CUSTOMS SEIZURE LOT DVDS - what to do next ?

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Please help anyone. I was a winner on a lot of 150 dvds from eBay a couple of month ago. The seller sent them and give me the tracking number. I waited for more than a month but the package hasn't arrived in way. I tried to track in USPS service and it says ' Inbound Into Customs '. I belived it have been seized by them.

I try to contact the seller again and ask whether they are real or unauthorised piece. He said they are unauthorised. Which mean bootleg or pirated movies ?

Damn it !...What should I do , please help !

I am worry if the customs take legal action against me and further to FBI investigation .

Will they fine , jail , or else against me or the seller?

-- anthony (freakyman@aol.com), December 02, 2002

Answers

hi, dont panic,is it a first offence of haveing bootleg material siezed? you should have had a letter sent to you,saying that the goods have been siezed by them. all itll say is blah blah siezed and found to be counterfiet,and shall be destroyed. then itll state that you can try to get them through court etc etc first time offences never or very seldom get action taken against them. i know this as i had movies siezed,although siezures are not to common now as the packages only usualy get an x ray as they are going through. but realy its nothing to worry about

-- movie man (gjpa34@hotmail.com), December 02, 2002.

thanks for your respond. this is the first time i buy those DVD from eBay from ASIA seller . I am doubt if they fine or jail me. How many pieces you bouhgt before ? Is it in large volume? Now i'm talking about 150. I am abit worried.

Why people is making Region Zero DVD where it doesnt exit as i know.

-- anthony (freakyman@aol.com), December 03, 2002.


You're not going to jail and you won't get fined, but you're not going to get your DVDs either. If you haven't done so, I suggest you read my answer to your other post on this subject. REMEMBER - if you live in the USA and you order more than a handful of titles at once, you are begging US Customs to look at your shipment. I have never ordered more than 3 DVDs or VCDs at any time and never had one seized by Customs. Remember too that US Customs operates on a "guilty until proven innocent" policy and you will have to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that your merchandise is legit to get it back. From what you have said, since you bought them from a dealer in Asia, they are not legit. You are not going to jail, you are not going to be fined, and they are not going after your seller, although they might tell the authorities where your seller lives that he is selling a lot of bootleg DVDs. Whether that person's government cares enough to go after him or not remains to be seen. You're also not getting your money back. I can not stress enough that when you buy any CDs, DVDs, VCDs, etc. from overseas that if you buy more than a handful at once, you run the risk of US customs intercepting your package and confiscating it. What customs does in other countries, I don't know. Perhaps, say, in Canada they don't care if you buy 150 DVDs from Asia. Who knows? In the US, the more you buy at once, the more likely US Customs is to seize it. Again, remember that people have had US Customs seize legitimate merchandise as being "bootleg" simply because it was bought it large quantities.

Region 0 DVDs do exist. Many Hong Kong DVDs are region 0 - no region protection. I have also heard of Russian DVDs that are region 0. DVD bootlegs are region 0 also. US companies don't make region 0 DVDs because of greed. Region 0 DVDs are made in foreign countries where there is interest in selling as many DVDs as possible around the world and it doesn't make economic sense to release a DVD in each of the 6 regions. These DVDs are typically made by companies with limited budgets who can't afford the cost of pressing 6 different region protected versions of their discs, so they make one run at region 0 and let anyone who wants it be able to buy it and play it.

-- Root (root@yahoo.moc), December 04, 2002.


i have had the saim thing happen to me in britain over a bulk deel ov vcd/dvd the best thing to do is to pay by credit card what i do is order it at the beggining of the month or just after your credit card statment comes in then if they have not come by the next statment then i unauthorise the payment then get all or most (a small admin fee usually about £2 ($3.50) then i have my money back i also stock a wide range of vcds most of them have been realeased in the shops now but i do have (backup vertions) of die another day and harry potter 2 whick id be willing to give to anyone as long as they pay for postage and the disks around £5 or $7.50 hope this is usefull 2 someone visit my website www.thebackupshop.co.uk bye

-- david smith (davidfaylerwick@msn.com), December 06, 2002.

Question for David Smith-- how can you legitimatly own a “back-up” (under fair use provisions) of Die Another Day and Harry Potter 2? Aren’t you violating your own provisions for purchasing media from you?

-- No One (no@one.com), December 06, 2002.


Questions on backups and originals -- email "info@dvdcity.cjb.net" I have gotten my gear off this site. Never had a problem with customs before. Never go on EBay to buy stuff. You will get caught as the cops monitor ebay a whole lot. There aren't too many auction sites left running. -Jess

-- Jessy. (d_on_the_top@msn.com), December 27, 2003.

Hi guys,

You guys should try www.on9movie.com. They will reship your dvds if there is any seized by your local custom...

-- ken (buz688@yahoo.com), July 08, 2004.


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