B5 Tape Fraud, from jms

[B5JMS Poster]

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From: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
Date: 7 Nov 1997 12:33:18 -0500
Lines: 45

A number of folks have been spammed by a series of notes from a group called
 VulcanEntr at aol.com offering tapes of B5 bloopers and rarities.  Under any
 circumstances, NO ONE has been licensed or authorized to sell ANY B5 bloopers,
 extracts, excerpts or interviews, anywhere on the planet.  (And this goes for
 the B5 electronic press kit, which is specifically denoted as freeware and
 it's illegal to sell them.)  If you see these tapes for sale ANYwhere, be
 advised that you are dealing with stolen goods.

Back to VulcanEntr...it was brought to their attention by a fan that they did
 not have the rights to sell these tapes...they replied to the fan that they
 DID have the rights, and had verified this with the B5 production office; even
 had a convention organizer send a similar note, both threatening the fan
 slander suits for such statements (that they were bootleggers).  The
 convention organizer, Jon Bernam, of JD Productions, said that he had received
 a copy of a letter from B5 to Vulcan Entr. giving them the rights to sell this
 material.

All this was forwarded on to me...and I then contacted them and in very short
 order, VulcanEntr said that they never, ever at any time had any B5 tapes,
 that a couple of part-time employees had misused their account to put out
 these notes offering these items for sale...although Bernam stated that these
 tapes had been on a table at his convention....

VulcanEntr said they never had any knowledge of any of this, so how then did
 Bernam get a copy of a letter supposedly authorizing this?

I think the operative phrase here is, "duck and cover."  You'd think they would
 at least get their stories straight.

So consider this a fact-finding and weasel-hunting expedition.  If you ordered
 a tape from VulcanEntr, and that check has been cashed, then if Vulcan Entr.
 is correct and these tapes never existed...that's mail fraud.  If you DID get
 a copy of these tapes, it's piracy and in the purview of the FBI.

Obviously, I would prefer to continue going straight to the source for my
 answers here, but overnight BOTH parties canceled their AOL accounts and have
 vanished from sight.

Suffice to say that any information on this situation will be very much
 appreciated.  So that we can arrive at all the facts.  Meanwhile, the moral is
 to stay clear of video pirates and bootleggers.

jms

 jms
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