heavyharmonies

[crossposted elsewhere, so my apologies for some redundant content] I don't have anything against bootlegs or CDRs per se. They can be an excellent way to obtain out-of-print material (emphasis on "out-of-print") without breaking the bank. I've bought, sold, and traded countless boots and CDRs over the years. What I do object to is Ebay sellers, and more importantly, supposedly legitimate vendors passing off boots/CDRs as original and legitimate pressings. That's just wrong no matter how you slice it. If a buyer is informed that a disc is a boot or CDR and then knowingly still wants to purchase it because they want the music, that's great for all concerned. Why am I bitching about this? In the last week I received packages from two well-established online vendors, and BOTH orders contained bootlegs. The discs in question had been listed as regular releases in the catalogs. None of the usual giveaway phrases like "unofficial release", "fanclub release", "limiited promo", "reissue", etc. I'm not going to name names. I'm just surprised, since both vendors were ones that I had purchased from numerous times over the years. The discs in question: 1. BB Steal - On the Edge 2. Alien - S/T (1988 version) These were packaged identically, clearly from the same source. I have owned legitimate pressings of both in the past, so I knew right away these were phoney. Each has a slipcase mirroring the front cover and tray card, with full track listings on the edge. No barcodes. The print quality is subpar, with the graphics being overly dark and the colors dull. The manufacture of the pressed discs is subpar as well, with pressing anomalies throughout. I noticed that between the time I originally ordered the discs and when I received them and complained, that the vendor changed their website to call these "reissues". 3. Airkraft - Best of This one just pissed me off. This has got to be the absolutely WORST bootleg I've ever seen. I can make better in my living room. Cover is a single 2-sided sheet using low-resolution 72-dpi images, then run off on a Xerox copier. The disc itself is a computer-burned CDR, with text printed using a Primera Inscripta thermal CD printer. The vendor for the first two is making good on them, including my return shipping costs. I'm still waiting to hear back from the vendor for the third disc. I dont't mind bootlegs, but DAMNIT tell me beforehand so I can make an informed purchasing decision!!! -Dan P.S. I expect shit like this on Ebay, not from respected vendors.

It's like a train wreck... you know you should turn away... but you just can't.

"Gesundheit" -Dan

and the best part is I *still* don't know what he's talking about, what the problem was, or what fixed it... Full moon. Sun spots. Gremlins. Zemblans. Oy.

First, file a Buyer Complaint through PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cm...otections-buyer and make sure that you place in the complaint the auction number and that what you were sent was an illegal bootleg recorded on DVD-R. Next, file a Buyer Protection claim through Ebay: http://pages.ebay.com/help/tp/isgw-buyer-p...tion-steps.html Good luck! -Dan

Several questions to be answered... 1. Sorry Curtis, but the fact that media is unbranded has absolutely NO correlation to quality. If you do your research properly, unbranded media is just as good as name brand, but usually at a much lower cost. Unbranded CDR and DVDR media can be purchased in spindles of 100 from the following vendors (all of whom I've personally used in the past): http://www.meritline.com http://www.rima.com http://www.supermediastore.com http://www.americal.com http://www.cdrom2go.com As to which unbranded media to buy, there are many options, and the choice depends on your purpose. I use a Primera Inscripta thermal CD printer, so I have to buy compatible media. If you have a Signature CD inkjet printer, then there are specific types of media you have to use with it. If you're not planning to do any on-disc printing, then pretty much anything will work - make sure the media is certified for the burning speed you plan to use. I've always liked the "diamond" bottom discs, meaning silver bottom, since they look less like a CDR. I avoid labels like the plague -- over time they can peel/flake off and potentially ruin the player they are in when it happens. IMO, using a fine-tipped Sharpie to hand label the CDR is preferable to a stick-on label. 2. Artwork templates. I use Adobe PageMaker, since I have templates for front/back artwork that I made up long ago, but Illustrator, InDesign, QuarkXpress, Freehand, any one will do. You can download templates for a zillion different CD and DVD booklets, digipaks, cases, and labels from http://www.discmakers.com/templates/music/index.asp . You have to register to gain acess, but they are free. They also have a font for both PC and Mac that has some of the industry logos (Dolby, DVD Audio, DDD, ADD, etc.) that you can download and install. HTH... -Dan

Listening to the two CDs this afternoon. Phenomenal '80s AOR. I usually don't like to tout CDs that our resident nutjob Freaky Freddy goes gaga over, but these really are gems. I think I like Righteous Anger just a tad better than Suspicious Heart, but both are worth seeking out if you can find them. A copy of "Righteous Anger" just went for $61.00 on the bay! You used to be able to find both discs easily in the $15-20 range. Crazy.

I didn't think my post was antagonistic whatsoever....my reply to Genr8tr was an analogy to sellers who use innaccurate descriptions and a general agreement about where those kinds of sellers sit in my book. My reply to Koogles was merited as well...as he has spewed forth through questioning that there IS a bootlegging operation going on...and that he would then question the label's legitimacy. That's not right. If anything....Koogles is spouting off with rhetoric again.... but...you are the boss...and I'll live by your decisions, Dan....but you must be fair in your 'pruning'..... It was easier to delete posts that referred to previous posts than to try and leave parts of posts whole. So, if you were responding to a post that got pruned, yours got pruned as well. I think next time I'll just delete the whole thread rather than trying to leave anything intact. -Dan

Thread pruned of antagonistic posts on both sides. -Dan

Supply and demand. I'll admit that I sometimes blanch at PJ's prices, but then again I'm a notorious cheapskate. If indeed those prices are too high, the discs won't sell, and PJ will be forced to lower them. If you don't see the prices coming down, that means that the discs are selling and people are willing to pay those seemingly high prices... -Dan

I'm talking about the "new" reality TV stuff: Survivor Bachelor Trading Spouses Fear Factor Who's Your Daddy? The Apprentice The Contender Roommates from the ButtPlanet Galaxy It seems like you can't swing a dead cat without hitting some new contrived phoney "nothing real about it" reality TV show. I don't get the allure. I hate them. I think they're mindless drivel. The term "reality TV" is a misnomer - they're scripted and people are manipulated by the situations they are put in. IMO there are only a few true "reality" TV shows - Cops, which is the original reality TV show, and World's Scariest Police Chases. The biggest difference between the latter and the former is that in the latter, events and situations are not being created solely for the camera. The camera may be capturing events as they unfold, but by and large the participants do not know they are on film. Reality TV? A trend that must die...

No, I'm going to let this play out. While there has been some tit-for-tat between PJ and Sam, I'm not seeing the venom that graced the initial exchanges on this board between Sam and everyone here. As a matter of fact, I'm surprised at how civil Sam is in responding. I honestly didn't think it was possible. Some observations: 1. Let's say that tomorrow we find out that the Surrender - S/T does in fact not legitimately exist. The only pressings that have ever been sold are bootlegs. Can anyone truly fault Sam for selling one for $$$$? Truth be known, apparently NO ONE knows what the status of this disc is, and copies exchange hands extremely rarely, but always for big bucks. Does that mean that anyone who has ever sold one was ripping people off? I don't think you can make that argument. Now, if he comes up with another one in the next few months, I think that raises questions... 2. I'll be honest, the "ok to sell used Russian CDs outside of Russia" approach doesn't ring entirely true, in my opinion. If there were only a few here and there, I'd buy it, but if a regular and consistent part of your auction inventory consists of Russian pressings, then I'm sorry, it goes beyond just selling used Russian CDs. Now, that being said, if all it takes, in the eyes of the law, to make a CD "used" and bypass any distribution limitations, is to simply remove shrinkwrap, then in my limited understanding, this is a loophole big enough to drive a truck through, but the problem is with the law. Is it ethical? Debatable... since you're technically just violating the "spirit" of the law, but not the law itself. I don't condone it, but I understand it. If this is in fact the case, I wish Sam would simply come out and say "Yes, I am importing Russian CDs, but technically they qualify as used CDs regardless of quantity, so I am not violating the law. If you have a problem, change the law." I don't like parsing things and the whole "depends what the meaning of the word 'is' is" approach. 3. I think doing a one-to-one comparison of PJ's and Sam's offerings, sales numbers, feedback ratings, etc. doesn't really do much good. I think that they do cater to different clientele, and frankly there's room for both. 4. I still maintain that whether someone wishes to engage in selling bootlegs, import pressings, whatever, is their own business (and here comes the important part) as long as the customer knows in advance what they are getting. It needs to be disclosed in the auction. If full and open disclosure means you risk being shut down by Ebay, then I guess it's time to find other material to sell. Better that than foisting off boots as legit pressings. I really think that is the crux of the matter when it comes to boots, CDRs, re-issues, etc. -- that information not being imparted in advance. Anyway, I'm rambling...

Well, in all fairness, most sellers use bulk listing software of some sort to upload and start their auctions en masse, rather than manually start them one by one. So, as fast as Ebay can list them, the auctions start -- and end -- at approximately the same time. Yes, you can schedule auctions to start at various times, but (1) that's a pain in the ass, and (2) scheduled auction times are an additional fee from Ebay. You should either make your bids in advance, instead of waiting for the ending time, or use a sniping service. I've been using esnipe.com for several years. Either way, I would not be blaming the seller... -Dan

I deleted the Vegasmetal vs. Kissmydisc thread. I initially thought about simply locking it, but then thought better... Nothing positive could come of it. I think that PJ was venting a bit too much at length, and also Sam shouldn't have called him out directly. I would ask, especially in this forum, to try to stick to facts pro/con rather than letting emotions run amok. Thanks, -Dan

:sun:

:king:

Always a fun time when new smilies are added: :batman: :bsflag:

I just have one thing to say... Non- Athletic Sport Centered Around Rednecks Just funnin'... I occasionally turn on racing when it's being broadcast in HD, but that's about it. -Dan

And the vote is unanimous... I have a very simple philosophy when it comes to Ebay transactions (over 1100 transactions and counting): 1. I only ever bid on auctions where PayPal is accepted. No PayPal? You don't get my business. 2. On any merchandise above $50, I make sure to pay via credit card through PayPal. Not bank account, not PayPal balance. That way I have 2 layers of security. 3. If I have not received my merchandise within 29 days, I file a complaint with PayPal (the limit is 30 days; if you wait longer than 30 days, PayPal's response is "sorry, there's nothing we can do"). I don't care what the excuse is from the seller, I file the claim. I can always cancel the claim after the fact. You have to protect yourself. 4. If PayPal cannot or will not do anything, I dispute the charge with my credit card company. What ends up happening is that PayPal ends up eating the cost rather than the fraudulent seller, but that is not my problem. 5. Do not be afraid to leave negative feedback. Yes, you may get a retaliatory negative because of it, but that's the price to be paid for keeping people honest - do it for other people who might get suckered by the same seller. Your problem is that you didn't file the claim before the 30-day limit... I know that you want to give people the benefit of the doubt, but you have to look after number one... or you'll be treated like number two. -Dan

Yes, but the problem arises for those who come through a common proxy (like AOL), since anyone could get routed through a given IP. Any random AOL user might get a banned message because of their proxy. A better idea is to ban not just a certain userID, but also the email address, which I have done... -Dan

The login RONNIE537 has been suspended indefinitely. -Dan

When I sold off my CD collection earlier this year, I first saved off the 300 or so rarest discs as 320kbps MP3s, so at the very least I'd have the music. I've got a 40GB iRiver that I have them all on, and since I'm sick to death of the radio (even XM is boring me at the moment), I've started listening through a lot of these discs at my day job. Today's gem that I completely forgot about: Witness - S/T (1988). Very polished female-fronted AOR. Good gang choruses with plenty of hooks. I'm not normally a huge fan of female-fronted acts (Within Temptation and Heart notwithstanding), but this is good stuff... -Dan

That item description would be sending up red flags left and right. It *could* mean an original, but it also could easily be a CDR. Has the person who won the high-priced one the week before posted positive feedback yet? If not, it's quite possible that *all* of them are CDR bootlegs. With a feedback rating of 12-0-1, if gets NARUed he hasn't ventured much. Keep your fingers crossed, but I don't like the looks of it... -Dan

FT-001 is actually an EP, entitled "South Melbourne". I think the title cut was an anthem or theme song for an Aussie soccer team (see artwork below). I have it in my CD singles collection: South Melbourne (pop mix) 5:18 South Melbourne (Greek Hellas mix) 5:08 South Melbourne (Power Rock mix) 5:14 Love Can Be Real (unplugged mix) 5:04 Can You Feel the Fire 4:40 South Melbourne (ole mix) 1:10 No clue as to year of issue. I also had the full-length "Silence of the Night" up until earlier this year when I sold off the bulk of my collection. Anecdote: The two Frozen Tears discs, as well as the ultra-rare Safire EP (which I still have) came to me in a trade with the infamous Jymmi Slang back in the early 1990s. I guess I'm one of the few people he didn't rip off... -Dan