My proud little kittens, it is that time of year when we can shout out loud, Were here, Were Queer and Were Daisys little kittens! Its also time for you to ask any of those questions that have been burning inside of you. All you have to do is send them to me at Dear.Daisy@sbcglobal.net or by USPS to BOI Magazine c/o Dear Daisy 3711 N. Ashland 2nd Floor Chicago, IL 60613. Now lets see what questions we have today.   Dear Daisy, It wasnt long after I found the Q&A article regarding the copying VHS to DVD when an article in the Suntimes came out (May 7, 2006) about the piracy going around the country. It looks as though what cannot be done with those blocked/blanked/guarded VHSs, can be done with CDs and DVDs. Somehow I believe all the units should have stayed records and films for movie projectors to start off with and theses stores and record companies and movie manufacturers wouldnt be loosing all this money to the bootleggers. You can be sure when the DuSable Museum Presents the African Caribbean Fest in Jackson Park you will find all kind of illegally made CDs and DVDs among dealers from near and far. What makes it so bad is those legit units mostly dont have a block. For the most part, to prevent the pirates from doing their thing (in addition to illegally made product from events and programs etc. youve never seen before and probably wasnt licensed to lease and release for retail). Some of the dealers will also turn up on the CTA El Red Line (some had the R Kelly sex tapes). Of course, its easy to tell the real from the fake, yet still, regardless of those anti-piracy warnings, there are people who have the equipment to move around the legit copies to produce their own and some retail stores take them as well as jokers selling them on the street. I wonder what thoughts/instincts you have on the subject. Signed, Derek At Beverly Dear Derek, First of all, there was a hole in your stationary (a used flier) and your envelope was a bank deposit envelope. I hope that was because you were so inspired and passionate about the fact that piracy is such a plague in our society. I am not sure if this is a result of greed or instant gratification. I was able to find an interesting story that hits close to home. the story is dated but justice was served. A few weeks ago, the movies Something's Gotta Give and Big Fish showed up in movie theaters everywhere. Shortly thereafter, bootlegged copies began showing up in the Internet. Not that there was anything unusual about that. Every time a new movie comes out, its bootlegged version immediately goes on sale. According to Hollywood estimates, piracy costs the movie industry some $3.5 billion in lost revenues every year. What is unusual about these two movies is that, this time, the person responsible for pirating the movies and uploading them to the Internet has been caught. For the first time ever, someone has been charged with bootlegging screener tapes. The man, Russell W. Sprague, 51, just happens to be an electrician from the Chicago suburb of Homewood, Illinois. As long as there are laws, they will be broken.