Busted: USPS Worker Steals over 2000 GameFly Games
Busted: USPS Worker Steals over 2000 GameFly Games
October 16, 2009
A United States Postal worker has admitted in federal court that he stole 2,200 videogames addressed to Philadelphia-area GameFly customers.
Reginald Johnson, 34, was busted as the result of a surveillance mission that used test mailings after reports of missing GameFly mailings in the area reports Philly.com. When federal agents swooped in on Johnson in September of 2008, they found a total of 160 GameFly mailers in his SUV along with a slew of other game merchandise and GameStop receipts.
Johnson, a mail processing clerk at the USPS processing and distribution center, was apparently trading the stolen games in to GameStop for store credit.
GameFly is currently embroiled in battle with the USPS over what it considers preferential treatment for Netflix and Blockbuster.
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Posted 03/21/10 at 10:12pm
Valdearg: They beat the parliamentary trick. The senate bill is officially law, pending the President's signature. Now they vote on the fixes to that bill, in the next 15 minutes or so.
Valdearg: They beat the parliamentary trick. The senate bill is officially law, pending the President's signature. Now they vote on the fixes to that bill, in the next 15 minutes or so.
Posted 03/21/10 at 10:04pm
gellymatos: Vald: No worries. I do it all the time. Trying to break the habit.
gellymatos: Vald: No worries. I do it all the time. Trying to break the habit.
Posted 03/21/10 at 10:01pm
Valdearg: @Gelly: Sorry for jumping to conclusions, LOL.. I guess I read your text in a depressed voice in my head. :D
Valdearg: @Gelly: Sorry for jumping to conclusions, LOL.. I guess I read your text in a depressed voice in my head. :D
Posted 03/21/10 at 10:00pm
Valdearg: I'm staying up late, watching CSPAN and MSNBC, and cheering each and every democrat victory.
Valdearg: I'm staying up late, watching CSPAN and MSNBC, and cheering each and every democrat victory.
Posted 03/21/10 at 10:00pm
Valdearg: Yes indeedy. Even Abortion rights got gutted. Obama's going to pass an EO ensuring no federal funds are used for abortions.
Valdearg: Yes indeedy. Even Abortion rights got gutted. Obama's going to pass an EO ensuring no federal funds are used for abortions.
Posted 03/21/10 at 09:59pm
gellymatos: Vald: Who said I didn't like it? I'd get a drink out if there wasn't anything where I am at.
gellymatos: Vald: Who said I didn't like it? I'd get a drink out if there wasn't anything where I am at.
Posted 03/21/10 at 09:59pm
gellymatos: Vald:Well, pretty good day, wouldn't you say?
gellymatos: Vald:Well, pretty good day, wouldn't you say?
Posted 03/21/10 at 09:58pm
Valdearg: Dont sound so depressed, Gelly. This bill will help people get healthcare, who can't now. It's a perfectly Christian idea.
Valdearg: Dont sound so depressed, Gelly. This bill will help people get healthcare, who can't now. It's a perfectly Christian idea.
Posted 03/21/10 at 09:57pm
gellymatos: Well, it's happened. The House Passed the Health Care Bill. Now things get interesting, to say the least.
gellymatos: Well, it's happened. The House Passed the Health Care Bill. Now things get interesting, to say the least.
Posted 03/21/10 at 09:56pm
Valdearg: YES WE CAN!!! YES WE CAN!!! MAJOR HCR Vote passed!! Assuming no idocy, we could see it as law TOMORROW!!!!!!
Valdearg: YES WE CAN!!! YES WE CAN!!! MAJOR HCR Vote passed!! Assuming no idocy, we could see it as law TOMORROW!!!!!!
Posted 03/21/10 at 06:23pm
Andrew Eisen: No, I think I'll stay safe and warm in my own little world where Provolone is king and that... other cheese... doesn't exist.
Andrew Eisen: No, I think I'll stay safe and warm in my own little world where Provolone is king and that... other cheese... doesn't exist.
Posted 03/21/10 at 06:22pm
JDKJ: I wish the Speaker would ask me for what purpose does the member rise.
JDKJ: I wish the Speaker would ask me for what purpose does the member rise.
Posted 03/21/10 at 06:18pm
JDKJ: Provolone?! Please! Try aged Blue Stilton. Also known as Zippy Ass-Crack Cheese.
JDKJ: Provolone?! Please! Try aged Blue Stilton. Also known as Zippy Ass-Crack Cheese.
Posted 03/21/10 at 06:13pm
Andrew Eisen: Nothing beats Provolone.
Andrew Eisen: Nothing beats Provolone.
Posted 03/21/10 at 06:11pm
JDKJ: Betcha my cheese beats your cheese.
JDKJ: Betcha my cheese beats your cheese.
Posted 03/21/10 at 06:09pm
Andrew Eisen: I don't know, I can count pretty high with my graphing calculator. It's a TI-86!
Andrew Eisen: I don't know, I can count pretty high with my graphing calculator. It's a TI-86!
Posted 03/21/10 at 06:07pm
JDKJ: There'll be more dead babies than you can count if the socialists succeed in passing that God-damned Obamacare!!
JDKJ: There'll be more dead babies than you can count if the socialists succeed in passing that God-damned Obamacare!!
Posted 03/21/10 at 06:04pm
Andrew Eisen: Hmm, top 10 child deaths in film. What a great blog post that would make! If I had a blog. And if that hadn't been done a million times before.
Andrew Eisen: Hmm, top 10 child deaths in film. What a great blog post that would make! If I had a blog. And if that hadn't been done a million times before.
Posted 03/21/10 at 06:03pm
JDKJ: Whoa! It's some rotten blue cheese, too.
JDKJ: Whoa! It's some rotten blue cheese, too.
Posted 03/21/10 at 06:00pm
JDKJ: *sighs and smiles* I just cut some cheese.
JDKJ: *sighs and smiles* I just cut some cheese.
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Comments
He wasn't even making money on this! STORE CREDIT??? So, you're going to steal, with the possibility of jail, so you can...make enough store credit to buy a copy of Uncharted 2? Genius...
I think the Fable 2 / Gears 2 theft was better, as it was being done at the manufacturing plant.
The store credit does have a cash value. Which he could discount and then sell to someone else who does want to use it to buy a copy of Uncharted 2. He may actually come out further ahead that way than he would hawking his stolen merchandise on a street corner. And unless he's some sort of complusive video game collector, what's his need for store credit on over 2000 video games if not for the purpose of selling those store credits on a black market?
Jeez, dude. A game or two, here and there, you probably would have gotten away with. But 2200? What an idiot.
These are the same types of dudes who will make up the buerocracy running health care soon too.
Just sayin'...
Bullshit. What they gonna do, steal plasters?
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I LIKE the fence. I get 2 groups to laugh at then.
They'll steal anything that ain't nailed to the floor.
USPS maybe. But what's an office clerk gonna steal, forms? Steal free health-care from a system set up to provide free health-care?
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I LIKE the fence. I get 2 groups to laugh at then.
How about stealing money out of people's bank accounts, which, under the last solid health care 'reform' bill I saw, would be available to those pencil pushers. How about selling identities and credit card information? There's a myriad of options for thievery in this new system, and when you consider the people that'll be running it, its not very reassuring.
People like you?
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I LIKE the fence. I get 2 groups to laugh at then.
There is 'a myriad of options for thievery' inherient in any given system.
Yeah,but as long as its YOUR system, it doesnt matter.
At least thats how corporate America views things.
So Im guessing GameStop has to give those 2200 games back now... Possibly related to their CEO dumping millions in stock?
That would be reasonable, and it is very likely that GameFly and/or GameStop has a record of all the games that were stolen, so this shouldn't take too long.
"That's not ironic. That's justice."
THIS is stealing, not piracy.
criadordejogos.wordpress.com
Care to take a shot at explaining the difference? Most content providers insist there is none.
----
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http://www.thesupersoldiers.com
I'm not supporting that statement, but I can give a shot at what those people would call the difference between pirating and stealing.
Pirating: Stealing with the intent of simply using the content (playing the game) for their own benefit (enjoyment) without compensating the maker.
"Stealing" (in this case): Stealing with the expectancy to do two-fold economic damage, without compensating the maker AND the retailer by selling it to turn a profit for himself. Basically, a Trafficker. Maker > stealer > chump who buys bootleg. The "Pirate" stops at stealer.
Of course and based on the difference you draw between "pirate" and "stealer," there's absolutely no difference from the maker's perspective. In the case of both, the maker is left uncompensated.
Although the same could be said for a second-hand sale....
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I LIKE the fence. I get 2 groups to laugh at then.
. . . with the important distinction that the maker was compensated for the first-hand sale as opposed to begin completely without any compensation whatsoever.
I agree with you 100%. I'm not arguing, but I was simply pointing out that, from the tech-savvy kid who thinks everything should be free, there is a distint overall economical difference between the pirating and stealing; although, the content maker does not see a difference as he is screwed regardless.
And DS, I'm surprised, I thought you would know better than calling a used game in the same vein as a pirated game.
Don't be surprised. DS has recently been exhibiting a marked propensity towards inability to distinguish between an apple and an orange.
I don't think the difference between theft and piracy has to do with whether you intend to sell the product, it has to do with the method you acquire it. If I remember correctly...
Piracy: Something is gotten via copying data or similar methods, and the original owner of the product doesn't actually lose any physical copies of the product. Thus, while the people who pirated the product have gotten ahold of the game or whatever without paying for it, the people who made it still have all the disks and data and stuff that they always did, and can still sell such things to legitimate customers.
Stealing: Something is gotten by actually stealing it physically. Thus, the original owner has a direct loss now that is more than just a "potential sale." Not only did the people who stole the product get it without paying, there is now less of the product available to sell to legitimate customers.
Generally, a lot of people view stealing as worse than piracy because not only are you taking something without paying for it, you are also depriving the creator of his property.
this IMHO is why they need to stop taking half beaten un boxed and outright probably stolen games at gamestop.
i can understand maybe PSP or DS games, but 360, PS3, and Wii games should nearly always be in the original case, maybe missing the booklets, but at least in the case.
2,200? How'd it get to be that many? Assuming he's managed to trade a good chunk of it in, with that many, he's probably have traded in the same game multiple times. On top of that, 2,200 is a *lot*of games, even if he somehow didn't have duplicates, isn't somebody going to find it weird that he's been showing up to trade in games often and/or trading huge batches of games at once? Shouldn't he have been cought before he could steal that much? Unless he was scouring all the GameStops in the area to avoid running into the same people. Would that even work?
And I'm not even taking into account all the stuff that could of happened on GameFly's side of things...
I think all your questions (which are all good questions) can be answered by GrimCW's observation (posted above) that GameStop probably knows that many of the games it accepts on trade-in are stolen. But I assume they do it anyway because it's profitable for them to stick their heads in the sand and act like they have no clue about what's happening.
As a game fly subscriber, i want them to really use this to lay the hammer on USPS and force them to treat there mail better. I've lost several games to USPS suckage, not to mention OTHER items that were lost due to them being idiots.
Yukimurais still here. "When he's at his best, he's little less then a man, and when he's at his worst, he's little more then a beast." W.S
Nice to see real thifes get light sentances and fake ones get more....
Until lobbying is a hanging offense I choose anarchy! Stop supporting big media and furthering the criminalization of consumers!! http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com/
lol 2,200 I mean 2 games here and there but damn over 2000 I wonder how he ever managed to find the time to play any of them working for the post office, and another thing that catches me, why was he trading them in at gamestop for store credit? he already has the games but w/e he got caught and it looks like he will get whatever's coming for him.