Quote:
Originally Posted by Bittybye
I just want to know why they aren't going after used book stores? They don't get paid for the books sold there. And everyone knows those dastardly used book store owners are making a profit (something that from what I understand most pirate sites don't) off the backs of the poor publishers.
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Because there's this concept called the "right of first sale" that applies to physical goods (and, morally, to digital goods - software, ebooks, music and video files) in most, if not all, jurisdictions that they've had to give up fighting against. Basically, once they sell it to you, they have no right to interfere with what you do with it afterwards, including sharing it with as many people as you want, selling it, or just dumping it in the garbage.
Sadly, it looks like they're being allowed to win the fight against the right of first sale for digital products by claiming they're "licensed", not sold, even though such a "license" is virtually never disclosed at time of sale, instead being put in clickwrap EULAs for software and tucked away in the dark corners of store sites where virtually no one who isn't specifically looking for it will notice.