On Fri, 14 Nov 1997, Moeru wrote:

Also a lot of the fansubbers, and their various distributors are EXTREMELY
busy all the time, (they have lives as well you know!) and most can expect
to wait a few weeks up to a few months just to get their tapes!  I think
that the 'bootleggers' are doing a service to a lot of fans out there.  If
you get your tapes one way, and for free . . . that's fine.  But don't try
and deprive others of thier only way to get fansubs.

Deprive? No one is depriving anyone. I just think its pathetic to spend MORE
money on satisfactory copies when I can spend less on excellent copies and
enjoy the better translations. Compare the request and I'll tell you that

That would be true, had it been for the fact that all bootleggers used 
poor quality tapes and could not write accurate subtitles. But what makes 
you think that is the case? (Perhaps some CERTAIN bootleggers give poor 
quality products; that doesn't mean they all do.)

Hecto makes around $10 on every order. That's $10 more than they should be
making. Fansubs are free and always have been. They are used to spread an
anime, not make money off of it. Making an extra $1 is considered ok now
because of VCR upkeep but $10 is not acceptable. Bootleggers are not doing a
service for fans, they're ripping them off. I get more for my $20 than you
will requesting from a bootlegger.

Consider the time and effort the bootlegger is putting in.  They must
obtain the Japanese version tapes (which can take a bit of effort),
subtitle them (they may have to find someone who speaks Japanese), and
copy them every time someone wants one (which wears down the VCR, runs up
the power bill, and they can't use their VCR for anything else while
they're copying the tapes).

$10 would be a fair fee to ask for the service, considering all the work 
that goes into it. And $20 for 4 episodes is not a ripoff. Look at the 
$9.99 tapes of American cartoons that contain two TV episodes for 
example. That's the same cost per episode as the bootleggers charge. Now 
look at how much Viz Video charges...$30 or so for 2 episodes. THAT'S a 
ripoff.

PS.. . it's not cheap to make fansubs and copies of fansubs

you know . . . I think it takes a lot of something called . . . money.

I know its not cheap. Genlock, translator, LD, Source tape, tapes, shipping,
handling, etc. I used to be in a group. But, its a labor of love, not of $.
Understand that and you'll see where I come from

First of all, who's to say the bootleggers don't love anime? Perhaps they 
are anime fans looking to make a few extra $ off it.

Second of all, from the point of view of the buyer, IMHO the price, 
quality and amount of time it takes to get the tape is all that matters. 
If the bootleggers score good in this respect, great. (If not, don't buy 
from them. Its not like you're being forced to.)

Just my $0.02 on this subject.