Disclaimer: while Star Wars-related bootlegging news interests many of our readers, theForce.net does not condone the unlicensed sale of Star Wars bootlegs.

Reader "Darth Venus" sent this in, regarding Episode I bootlegs:

Just wanted to let you know that this is THE HOTTEST thing in nyc right now..Dealers are sellin out in minutes ...i waited on a LINE to get it on 8th ave. The bootleg i've seen all over town is pretty good...very washed out though not much color..but the audio is very VERY good, even the box was nice..looks real!...I asked The guy how its been ..He said He gets about 50 then there gone in minutes...His pager was going OFF for requests on where do get it..as i walked down the street.people were walking up to me asking if i could it for them or point them in the right direction...was very surreal, He said that the word on tha street is that a BETTER quality copy is hitting soon..with the audio dubbed straight to tape instead of it just being recorded in the theater...all an all if u want it its there ,but its hard to find..The guy i asked said he wasnt puttin it out to display..but if u asked he'd sell it..IF HE HAS IT!...also I saw a few vcds in china town going for about 7-10 bucks..but everyone i talked to about it was VERY VERY shady about it, even to the point of pretending to not know english when i spoke about it..but when i bought a john woo film..PERFECT english ..ha!...feel free to post all this..

Reader RojBlake7 also sent in some information from the southern U.S.:

Wanted to let you know that Bootlegs have hit the south! I picked up near Atlanta GA and a friend of mine a little south found some! $10 each and not as bad looking as i would have thought

Also, Shannon Opiela sent in an alert that http://www.vcdvision.com is openly selling copies, and even sending soliciting email to increase sales.

Finally, reader "BathTub" pointed us to an online story here about an online MPEG version.