Quote:
Originally Posted by SteveEisenberg
In the long run, if there is no sanction against book piracy, paying for books will be become suckers territory, or, at best, an act of charity. In rare situations, a business model based on alms can work. Very rare.
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I'm not condoning piracy, and I'm not saying that there shouldn't be sanctions. I'm just saying that I'm not comfortable with the sanction being removal of internet access, because of the knock-on effect on innocents.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SteveEisenberg
With any punishment, the whole family suffers for the sins of one member. The French sanction for piracy isn't different in this respect from any other sanction, civil or criminal.
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I disagree, because the sanction affects others more directly than in other cases. If I have to pay a fine, then there is less money in the household, but I can choose to limit the suffering caused to others. If I had to find £1,000 to pay a fine, I might have to limit what I spent on my wife and/or kids, or I might have to take the money out of a joint savings account. In these cases, other people suffer. On the other hand, I might be able to take it out of my own savings, in which case, only I suffer. If someone disconnected our internet access because I was guilty of piracy, my wife and kids would also lose their internet access. There's no way for me to take the full force of the sanction.