this post was submitted on 23 May 2026
49 points (84.5% liked)

Piracy: ꜱᴀɪʟ ᴛʜᴇ ʜɪɢʜ ꜱᴇᴀꜱ

69501 readers
359 users here now

⚓ Dedicated to the discussion of digital piracy, including ethical problems and legal advancements.

Rules • Full Version

1. Posts must be related to the discussion of digital piracy

2. Don't request invites, trade, sell, or self-promote

3. Don't request or link to specific pirated titles, including DMs

4. Don't submit low-quality posts, be entitled, or harass others

Loot, Pillage, & Plunder

We heartily recommend visiting the free port of freemediaheckyeah (aka FMHY) while you sail the high seas, for all the freshest links the ocean has to offer.

📜 c/Piracy Wiki (Community Edition):

🏴‍☠️ Other communities

FUCK ADOBE!

Torrenting/P2P:

Gaming:

💰 Please help cover server costs.

Ko-Fi Liberapay
Ko-fi Liberapay

founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
db0@lemmy.dbzer0.com
Flatworm7591@lemmy.dbzer0.com
RandomLegend@lemmy.dbzer0.com
Andromxda@lemmy.dbzer0.com
CosmicTurtle0@lemmy.dbzer0.com
tenchiken@lemmy.dbzer0.com
unruffled@anarchist.nexus
49
Have you encountered VHS or Cassette piracy in the 80s? (piefed.social)
submitted 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) by Shadow79@piefed.social to c/piracy@lemmy.dbzer0.com
53 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

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.

(page 2) 7 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works 1 points 3 weeks ago

Yes. Is it too late to report it?

[–] Stormcrow@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 3 weeks ago

My cousin recorded roughly 8h of The Three Stooges using a VCR.

[–] Banzai51@midwest.social 1 points 2 weeks ago

Friends and I would record off the radio and trade cassettes all the time.

Usually to copy VHS you needed a two VCR setup. My friends and I weren't really into it, but we knew a couple of adults that were, and we suspected they swapped porn mainly.

The other bit of piracy we did was copying and swapping C64 floppy disks. The computer store in town rented C64 games (and other platforms) and the store owner was a family friend of one of my buddies. He'd supply us with the latest hot copy software as it was released, like Copy B, Copy C, and several others I can remember. So of course we rented tons of games and copied them. We became quite the dealers of our small C64 town group. But we never charged anything because it was mainly our friends.

[–] forestbeasts@pawb.social 1 points 3 weeks ago

Wanna feel old?

We weren't even born in the 80s! Or the 90s!

-- Frost

[–] Bebopalouie@lemmy.ca 1 points 2 weeks ago

I sort of remember that back in the 80’s we had 2 VCR’s, not sure if one was special but I don’t think so and we recorded a ton of porn for distribution for friends. Was pretty easy but the copies looked pretty nuclear and fuzzy.

[–] eleijeep@piefed.social 0 points 3 weeks ago

I could swear I’ve seen this exact thread before. 🤔

load more comments
view more: ‹ prev next ›