How to spot pirated DVD's

Selling and buying pirated DVD's is illegal and people are getting really good at making the fakes look real. So how can you avoid getting scammed? I've recently purchased some DVD box sets off ebay and when they came in they didn't look right. The covers were the same pictures as those I would have bought in say Target or Walmart except the images were grainy and blurry. When I popped the disk's in to watch, the video quality was very low, less than that of regular TV. The vollume was very low as well so the TV had to be turned up very high before you could understand anything being said. My research confirmed that these DVD's were in fact fake. When I emailed the seller they wanted me to mail them back the DVD's so they could "investigate" such alligation. There was no mention of them issuing a refund. When I opened up a clam against the seller ebay "resolved" it by saying: "We let the seller know the item wasn't as described. The seller has offered you a full refund for the purchase price plus original shipping if you return the item. To get your refund, ship the item back to the seller. You will need to cover the cost of returning the item. Make sure you ship the item by Jan 17, 2013." Ebay made no comment on if the seller would continue to be allowed to sale these fradulant DVD's. And when you look up their policy it says they won't do anything until the seller has had many alligations against them. The seller contacted me with snarky remarks: "That's some serious allegations your pushing" "Seems to me that you just want to get this item for free and are throwing some bs towards me." "That is nice. You should also file a small claims court lawsuit and try to get extra $ for moral damages. Just giving you ideas for future. Just know that your cyber unit wont issue you with a refund." Now by this time I didn't care if I got a refund or not. It was more important that they be shut down. Once I had their address I was able to go on Craigslist and low and behold I found many many listings where they were selling pirated DVD's, including the ones I bought at the EXACT same price of $42.99. So how can you tell if the DVD's your buying or bought are fake?: 1) Look at the cover: The cover should have clear pictures and wording. They should be the same as if you were to buy it at say Target or Walmart. Misspelled words are a dead giveaway that the DVD is in fact a fake. Gritty images, matte paper and dull colors indicate that the cover was probably photocopied. The UPC on the back of the DVD case should only be black. If additional ink colors can be seen overlaid over the black in the UPC, or if the lines in the UPC are indistinct because of the bar code’s image being re-processed with a halftone screen over it, then it is most likely that the DVD case has been copied. *Don't even think about ordering a DVD that come without a case even if its supposedly been a previous rental because thats a very easy way to pass off a fake. 2) All store bought DVD's now days are plastic wraped and most come with security seals. If those are missing then its a fake. 3)The advertisement of DVD-9 is often thought to be associated with fake DVD’s because many official studio releases never advertise this distinction; it is counterfeit distributors who specify it in relation to quality to differentiate their products from lower-quality DVD-5 counterfeits. In general, any advertisement of “quality” is a red flag, as original releases rarely mention it. The exception here is some genuine Thai DVDs that do mention DVD-9 if they are also released as DVD-5 (DVD-9 is dual layer and as such often has more extra features). 4)Examine the DVD: If you can see through it very well, it is most likely not authentic, though this is not always the case. If the disk is blue, gold, purple, etc of the colors listed above, it is most likely not a mass-produced DVD. Hold the DVD up to the light and tilt it to one side. You may be able to see a well-known manufacturer’s name, such as Maxell. If the disc has such a name, then the DVD was a burnable disc, and the disc’s contents are counterfeit. 5)Put the DVD into your DVD drive. In Windows, click on My Computer, then click your player’s drive. It will give you the size of the disc. There should be close to 5 GB used on a single layer or more on a double layer (but this varies depending on running time). Then go through Windows Explorer and right click on various files stored on the DVD to check properties. Look for the creation date. If the DVD is out of print, for example, and the date is recent, something is not right. However, this will probably not work with Disney imported DVD’s with copy protection and results may be misleading. 6)If the spine of the DVD is very thin, and the case is opaque, it is probably fake *Most counterfeits tend to come from Asia. If you are considering purchasing from an auction and the seller is shipped from Asia, be wary. Look to see what else they are selling and eye the descriptions very carefully. It should be noted though that many vendors from Asia do sell genuine DVDs and it would be unfair (and also possibly illegal) to discriminate against sellers based upon geographic location alone. Ive recently recieved fakes from here in the USA *Complain to the seller. If it is a store or a business, contact them for a refund. If they refuse, file a report with the Better Business Bureau or your country’s equivalent. If it is a street vendor, report them to your local authorities. And if it is an online seller, such as at an auction site, report them to the coordinating party and leave negative feedback. You can also report a seller of counterfeits to the studio’s anti-piracy department. If you do purchase a counterfeit DVD from a major online auction, you could report it to the FBI if you live in the USA: it is a federal case, not a local one. Who to look out for: ebay seller: kristazarnssales krista zarns Just beware, if the price is too good to be true, its probably because your buying pirated DVD's