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ficbot · 10-19-2010, 11:47 PM

This whole thing reminds me about the people who whine on the talk shows about teenagers having sex. I remember one lady on Dr. Phil who refused to get her 17-year-old daughter a birth control prescription because she felt the kid should not be having sex. But the kid already was. The morality of whether she should be or should not be is a completely secondary issue to dealing with the reality that ship has sailed already. If you deny there is a problem and plug your ears going la la la in a situation like that, you are going to end up with a pregnant teenager. Should vs should not is a completely separate discussion to solving what *is.*

This whole piracy argument is the same thing. You have a large population of customers here that is basically saying 'serve us, or else we'll go elsewhere.' Whether they should or should not be doing so is a completely separate discussion. They ARE. They feel unserved and they are taking certain actions regardless of whether they should or they shouldn't be. So you have two choices. You continue to justify and make excuses and erect obstacles, and *they* continue to do what they're going to do. Or, you think of some way to service them and monetize their actions to your benefit. Morality really has nothing to do with it. It is totally secondary to the reality of what is actually happening, and that is what publishers need to be dealing with. The best way to prevent someone from downloading through a torrent site is it provide them with a convenient way to buy it legally---iTunes with its one billion downloads has proven this. But if you fail to make the book available in the first place, how do you expect them to buy it legally? You can argue all you want to about the morality, and how this is not food and they just should not buy it or whatever, but the *reality* is that YOU are not providing them with an alternative. So they are going their own way, without you, morality or no morality, and that is the reality of the world that publishers must contend with if they want to succeed.

10-19-2010, 11:47 PM	#239
ficbot Wizard Posts: 2,409 Karma: 4132096 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite/iOS Kindle App	This whole thing reminds me about the people who whine on the talk shows about teenagers having sex. I remember one lady on Dr. Phil who refused to get her 17-year-old daughter a birth control prescription because she felt the kid should not be having sex. But the kid already was. The morality of whether she should be or should not be is a completely secondary issue to dealing with the reality that ship has sailed already. If you deny there is a problem and plug your ears going la la la in a situation like that, you are going to end up with a pregnant teenager. Should vs should not is a completely separate discussion to solving what is. This whole piracy argument is the same thing. You have a large population of customers here that is basically saying 'serve us, or else we'll go elsewhere.' Whether they should or should not be doing so is a completely separate discussion. They ARE. They feel unserved and they are taking certain actions regardless of whether they should or they shouldn't be. So you have two choices. You continue to justify and make excuses and erect obstacles, and they continue to do what they're going to do. Or, you think of some way to service them and monetize their actions to your benefit. Morality really has nothing to do with it. It is totally secondary to the reality of what is actually happening, and that is what publishers need to be dealing with. The best way to prevent someone from downloading through a torrent site is it provide them with a convenient way to buy it legally---iTunes with its one billion downloads has proven this. But if you fail to make the book available in the first place, how do you expect them to buy it legally? You can argue all you want to about the morality, and how this is not food and they just should not buy it or whatever, but the reality is that YOU are not providing them with an alternative. So they are going their own way, without you, morality or no morality, and that is the reality of the world that publishers must contend with if they want to succeed.