Do you pirate books and why?

[anamardoll]

You unchecked the "anonymous results" because... why?

[anamardoll]

Originally Posted by Ninjalawyer

Although I guess this gets back a little bit to the entitlement thread; why do we feel that buying a book in one format entitles us to another?

Because format-shifting is a pretty commonly held concept.

One can spend $50 to convert a paper version of Harry Potter to a legitimate e-book version or one can just download it because someone somewhere already invested that time and effort and just pulp the paper book. Same result: paper book gone, electronic version left in its place.

[Penforhire]

Don't wind Giggles up. He maintains his "all your bookz are belong to us" approach consistently. His approach has some merit even if I disagree with it (just as Congress can extend copyright case-by-case for the public good).

[Polarpenguin]

Originally Posted by HarryT

There would be only one set of circumstances in which I'd consider it ethically justifiable to pirate a book:

1. If no commercial eBook was available.

and:

2. I'd bought the paper book.

In those circumstances, I'd have no qualms about downloading a pirated eBook. However, if a commercial eBook did then become commercially available, I'd buy it.

So I'd have to answer "on occasions". Very rare occasions.

This exactly. I also sought out Darknet copies of two ebooks I purchased that became unusable because ADE decided I was no longer allowed to read them.

[Apache]

Originally Posted by HarryT

There would be only one set of circumstances in which I'd consider it ethically justifiable to pirate a book:

1. If no commercial eBook was available.

and:

2. I'd bought the paper book.

In those circumstances, I'd have no qualms about downloading a pirated eBook. However, if a commercial eBook did then become commercially available, I'd buy it.

So I'd have to answer "on occasions". Very rare occasions.

I voted no before reading the replies and comments. HarryT's reply made me think. And if I could do my vote over I would have to vote Occasionally Once in Awhile.
I do strip DRM from all of my books. I buy them from different vendors and should not have to buy that vendors ereader to read what I legally bought. I have a Nook Color and I regularly buy from Amazon.
I have lots of physical books that are out of print and will probably never be released in an ebook format. Lots of science fiction and westerns and some other genres.
I have been thinking about, but not yet sent some of my out of print books off to be made into ebooks. I will now start to do so and as HarryT said, if they are released as ebooks I will gladly buy them.
Apache

[Redcard]

I think also, people should think about their votes in the context of the place where they live and the legal requirements/standing.

In the US, as I've said, DMCA bans removal of DRM. It considers that piracy. So while you may feel stripping the DRM off the books is morally different than just downloading 3Gig of Ebooks you never intended to buy.. in the eyes of the law (in the US), you're still a criminal. The only difference is how many times you are a criminal.

I think for honesty's sake, and because the government is the one with the guns who will put you in jail if you break their laws, that people should answer this question not on the basis of their own morality, but on the basis of the governments they live under.

Just my thoughts, though. I think it'd show a lot more people pirate.

[Giggleton]

Originally Posted by sbroome

Cool, did you get your ereader for free also? I mean that's what we use to read texts, so that should be free too right? Also internet access, otherwise how can we download? And houses, because living under a roof is pretty important. I can't wait till you're in charge of this bustling economy.

Yes, ereaders should be "free" And in the near future I believe they will be.

Extremely thin solar powered disposable ereaders, printed in roboticized factories that use nanotech to turn dirt into electronics. An ereader for everyone, where would copyright fit into this future?? The answer is that it won't fit, or more aptly it CANNOT. The mind will not allow such a travesty.

[The Terminator]

Originally Posted by Giggleton

I would say those who truly believe that their text should be read.

If ereaders were free and all books were free, very few people would continue to write books, they would be forced to get a job that pays MONEY and really that would take up a lot of their time. And what company that has half a brain would give away ereaders?

If this business model worked paperback books would be free.

[sbroome]

Originally Posted by Giggleton

Yes, ereaders should be "free" And in the near future I believe they will be.

Extremely thin solar powered disposable ereaders, printed in roboticized factories that use nanotech to turn dirt into electronics. An ereader for everyone, where would copyright fit into this future?? The answer is that it won't fit, or more aptly it CANNOT. The mind will not allow such a travesty.

I can't wait to see your Star Trek world and its 45% unemployment rate in action.

[Prestidigitweeze]

Penforhire: Thanks for pointing out that Giggleton's argument has merit even though you (and I) don't agree with it. People on various sides of the political equation are fond of yelling Marxist and Socialist as epithets, as if someone who believed in those ideas were as objectionable as a racist. But there ought to be as many theories about property and theft as there are minds to conceive them. Personal opinion is not the same as law, nor are divergent points of view a threat to law.

What I find offensive is the OP's decision to make public the names of the people who take the poll. The action might be innocent, but it looks like the strategy of a someone who hates those who engage in piracy and wants to get them in trouble by publicly listing their names.

I'm opposed to piracy except in the strictest fair use sense (as a supplement to active ownership), but I'm not taking the poll on principle even though I'd have nothing to lose. I don't think it's charitable to expose other MR members whether they knowingly take the poll or not.

§§§§§§§§§

The idea of our having the right to copy the property we own is one that publishers would like to see made illegal, particularly since digital property is potentially permanent if stored and copy-protection-free.

But isn't that part of the reason media and formats are always changing? You might buy a digital copy of a book now, but technology-based companies will try to make certain the copy or its format is either unreadable or undesirable in five to ten years' time. Isn't that what happened with vinyl, CDs, DVDs and Blu-Ray to a lesser extent? Intellectual property seems a bid for controlling content beyond personal ownership. It becomes more important as controlling physical media becomes irrelevant and controlling accessibility becomes impossible.

[anamardoll]

Originally Posted by Prestidigitweeze

What I find offensive is the OP's decision to make public the names of the people who take the poll. The action might be innocent, but it looks like the strategy of a someone who hates those who engage in piracy and wants to get them in trouble by publicly listing their names.

I agree whole-heartedly, and there is currently nothing in the OP to clarify that names are being published with the vote.

[Victoria]

Originally Posted by HarryT

There would be only one set of circumstances in which I'd consider it ethically justifiable to pirate a book:

1. If no commercial eBook was available.

and:

2. I'd bought the paper book.

In those circumstances, I'd have no qualms about downloading a pirated eBook. However, if a commercial eBook did then become commercially available, I'd buy it.

So I'd have to answer "on occasions". Very rare occasions.

I said no, but it's theoretical because I don't know where the dark net is, or how to find it. However, like many others have said, I agree with HarryT as well. I don't think there is anything morally wrong with that - it's just a transitional issue that will disappear over time.

It's different if the book is available in ebook form, because ebooks and paper books are not identical. Ebooks have unique advantages, such as requiring little storage space, and offering the convenience of an immediate download, which saves people time and gas. We already pay for convenience with other products, such as prepackaged frozen dinners.

[Belle2Be]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

I agree whole-heartedly, and there is currently nothing in the OP to clarify that names are being published with the vote.

I'm mostly just reading, but right above the poll it says "Be advised that this is a public poll: other users can see the choice(s) you selected."

Carry on with this fascinating discussion!

[anamardoll]

Originally Posted by Belle2Be

I'm mostly just reading, but right above the poll it says "Be advised that this is a public poll: other users can see the choice(s) you selected."

Carry on with this fascinating discussion!

Wow, you have good eyes. Thanks. I still think the OP should say so instead of the "just a simple poll".

(And since it's not multiple choice, I have to assume that notice was put in automatically by the forum software.)

[Belle2Be]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

Wow, you have good eyes. Thanks. I still think the OP should say so instead of the "just a simple poll".

Yeah I agree I didn't vote though. I imagine many of the people who did either lied, or have different opinions of piracy, so its pretty flawed anyway.