Casting A Chinese Curse

[Bob Farmer]

I, along with many others, are fed up with the Chinese pirates selling our stuff. There are legal and other avenues that can be pursued but these take a lot of time and are usually ineffective, so I decided to take another approach.

I hired a Chinese shaman, a sort of witch doctor, what in China is known as a Wu, and had him create a curse which I am now posting on any of these sites I find. I tell them this is for stealing my stuff.

You can do the same. Here's the curse:

如果你或你認識的任何人試圖在未經許可的情況下
複製本書,那麼貧困和不幸將會找到你和你的家人

It means: "Poverty and misfortune will fall upon you and your family should you reprint any of the material in this book without permission.”

Will this work? For the superstitious it might so in case of a tie I thought I'd try it.

[Jonathan Townsend]

Interesting. What does "seeking permission" translate to?
How about "to copy this book attracts the attention of the government"? That looks like a familiar curse.

[Curtis Kam]

How’d that curse work out? Craig Ousterling, the guy who turns out those fabulous Brass Boxes one at a time, the hands and brains behind the boxes I use, is interested.

[erdnasephile]

That is disgusting. I think the Chinese Curse should apply to anyone who buys these phony boxes.

[I.M. Magician]

That is disgusting. I think the Chinese Curse should apply to anyone who buys these phony boxes.

Isn’t that a bit harsh? What if someone buys it not knowing it is a copy of Craig’s box?

I certainly didn’t buy it or even know about it until it was posted here and wouldn’t but others may have and just liked the looks of it. Everyone is not familiar with Craig’s boxes.

Let’s not get carried away!

[Christopher1979]

I have seen many of those sites and even seen countless people selling downloads on eBay. Is something actually being done about this or maybe I should ask what can be done? .....

[erdnasephile]

That is disgusting. I think the Chinese Curse should apply to anyone who buys these phony boxes.

Isn’t that a bit harsh? What if someone buys it not knowing it is a copy of Craig’s box?

I certainly didn’t buy it or even know about it until it was posted here and wouldn’t but others may have and just liked the looks of it. Everyone is not familiar with Craig’s boxes.

Let’s not get carried away!

Your point is a good one, and I stand corrected. Thanks!

Therefore, I think the Chinese Curse should apply to anyone who knowingly buys these phony boxes. (That goes double for any shady dealers who try to sell them).

[Bob Farmer]

It is obvious to anyone who has been in magic for more than five minutes that these sites, given the prices, are illegitimate and the stuff they sell is counterfeit. So, making some nuanced assessment involving "knowingly" is a waste of time. They are scum and their customers are scum.

[Richard Kaufman]

Most magic dealers sell copies. You find them at magic conventions all over the country.

[Jonathan Townsend]

It looks like something happened to Craig's facebook page. Folks who want to buy direct from the artist need a contact link. Craig?

[CraigOusterling]

Jonathan, I took down the Primalgimcrack FB page. FB was a nuisance bothering all the time with 'spend this much and promote these posts' or 'spend this much more and reach more people' nags. I killed the 'artist page' off.

The best way to contact me is through the primalgimcrack.com website or directly at craig.ousterling at primalgimcrack.com (which is the email used as a 'replyto' if you join the email list).

As for the ripoff guy in China. You can't stop them. They have the same ethics as the ripoff guys here in the states.

It is sad.