San Francisco man busted for stash of 50,000 pirated DVDs

Santa Clara County police arrested a 27-year-old "entrepreneur" with roughly 50,000 pirated DVDs stashed. The estimated street value of the collection adds up to $250k, and the movies naturally included titles currently in theaters -- including the critically acclaimed "Alvin and the Chipmunks." Police found the stash thanks to a 911 hang up at the man's home, and currently have him sitting in jail while everybody waits for the MPAA to redouble its consumer education efforts on this menace to society -- we're going to run out of plastic, people.

[Thanks, Paul B]

[Andrew @ Jan 8th 2008 5:36PM]

So, the real question is, was he distributing the pirated material?

[Andrew Jones @ Jan 8th 2008 7:01PM]

Am I the only one who's wondering how 50,000 DVDs add up to a $250k "street value"? I mean - I don't believe I've EVER paid $50 for a DVD (unless they're DVD-ROMs, and even then they'd have to be XBox 360 titles in order to be even marginally below their retail price).

[bob sakamano @ Jan 8th 2008 7:12PM]

50000 * 5 = 250,000

not sure what kind of calculator you were using to come up with the $50 per DVD calculation. i think it just a classic example of thinking you got something, when you dont. ive done it before many times, its ok.

[carl @ Jan 8th 2008 7:13PM]

Recalculate. 50,000 x 5 = 250k

[Flashpoint @ Jan 8th 2008 7:14PM]

Here in NYC, cops rarely hassle people walking around selling bootlegs out of their bags. Nowadays, we've got lots of Chinese women walking around peddling em - good copies too.

Cops will usually let you got if you let them take WHATEVER THEY WANT out of the bag.

[derX @ Jan 8th 2008 8:18PM]

"Alvin and the Chipmunks"?

He deserves it.

[Reader @ Jan 9th 2008 6:56PM]

Were you the "too cool for school" kid back in the day?

[Das @ Jan 8th 2008 5:41PM]

Was the critically acclaimed part...
was it a joke?

[BigD145 @ Jan 8th 2008 5:54PM]

I certainly hope so.

[Kattleox @ Jan 8th 2008 6:25PM]

It was best identified as "Pure hell." by Tom Robey of The Daily Telegraph. That is critical acclaim, no? Very critical, indeed.

[TheWakeUpCall @ Jan 8th 2008 5:44PM]

haha $250K in street value is a lot! I bet the studios are working out that he would have payed multimillions if he had bought those all legally (which he would have done if he hadn't got them pirated, obviously :| ) and therefore they have lost millions of dollars from this guy.

[OneLove @ Jan 9th 2008 12:00PM]

and that doesn't even include the WGA cut.

[macona @ Jan 8th 2008 5:47PM]

Real question is how they found this. If it was found because of the 911 call and not for a specific search warrant for this it may be non-admissible. At least thats what happened here in portland when a trailblazer was caught with pot when they searched his house for a alarm going off.

Then again, what do I know?

[SteveMB @ Jan 8th 2008 5:51PM]

Think the people that bought these movies would actually pay full price for a movie?

[Izzy @ Jan 8th 2008 6:38PM]

Most places allow for entry without a warrant for disconnected 911's or hang ups. Then the "plain view" rule comes into affect. They can't "search" for illegal activity, but if its in the middle of the living room it would be admissable. once they see it in the living room then they can get a warrant to actually search the house.

[hemmy @ Jan 8th 2008 5:49PM]

This guy is toast

[Brendan @ Jan 8th 2008 5:56PM]

post/av

[paul34 @ Jan 8th 2008 5:53PM]

christmas christmas time is here, time is here...

[Paulie Mafia @ Jan 8th 2008 6:00PM]

I wouldn't buy a fake copy of Alvin and the Chipmunks let alone a real one! Heck I wouldn't even bother downloading it..

[Deb @ Jan 8th 2008 6:01PM]

Was it Jerry Seinfeld?

[Ed @ Jan 8th 2008 6:01PM]

San Francisco is about 70 miles north of San Martin and isn't even in Santa Clara county btw. :)

[Dan @ Jan 8th 2008 6:05PM]

San Francisco is not in Santa Clara County, aka Silicon Valley. Might was well call everything in California as being in L.A. ?

I get the impression from East Coasters that Cali is shaped like a circle with L.A. in the center cuz everything Cal is in reference to L.A..

[diulei @ Jan 8th 2008 6:15PM]

Well, Santa Clara / San Jose / Silicon Valley are in the "San Francisco" metro region, so I could see that.

And it's not like us west coast people aren't guilty of it either. Most of the people I meet think anything Chicago and east is the "east coast". And everything else is just a big blur with cows and fields.

[jdang @ Jan 8th 2008 6:21PM]

It could be that he was a San Francisco man that had an operation located in Santa Clara county ... couldn't it?

[Brian @ Jan 8th 2008 6:28PM]

My thoughts exactly. San Jose, not San Francisco, is the largest city in the Bay Area.

South Bay feels quite different from San Francisco, which feels quite different from Oakland.

[bob @ Jan 8th 2008 6:15PM]

I wonder what kind of feedbag this guy carries to the movies?

[hnkelley @ Jan 8th 2008 6:42PM]

OK, I really dislike MPAA, RIAA, **IA... But come on! 50,000 pirated DVDs?!? THAT is EXACTLY the guy the law should be going after, the a-holes who make life for us fair-use users difficult.

As for the question of admissibility in court mentioned above, the police responded to a 911-hag up, which gives them an emergency need to enter the premises. No illegal search & seizure here if the product was out in the open, and how could 50,000 DVDs NOT be out in the open! I don't have that much closet space.

[dhughes @ Jan 8th 2008 6:55PM]

A 911 hang-up call, yes so convenient.

I wonder if it really happened, if it can be verified and can such a call be made at another location and made to look like it came from his phone?

[michaelportent @ Jan 8th 2008 7:08PM]

I totally agree. Same thing applies to the RIAA - go after obvious pirates or people reselling music illegally. Not soccer moms or college students. That's just a waste of time and money.

[Audio-Geek (retired) @ Jan 8th 2008 11:35PM]

@dhughes:
Yes, this can be verified. You should see the computer systems at a 911 call center! The couple I've been to, each station had multiple PCs: call tracking; research and mapping; etc. All this is kept synced to a server, which itself has redundant systems. As the calls are recorded (including these hang-ups), the call data is tagged to it, which includes calling number, time, duration, which officer/operator answered and/or handled the call, which officer(s) responded, and any case number that may have been assigned. So, while I have the usual distrust of over-bearing authority, when they claim a 911 hang-up, I suspect it's usually true as it's too easy to verify whether or not it actually happened. Now, if they claim, "Oops, we lost that data," THEN I'd be highly concerned.

[optV @ Jan 8th 2008 6:48PM]

Imagine how much of an investment one would need to even BURN 50,000 DVDs. There is no way this guy was not distributing pirated DVDs.

[TIMMAH! @ Jan 8th 2008 6:48PM]

So that's what happened to those 50,000 copies of "Gigli"...

[Eh @ Jan 8th 2008 6:48PM]

Now the guy is going to miss the Death Blow

[bob sakamano @ Jan 8th 2008 7:13PM]

eh,

best comment ive ever seen on engadget

[bob sakamano @ Jan 8th 2008 7:12PM]

isnt this picture of jerry seinfeld technically pirated?

BAD ENGADGET!!! BADDDDDD

[lilfish @ Jan 8th 2008 7:36PM]

Keep up with the good work boys. Da bay shall rule!!!!

[Patrick @ Jan 8th 2008 7:38PM]

Even assuming no cases, just cake boxes, assuming 50 pack size of 6" cube, that's 5'x5'x5'. Ok, they're a little shorter than 6", but wow, that's one big chunk of disc. With DVD cases it's be huuuuuge. Must have quite an ebay store going on.

[Slimnod @ Jan 8th 2008 7:49PM]

Hey, It's part of his culture. How dare you judge him, hypocrites.

[Sirocco @ Jan 8th 2008 7:50PM]

How does a 911 hangup lead to the police searching a man's house? And did they taser him too, I'll bet?

[Cru Jones @ Jan 9th 2008 4:32PM]

In Santa Clara County, officers have to respond to 911 disconnect/hangups no matter what. They probably showed up at his door, he opened it, they said is everything okay, he probably has some underage sweat shop going on there so the officers get permission to enter to check on their welfare and BOOM... in plain site is 50,000 pirated DVD's. I mean come on, how can 50,000 DVD's be in anything but plain site in most houses.

P.S. That's nothing. Just north of here, in Milpitas I think, a few months back they busted a ring and found 400,000 pirated DVD's.

[Cru Jones @ Jan 9th 2008 4:35PM]

Oh yeah, and Santa Clara County Deputies don't use tasers. They use sage guns. If you don't know what a sage gun is, look it up. They are WAY more fun than tasers.

[Sirocco @ Jan 9th 2008 6:54PM]

Cru, you say "he probably has some underage sweat shop going on there..". Come on, is that a likely cause for a search in this case? People just LOVE their DVDs. Imagine tasing the DVD's and they all melt into one big pile. Don't tase my DVD's, bro!

[wickedpheonix @ Jan 8th 2008 9:45PM]

In other news, manufacturers of blank DVD's rejoiced at very large bulk sales in certain areas of the country...

[Onefastgta @ Jan 8th 2008 10:18PM]

Guess ill be canceling my home phone now. ;)

[Rockarollr @ Jan 9th 2008 4:46PM]

aXXo?!? Is that you???

[Den Lim @ Jan 11th 2008 6:40AM]

Five dollars? Only US$1.25 here in our country.
Shipping must cost a lot.