WotC may have sent the Pinkertons to a magic leakers home. Update: WotC confirms it and has a response.

[Branduil]

lol so the guy in charge of security called people he had worked with before to do a job he knew they could do?

Am i supposed to think this is a bad thing?

"Oh so the guy who used to work for a lich hired some of the lich's minions, and we're supposed to think this is a bad thing?"

 

[doctorbadwolf]

"Oh so the guy who used to work for a lich hired some of the lich's minions, and we're supposed to think this is a bad thing?"

Pure melodrama.

 

[eyeheartawk]

Please point to where Hasbro threatened anyone.

Here you go

Though, the most germane part:

“[The Pinkerton agents] cited several statutes about copyright infringement and some other things threatening 1-10 years in jail and up to $200,000 in fines if I failed to cooperate,” Dan Cannon told Kotaku over an email. “They also said if I didn’t hand over the product, they would call the county sheriff and detain us until they arrived to arrest us and search my house for the product and that they would most likely force us to show receipts for every magic card in the house (which is literally over a million cards).”

I'd also like to point out that carrying water for giant megacorps that don't care about you will not, in fact, result in swole, jacked arms. It's just not a good workout.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

I looked up "unsolicited goods".

Apparently (at least according to US law), receiving an unsolicited product from a company and keeping it is not illegal, so this isn't exactly a case of stolen goods.

Somebody likely messed up at a warehouse and sent stuff either too early or sent the wrong box, which is grounds for employment reconsideration, but the receiver is not a criminal in this case, and may have the legal right to keep whatever they received.

Since the receiver was also NOT under contract to keep secrets about the product via NDA, there was also likely no legal mishap on their part for streaming the cards.

The sending of the Pinkerton agents for the stuff might actually be legal trouble for WotC IF it's possible to argue that the cards, having been received unsolicited, became the rightful legal property of the receiver.

I'm not a lawyer but that's how it looks to me.

You should probably start your comment with "I'm not a lawyer." There's a reason that legal research is hard.

But to briefly address your points-
1. Is there "a US law" against receiving unsolicited product."

First, there is no "US law." The US is a law of many jurisdictions- the main two that most people are concerned about are STATE and FEDERAL. So when people look this up, they often completely misunderstand the issue. If something is given to you (an unsolicited gift, for example) then you have no obligation to return it under federal law (interstate commerce). This doesn't necessarily mean that you are okay under state law, nor does it mean that you are free from civil action. But more importantly, people are asking this question in the context of the rise of scams and/or free products directly sent to them. This is all about people who get sent scam merchandise and are then ordered to pay for it. You can't use this if, for example, a product is addressed to someone else. Or if you bought stolen or counterfeit merchandise. Or if the goods are illegal ("Hey, officer, I know I got a brick of cocaine, but it was unsolicited product! You're cool with that, right?"). Or if there are any number of state laws that you might be violating.

2. The receiver was fine to stream the product since the streamer was not in privity with Hasbro.

Again, this isn't necessarily true. There is such a thing as a trade secrets act. Given that the streamer knew that or had reason to know that the trade secret was acquired by improper means, there is no requirement of privity. That's just off the top of my head- most states have some version of this. But the short version of this is that you don't need to be in privity or have an NDA to be in trouble.

3. Hasbro will be in legal trouble for sending agents to collect the cards.

No. Wishful thinking doesn't make something true. The agents of the corporation made a demand for the return of the product, and it was voluntarily returned.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

I bet it's in his junk folder

EDIT: this whole conversation as I've pointed is like giving Gordon Gecko's speech at the shareholders meeting to a room full of millennials, no matter how you say it the room isn't going to like it period. It's too filled with emotions over the OGL fiasco and Pinkerton at least for some.

I made the mistake of going to the very informative Reddit thread. I didn't learn anything, just a lot of people screaming about how Pinkerton LITERALLY KILLS PEOPLE and that if you want to know more, you should play Red Dead Redemption 2.

I just can't.

This is why I've learned to hate social media of all types. As I always recount-
Social media is like a play that changes every day. And every day on social media there is one main character in the play.

The goal is to never be it.

 

[Maxperson]

I made the mistake of going to the very informative Reddit thread. I didn't learn anything, just a lot of people screaming about how Pinkerton LITERALLY KILLS PEOPLE and that if you want to know more, you should play Red Dead Redemption 2.

Hah! It wasn't as bad as that body builder thread you sent me to. I still haven't forgiven you for that by the way.

I just can't.

Yeah. I think I made it 3 or 4 comments down in the "very informative" reddit thread before I closed the window.

 

[Umbran]

I thought it was illegal to force someone to return something they had been sent by mistake?

I don't believe that applies in this case. The cards weren't "sent by mistake". Oldschoolmtg claims to have bought them from a third party that did not have the right to sell them yet.

 

[trappedslider]

It’s also very weird that a person who’s obviously very knowledgeable about Magic would film a video about opening those packs when he definitely knows the cards still haven’t been spoiled and are still under embargo. He would’ve known these things.

Distributors don’t actually get new sets until about a week before release, and “local dealer” makes it sound like it’s an even smaller entity like an LGS.

 

[Branduil]

Pure melodrama.

You're right, I might have been unfair to liches. For all I know some might have a healthy respect for labor rights, unlike strikebreakers.

 

[Storyteller Hero]

You should probably start your comment with "I'm not a lawyer." There's a reason that legal research is hard.

But to briefly address your points-
1. Is there "a US law" against receiving unsolicited product."

First, there is no "US law." The US is a law of many jurisdictions- the main two that most people are concerned about are STATE and FEDERAL. So when people look this up, they often completely misunderstand the issue. If something is given to you (an unsolicited gift, for example) then you have no obligation to return it under federal law (interstate commerce). This doesn't necessarily mean that you are okay under state law, nor does it mean that you are free from civil action. But more importantly, people are asking this question in the context of the rise of scams and/or free products directly sent to them. This is all about people who get sent scam merchandise and are then ordered to pay for it. You can't use this if, for example, a product is addressed to someone else. Or if you bought stolen or counterfeit merchandise. Or if the goods are illegal ("Hey, officer, I know I got a brick of cocaine, but it was unsolicited product! You're cool with that, right?"). Or if there are any number of state laws that you might be violating.

2. The receiver was fine to stream the product since the streamer was not in privity with Hasbro.

Again, this isn't necessarily true. There is such a thing as a trade secrets act. Given that the streamer knew that or had reason to know that the trade secret was acquired by improper means, there is no requirement of privity. That's just off the top of my head- most states have some version of this. But the short version of this is that you don't need to be in privity or have an NDA to be in trouble.

3. Hasbro will be in legal trouble for sending agents to collect the cards.

No. Wishful thinking doesn't make something true. The agents of the corporation made a demand for the return of the product, and it was voluntarily returned.

I did imply I wasn't a lawyer at the beginning since I stated how my limited view was based on looking stuff up on a search rather than spending years in law school, and made it clear I wasn't a lawyer at the end of my comment.

On what you pointed out, some things still don't seem quite right about this.

1. As MtG cards are not exactly illegal substance like cocaine, I don't think that part would apply here. If they were paid for by the distributor, then they wouldn't be stolen or counterfeit merchandise. If the distributor sent it to the receiver's address, it wouldn't be from somebody else's address. If the state law matches the federal law where the streamer lives (I don't know where they live though), then they'd be in the clear to keep the cards, right?

2. Does any particular trade secret act actually apply in this situation though, for wherever the streamer lives? A picture and text on a card seem to be a far cry from distribution methods, technical schematics for computer programs, etc. -- not all states have the same law when it comes to products either.

3. I did say IF it could be argued that the receiver could rightfully claim the cards as property.