I just looked at a couple of articles that I pulled earlier this month and planned to discuss before I went offline. I was afraid they'd no longer be of interest after so long, but I read them again and decided I can still talk about them.
The first is about the not-yet-released J.K. Rowling book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. According to the article, a couple of guys got busted trying to sell advanced copies of the book to two English tabloids, The Sun, and The Mirror. They allegedly demanded $55,000 from each publication for sneak peeks at the sixth Harry Potter book.
Spokespersons from both tabloids said they intended to obtain the book from the sellers and return it to the publishers while exposing the scam in their papers. What they may not have expected was for these guys to be armed and dangerous. A chase ensued and shots were fired when a Sun reporter tried to take off without paying for the book. No one was hurt, but police did manage to arrest two guys in connection with the incident.
This is apparently the second time this has happened before a Harry Potter book came out. Four people were arrested for advance copy theft when the last book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix came out in 2003.
Crime, in this case, didn't pay. I shouldn't be surprised, but it always amazes me to what lengths people will go for "easy" money. It's also interesting how much more things seem to be worth when they're rare or yet unavailable. I guess timing is everything after all (not to mention a modicum of intelligence, which Dumb and Dummer seemed to be in short supply of in this case).
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