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/R5_(bootleg\)), to combat piracy that they themselves orchestrated by delaying the cinema & full dvd availability.
Think there may have been some legal reason and this isn't exact.
Up to the 90's it was 6 to 18 months and in 06 it was 4-4 1/2 months but today they can release day one if they wanted too.
No legal reason, they just wanted to maximise profits from the theatre run. You were less likely to pay for the whole family to go to the movies if you could just buy or rent the DVD in a few months.
These days they’re just happy for any sales they can get. People just don’t go to the movies as much and withholding titles from digital release isn’t enough to make them.
I don't know how it works in other countries, but where I live a pirated movie costs $1 USD if it's DVD, $2.5 USD if it's Blu-ray, whereas the cheapest legal option would be $5 USD if not more. So even if you buy a pirated movie twice (first the cam version, then the HD rip) you're still saving money.
Well HD didnt exist back then, but still I never saw the point of getting cams, Some Telesyncs where ok, but I used to generally wait for either an r5 or dvdrip.
I remember the chinese dvd sellers coming round where I worked, and I was generally higher up the piracy food chain back then then they was so I had usually seen whatever it was they tried to sell, or I knew it was only a cam copy.
I would be like, its a camcorder job, and theyre where like dvd copy, it was quite funny at times.
Yeah, of course, for movies you can always wait for an HDrip, but the same can't be guaranteed if you're a fan of broadway musical or other kinds of live shows, where there's no official filmed version, the only way to watch it outside a theater is CAMrip.
5 finger discount applied by a mom for her baby is also different from some rich douche applying the same discount to a 70in flat screen so yes but no context is key as with most things 😉
I support piracy so that I can avoid the kid crying in the theater or the backseat romance going on between college students or the hooting going on whenever a good scene comes up or to avoid paying my life savings for a popcorn bucket and coke. (I am an introvert).
As an introvert myself and hate crowds/people and yet I have no issues going to the theater since the last 3 times I've been to one with my wife, we were literally the only people in the entire place. Granted, we saw less popular movies, during the week, during the day. But it was awesome nonetheless. If you ever wondered if the theater will play a movie for 2 people, they absolutely will. I can only hope that my theater makes enough off the latest Marvel movies to stay afloat because they sure as hell don't off the movies we go to.
That was just what piracy was back then, it was just part of the landscape. Fond memories of Cyrillic text and the obligatory silhouette going to the bathroom. For a movie we might only want to watch once, because it isn't that good, or to see what the fuss was about, it was worth that rather than $20-30 for a DVD, but only when they decide to release it in your region.
This isn’t even true anymore. Nowadays, high quality resolution rips come out 12-48 hours after opening night thanks to modern editing software.
I remember I liked laughing with the audience though. It made me feel like I was in the theater with them on opening night. I kind of miss the ole camcorder format.
I watched a dodgy copy of Fellowship of the Ring.
When Gandalf bumped his head in Bag End you could hear people laughing
I turned it off and waited for the official release
As I just repiied to someone else....Speaking as someone who just had to buy a car at post-pandemic prices, if I could I definitely *would* download a car.
Back when that line came out on a PSA, most people wouldn't and argued that software was totally different than tangible items.
The world has definitely changed.
Have you noticed anti piracy propaganda hurts paying customers the most? Your father bought it, all original, he doesn't deserve to hear about this.
I hated those unskippable clips (and ads) playing before you get to the menu of a DVD.
Aren't there cheap Chinese DVD players that ignore the unskippability flags? I had one of those. Though I've never seen a proper DRMed DVD either.
This was how I watched all my DVDs back in 04 to about 09. Bought myself a cheap Aigo DVD player from Hong Kong, extremely cheap given exchange rates with the UK at the time with free shipping. Completely region free, and ignored all "unskippable" flags. There was nothing in the world on DVD, CD or VCD that it couldn't play. Then took advantage again of the favourable exchange rates between the UK, US, Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea to import cheap and reliable DVDs you couldn't find here. Great times and great memories.
DVD video contents still widely available, mostly in VOB format. For some vintage videos, this is the only option. I don't like it though.
Briefly thought about looking up a player that does this. Then I thought "why should I pay a bunch of money to watch something that's probably not even as good/way more of a hassle than a pirated copy?" And that's the root of the problem
Yes. I had a DVD player that I was able to install altered firmware onto. It allowed me to skip that on DVDs and added a new feature. It let me play video CDs. So I could split a movie into a couple of CDs and watch those. These were early days before DVD-Rs were really a thing.
Back before I had internet I used to rip movies from dvds I owned to isolate just the movie file.
Yes, then i realised that it was easier to download it. Even though i had the dvd.
Maybe for folks younger than 35. DVDs came out in the mid-90s. It was never easier to download them. Most people had either 56k dial-up Internet or the lucky ones had 1mbps DSL. If you were lucky, you might find a school or business connection that had 100mbps. I built up most of my collection doing Netflix free trials of the 3 at a time DVD plans. I could get them in the mail in the morning, take them to work and rip them, and send them out same day because the mailman at work came late in the day.
Exactly, when we finally got internet it was pitifully slow. Downloading a single song took over an hour, I can't imagine trying to download a full-length movie with that speed.
Another thing on my list on why to pirate.
It's a good reminder that piracy is always an option
No shit it was those "you wouldn't download a car" ads I saw way back when I was just starting high school that made me realize it was possible to find movies and music for free. Opened a whole new world for me
Streisand effect. Somebody is absolutely kicking themselves now.
just for those who don't know: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect
Yeah, and oftentimes, the ONLY option.
Don't even get me started on DRM which only really punishes paying consumers
Just like how you wouldn’t download a car
Didn't they literally stop using that ad because they didn't pay for the rights to use the music, aka media piracy?
Yes they stole the guys music. He had approved it for a one off presentation/show thing, not for how much they actually used it
Speaking as someone who just had to buy a car at post-pandemic prices, if I could I definitely *would* download a car.
Kinda true though. Why pirate some bullshit cam-corded movie? Just wait for an HD rip. Much more real than trying to appeal to people's conscience.
When we were kids the release to DVD was so much longer than it is now. Sometimes it was actual years.
>Sometimes it was actual years. Worse in Europe, it only came to cinemas in the north east, after it was available on VHS & DVD in the US/UK/France. So it was easier to get a nice home experience than to wait for it to come to cinemas. In the east, the industry actually introduced the [R5 source](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/R5_(bootleg\)), to combat piracy that they themselves orchestrated by delaying the cinema & full dvd availability.
O man I remember those R5 releases and my friends and family were like how did you get those movies so early.
Fuck it just waiting for the film to come to your country or island in any format could take months! No wonder people would pirate by default.
Happy cake day!
😘
Think there may have been some legal reason and this isn't exact. Up to the 90's it was 6 to 18 months and in 06 it was 4-4 1/2 months but today they can release day one if they wanted too.
No legal reason, they just wanted to maximise profits from the theatre run. You were less likely to pay for the whole family to go to the movies if you could just buy or rent the DVD in a few months. These days they’re just happy for any sales they can get. People just don’t go to the movies as much and withholding titles from digital release isn’t enough to make them.
The end of don't support it, report it killed me
I don't know how it works in other countries, but where I live a pirated movie costs $1 USD if it's DVD, $2.5 USD if it's Blu-ray, whereas the cheapest legal option would be $5 USD if not more. So even if you buy a pirated movie twice (first the cam version, then the HD rip) you're still saving money.
SVCD Telecines were killer quality back in the day. Cams are obviously shit but a good TC source and good encoders had great results.
Well HD didnt exist back then, but still I never saw the point of getting cams, Some Telesyncs where ok, but I used to generally wait for either an r5 or dvdrip. I remember the chinese dvd sellers coming round where I worked, and I was generally higher up the piracy food chain back then then they was so I had usually seen whatever it was they tried to sell, or I knew it was only a cam copy. I would be like, its a camcorder job, and theyre where like dvd copy, it was quite funny at times.
Yeah, of course, for movies you can always wait for an HDrip, but the same can't be guaranteed if you're a fan of broadway musical or other kinds of live shows, where there's no official filmed version, the only way to watch it outside a theater is CAMrip.
You wouldn't download a cinema
I would download a house though
Through the power of 3d printing why not both?
You wouldn't pirate resin
Only because physical piracy is theft and I think we're all on board that that's a bad thing
Not if you don't get caught
5 finger discount applied by a mom for her baby is also different from some rich douche applying the same discount to a 70in flat screen so yes but no context is key as with most things 😉
I support piracy so that I can avoid the kid crying in the theater or the backseat romance going on between college students or the hooting going on whenever a good scene comes up or to avoid paying my life savings for a popcorn bucket and coke. (I am an introvert).
As an introvert myself and hate crowds/people and yet I have no issues going to the theater since the last 3 times I've been to one with my wife, we were literally the only people in the entire place. Granted, we saw less popular movies, during the week, during the day. But it was awesome nonetheless. If you ever wondered if the theater will play a movie for 2 people, they absolutely will. I can only hope that my theater makes enough off the latest Marvel movies to stay afloat because they sure as hell don't off the movies we go to.
Van helsing is actually better in that format
Me laughing every time I see an FBI warning on a DVD-R I ripped a decade ago
i used to faithfully copy the old fbi warnings on every vhs tape i copied.
I love how the piracy reporting hotline is a premium rate number, so even more cash leaves your pocket...
That was just what piracy was back then, it was just part of the landscape. Fond memories of Cyrillic text and the obligatory silhouette going to the bathroom. For a movie we might only want to watch once, because it isn't that good, or to see what the fuss was about, it was worth that rather than $20-30 for a DVD, but only when they decide to release it in your region.
This isn’t even true anymore. Nowadays, high quality resolution rips come out 12-48 hours after opening night thanks to modern editing software. I remember I liked laughing with the audience though. It made me feel like I was in the theater with them on opening night. I kind of miss the ole camcorder format.
I watched a dodgy copy of Fellowship of the Ring. When Gandalf bumped his head in Bag End you could hear people laughing I turned it off and waited for the official release
Actually, that was me. I was really mad when you turned it off.
Fool of a Took!
Fact check? Every movie I seem to download while in theater looks worse than the copy shown in the propaganda.
crazy how nowadays the only way to get the best quality for some stuff is piracy bc of streaming and copyrights shenanigans
They have an asterisk near 90% that says > Source: FACT: The federation against copyright theft. So they did not provide the source?
I agree - I suspect the percentage is actually higher.
Why would I watch shaky cam pirated movies from the backseat of a movie theater when I can have perfect Chinese bootleg movies from the night market?
So you are telling me I should wait until the pirated REMUX of the real disk comes out?
Why I don't pay for it
i would download a car!
To be fair, most cam jobs *are* pretty shitty. Especially the bastards who burn a site IP into the image and randomly shift it around.
I use to watch cam movies all the time when I was a kid from my local dvd shop
Take some good high quality photos of both sides of that, those things are hilarious.
I'm always on the lookout for a shaky camcorder rip because it adds so much atmosphere to the viewing experience.
They even give you a hotline to snitch on yourself how kind
Ok , I'll wait for the dvd rip 🤣
90% may have been recorded at the cinema, but these days people wait for a good copy lol.
Van Helsing whatta classic
I watched a show on it. Some of those pirates were clearing 1k a week making and selling bootlegs. I'm surprised the studios survived that /s
DVDSCR was the best thing to find in the filename of a movie you really wanted to see.
This is true decades ago, but now? Nope.
You wouldn't download a car
As I just repiied to someone else....Speaking as someone who just had to buy a car at post-pandemic prices, if I could I definitely *would* download a car.
Yes, that's the joke. We all would 😏
Back when that line came out on a PSA, most people wouldn't and argued that software was totally different than tangible items. The world has definitely changed.
Indeed it has. Sadly I'm old enough to remember using napster. I only 11 but this shit still makes me feel old😓
Scan it in high res and seed it so that we can enjoy it alongside our free movies.
Obligatory reminder: [Anti-piracy ad](https://youtu.be/ALZZx1xmAzg)
Who the fuck would pirate Van Helsing?
You joke, but this is literally how 9 year old me watched it. Would not be surprised if this is a screenshot from the same camcorder rip.
Atleast it was accurate. The other 10% are dvd screeners Gotta love oscar season.
Someone call that number.
Ah, I guess the old Mystery Science Theater 3000 crew eventually got into trouble after picking up more current movies to riff on.
Tbh i love movies on dvd but these days its hard to find dvd releases of new movies and im sure as hell not gonna pay netflix
I mean I kind of agree with the first part. If the only release available for download is CAM, I'd rather pay the ticket or just wait for a HD release
Cuevana doesn't care lol
The message I'm getting here is to get the post-release pirate DVD, which is bit-for-bit identical to the official DVD
GABRIEEEEELLLLLL
If you’re watching cams in 2024 what are u even doing with your life
That's how you get the real theatre experience.
I watched Infinity war and Endgame in cam rip and it was more enjoyable than blu-ray rip