Amazon continues to sell bootleg CDs from Depeche Mode, Sisters Of mercy, Front 242, …
Bootlegs are illegal across Europe and close to every online store has been avoiding to have them in their catalogue as the authorities were really cracking down on the phenomenon… with the grand exception of Amazon. That’s correct, in the German section of the mega online store you’ll find a ton of bootlegs from a lot of bands including for instance Depeche Mode of which the following titles we have been able to find back (if you don’t believe us, check the links): “Music For The Masses-REMIXES
“, “Black Celebration-REMIXES“, “Violator-REMIXES“, “Violator-REMIXES II (20 ANV edition)“, “Songs Of Faith And Devotion-REMIXES SV“, “Playing The Angel-REMIXES“, “Sounds Of The Universe-REMIXES“, “Some Great Reward-REMIXES“, “Construction Time Again-REMIXES“, “A Broken Frame-REMIXES“, “Speak & Spell-REMIXES“, “Ultra-REMIXES“, “Exciter-REMIXES vol.2” and even “KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas LIVE 2005” or “The World We Live In And Live in Hamburg JAPAN CD“.
The origin of these Bootleg releases are mostly Estland and Russia plus a few direct sellers via Amazon’s second hand circuit. However, most offerings are factory sealed items included in Amazon’s regular offering. It’s rather weird that Amazon is carrying these releases which would get any other shop owner some jail time and a huge fine. Not so for Amazon which continues to sell these items in huge quantities.
And it’s not just limited to Depeche Mode, we also found bootlegs from The Sisters Of Mercy (“Amphetamine (live, Chicago 91)“, “Bei Mir Bist Du Schon Live in Hildesheim 12/8/2000“, “Live in Amsterdam 1984 – Clear Vinyl. The Sister of Mercy Stereo“), Front 242 (“Parted Tragedy (Live 1989)“, “Kampfbereit (live, 1985)“, “Live Target“) and so on.
Amazon didn’t answer any of our requests for further information on why it’s platform was distributing this kind of material. To be continued…
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