Have you encountered VHS or Cassette piracy in the 80s? (piefed.social)

submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week 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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[-] LavaPlanet@sh.itjust.works 7 points 6 days ago

I used to pirate on vhs myself, i figured out how to do it as a kid. I was probably 10 when i started. You didn't point a cam corder at the telly, you just piggybacked two VCRs, and recorded what you hired from the store, or taped from the telly show streaming from the antenna. Either paused at the adds or left it going. They actually appreciate people who used to record the telly shows, now, because back in the day they didn't save anything, they recorded over all those old shows on their big film reels, so some of those old pirated tapes are the only record left. Victimless crime, either way, though.

this post was submitted on 23 May 2026

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