Why I Fight Ebay SOA S3 Bootleggers.

OK, I admit it, back in the days of vinyl, I was a bit of a pirate in that I recorded music from radio onto tape. First reel to reel, then cassette. I download on Youtube the songs I like, cause let's face it, buying music is expensive. As a kid, I had little money, my allowance went to school lunch, church offering, piano lessons. There was little left from allowance.

BUT, and this is an important BUT, I didn't sell that music to others for my own gain. Course, not everyone would like to hear a parent announce in the background that the cat just spit up again, or something like that during a song. That's one of the hazards of taping your own music. Margaret Cho had a delightful rant on that subject in one of of her shows, I'm sure it's on YouTube somewhere.

That's not the purpose of this blog. Ever since Season three of my favorite show, Sons of Anarchy ended in December, I waited to see how long it would take for the bootleggers to start sellin' the S3 DVDs, either from on line downloads or taken off air.

It didn't take long. At first, I contacted each and every seller to tell them that they were bein' naughty, as FXnet/Fox21/Sutterink wouldn't be releasin' the DVD set for S3 until closer to August or September when S4 debuts.

Some ignored me. A few told me to either go to Hell or do something physically impossible to myself, or to otherwise indulge in something pretty close to Tig territory. One or two were nice enough to say that their wares must be legal, as they're boxed and manufacturer wrapped. Yeah, and the condom didn't have a hole in it, right?

C'mon, people! Just because your wrapper has the FX networks logo on it, and has the picture from the SOA Iphone app, that doesn't make it legal and/or authorized and/or authentic.

So, instead of tryin' to deal directly with the sellers, I've become a rat. I report each and every one of the bootleggers to Ebay as purveyors of counterfeit/bootleg not released copyrighted material.

Sometimes, TPTB at Ebay shut 'em down in time. Sometimes they can't. The unfortunate thing is that as soon as they're shut down, they're back again. They're as stubborn as cockroaches.

So why do it? What do I get out of it?

Good question.

After all, it's not as if Mr. Sutter and FX don't have an array of lawyers available to them to do this kind fo thing. It's gotta be time consuming to do nothing but watch for bootleggers for a living and get 'em shut down.

I do it because Mr. Sutter, his cast and his crew work pretty damn hard to give the fans the ride of their lives for 13 weeks (26 if you count the rerun of the previous season before the next season) a year. They deserve every red cent from royalties of legitimate sales that they can get. Illegal sales of illegal products don't pay their bills, it goes straight into the sellers pockets. Don't tell me it doesn't.

So I fight the fuckin' bootleggers because it's my way of givin' back to the cast and the crew for the enjoyment they give me. It's a small thing that I do. After all, to the bootleggers, I'm just an annoying little fly that they hope to eventually squish with the swatter. But flies can be pesky things, and I intend to be their worst nightmare.

It's really a pain that there are people out there willing to take someone else's work, and make a living off it for themselves. It's not just the DVDs. Ebay is full of peopel who are making money off SOA, Sutter, and the cast/crew with jewelery, Tshirts, Watches, etc. The cast/crew, the people whose ideas and or likenesses give life to the show, are being used to line someone else's nests without a thought to the creative genuises. That's what is not fair. If I could, I'd fight each and every one. Fighting the DVDs of S3 right now is the best I can do.

Everytime I report a bootlegger to Ebay, I tweet about it, so that those SOA people who are ono twitter will know that someone is watching out for them. It's my small way to repay them for the joy they give me.

And that's why I do it. Bootleggers beware. I'm watching you, and will report you when I find you. I'm a rat in this case, and proud of it!

Now I gotta go find my cheese.