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92-year-old bootlegger sends thousands of DVDs to deployed soldiers abroad

92-year-old bootlegger sends thousands of DVDs to deployed soldiers abroad

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Alan Schwarz sits down with Hyman Strachman, a 92 year old bootlegger who sends duplicated DVDs to troops overseas.

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Recently, it might be hard to believe that anyone is outside the reach of the MPAA, but what about a 92-year-old World War II veteran? In Alan Schwarz's piece in The New York Times, Schwarz sits down with Hyman Strachman, the aforementioned veteran, to find out what motivates to him to send over 300,000 bootlegged DVDs to troops overseas.

Known as "Big Hy" to his customers, Strachman found that soldiers were consistently requesting DVDs on a website dedicated to publishing care package requests. When asked about the ethics of his actions, Strachman admits "It's not the right thing to do, but I did it," as he sits amidst walls covered in flags, pictures, and thank you letters sent by troops in appreciation. He accepts no money for his efforts the kind words of the soldiers he has helped through the idle moments of deployment are the only compensation he needs.