this post was submitted on 23 May 2026
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Piracy: ꜱᴀɪʟ ᴛʜᴇ ʜɪɢʜ ꜱᴇᴀꜱ

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Have you encountered VHS or Cassette piracy in the 80s? (piefed.social)
submitted 14 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago) by Shadow79@piefed.social to c/piracy@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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Like that infamous "ET" torrent in 1982 where it involved a "pirate" sneaking a huge JVC camcorder (with a VHS reel) recording the entire movie in theaters, given this was before DVD's existed (don't even ask about pirate bay, those weren't available yet). The same applies to "torrented" music, one would have a spare tape cassette recording the song played via the radio, that's how they torrented content back then if they can't afford an official copy.

Only millennials or Gen X who were kids back then would've encountered or witnessed VHS or Cassette "torrents" from either friends or family and often or not, piracy in the pre internet days was rife even before torrent sites were a thing. There are VHS "torrents" of TV shows or series (placing a camcorder which faces the TV screen with a spare reel recording the entire show (ads included), then used to fast forward upon replay.

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[–] reallyzen@lemmy.ml 1 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

One thing in "my" time was bootleg concert tapes ; I guess that hasn't changed, concerts are unique and fanatics would just buy it.

Quality was horrible.

[–] myrrh@ttrpg.network 2 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago) (1 children)

...ohmigosh, yeah, smuggling in the equipment, surreptitiously-recording, and cleaning up tapes afterward is a lost art in these days of ubiquitous phones and console recordings...

...i had a specially-modified trenchcoat i could break down my rig and hide parts in various seams and pockets to make it through venue-entry security patdowns, always a high-adrenaline moment!..

[–] reallyzen@lemmy.ml 1 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago) (1 children)

So cool, thanks for sharing! I believe it was sufficiently long ago that you shouldn't risk this or that body part over it: what did you bring? Nagra? Condenser mikes? i tried this once (it was otherwise my everyday carry) and it was shit. Top of the line at the time. Still shit recording.

[–] myrrh@ttrpg.network 2 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

...just cheap dynamics and a cassette recorder, disassembled and reassembled in the field: signal's so hot in live venues that the mic pretty much clips anyway, so i never lost too much sleep over it until cleaning things up back home with radio shack gear (when they sold respectable equipment)...