MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Interview about ebook piracy on Spark (CBC Radio)

zerospinboson · 12-03-2009, 11:55 AM

The interviewee seems to be missing a fairly big point, though. Those sites Coleman refers to (both the one she names and the other one she talks about) have an enormous number of users who come from Iran, India, China, South-America, Russia.. The issue with them getting these (mostly academic) titles isn't primarily about whether they are or aren't paying for books they think are too expensive. Rather, it is mostly about getting access to books at all; access that people from those countries either couldn't have gotten due to import restrictions or never could never have conceivably afforded.
Sure, you might also call that "piracy", but I would suggest that there are way too many differences between The West and elsewhere to meaningfully compare them.

Anyway, thanks for the link

It's at least more about what kind of people are these strange users who read Deleuze & Guattari, Blanchot etc. are, and about how academic authors might even appreciate becoming more available to a broader audience, than it is about Rowling would be justified in whining about how she's missing out on .07% of her yearly royalties.

12-03-2009, 11:55 AM	#3
zerospinboson "Assume a can opener..." Posts: 755 Karma: 1942109 Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Local Cluster Device: iLiad v2, DR1000	The interviewee seems to be missing a fairly big point, though. Those sites Coleman refers to (both the one she names and the other one she talks about) have an enormous number of users who come from Iran, India, China, South-America, Russia.. The issue with them getting these (mostly academic) titles isn't primarily about whether they are or aren't paying for books they think are too expensive. Rather, it is mostly about getting access to books at all; access that people from those countries either couldn't have gotten due to import restrictions or never could never have conceivably afforded. Sure, you might also call that "piracy", but I would suggest that there are way too many differences between The West and elsewhere to meaningfully compare them. Anyway, thanks for the link It's at least more about what kind of people are these strange users who read Deleuze & Guattari, Blanchot etc. are, and about how academic authors might even appreciate becoming more available to a broader audience, than it is about Rowling would be justified in whining about how she's missing out on .07% of her yearly royalties. Last edited by zerospinboson; 12-03-2009 at 11:59 AM.