Every few months I'll head to a Sunday computer fair to buy some blank DVDs and some cases. Lately I've been doing a massive backup of all the Walken stuff and putting it in nice labelled DVD boxes, including some really cool 12xDVD box I found.

Last Sunday I wandered on down to Camberwell and the fair wasn't there. There was a sign explaining that computer fairs had been shut down indefinitely.

I found a news article explaining why...

Legal threats swamp Vic swapmeets and trader mag. Computer Trader and Technology Supermarket forced under:

Technology Supermarkets and Freetrader Publications - which ran Melbourne computer swapmeets and Computer Trader magazine - have shut down following threats of legal action.

A note on one of its websites said the owners of both companies, Max and Dorothea Morton, had ceased trading, blaming allegations of piracy and threats of legal action for the closure.

The last few fairs I'd been at seemed to be mostly second-hand laptops, desks for getting your Playstation modified (legal in Australia), crappy little USB toys, massive LCD monitors and not much else. Certainly not much software. Nothing like the old days when MP3 and TV (real video!) collections were on sale for $10 a pop.

Anyway, now I have to buy my DVDr at JB HiFi and my cool 12xDVD covers direct from the wholesaler in Moorabbin.

Where will all the unwashed geeks go now?