Whenever people talk about internet piracy I think of the bootleggers who would sell VHS tapes of movies on Washington Ave in South Philly. I never bought one, but would see the tapes at friend’s house. They were these really shitty quality videos, usually someone with a camcorder would sneak into a theater and tape the screen like it was a grade school soccer game. I don’t know how there was a robust market for those shitty videos, but those guys were always hustling. Before I left for college, I heard about some kind of big bust and those VHS tapes disappeared into vague childhood memories.

It wasn’t until a few years later I’d see small, Asian women hawking pirated DVDs from black plastic bags. The cycle began anew.