Quote:
Originally Posted by Fbone
I hear e-book prices are too expensive and unrealistic therefore it's justifiable to take from the torrents.
I hear of geographical restrictions and so they are "forced" to go to darknet because it is something I have a right to possess.
I hear some go to torrent to look for new material when Google, Amazon et al have 1.8 million e-books available.
So now for those who download illegally I will question their sense of honesty, trustworthiness and character. Perhaps, it is worse than I think it is. How does their conscience work with other of life's choices? And then I feel bad that I feel this way toward others but when I lose a small amount of respect for someone it doesnt usually return.
But it is my feelings and my problem.
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Well, here is a situation for you to ponder. I have purchased about 400 books from ereader.com over the past several years. 2 months ago, I went to load one on my Ipad, and couldn't do it. I contacted tech support, and was given the usual drivel. For over 2 months I was unable to access books that I shelled out cold hard cash for.
I use a couple of these books as references- so I obtained copies for free. And I don't feel bad in the least bit. I paid good money to those bozos, and because of some squabble they were having with publishers, was prevented from accessing material I paid for.
And here is another situation to ponder- I bought a copy of Mac OSX Internals, paper, for almost $80. And when I bought there was no pdf version. The publisher came out with that a few weeks later, and wanted $45 for it. No discount or anything for buyers of the paper book. So I grabbed a copy for free, and didn't feel bad about that either.
Philosophy is nice, but so is pragmatism. And the simple pragmatic truth is that if publishers treated their customers with respect- by pricing ebooks reasonably, and by making their purchase convenient, there would be little incentive for piracy. Every time a publisher wants to charge hardcover prices for an ebook, they are helping piracy thrive.
And all of the people making holier-than-thou arguments about piracy should consider the Itunes store. It is doing pretty well. Why? All the music available there can be had for free, from various illicit sources. But people still buy it- because of price and convenience....