Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Jordan
You're still using semantics to cloud the issue. Identicality isn't the issue. I can hold a paperback in one hand, and an identical paperback in the other hand, but if one was stolen, or created by someone who didn't own the content, that one is "illegal," and all appropriate laws apply.
|
Your argument is wrong because you are comparing physical objects with digital files. Digital files can be copied infinitely, at almost zero cost per copy. In the case of the paperback, it costs money to produce, and raw materials. If one is stolen, somebody has lost some money.
With a digital file, if I own a copy of the content in paper format, has anyone lost money no matter how I otained it? No, certainly not. If publishers want the ebook market to take off, they had better lighten up some. When I buy an ebook and lose the rights to resell and other rights that I have with a paper book, and I pay almost the same price for the ebook as for the pbook, well, it's not a very good deal.
Look at all of the advantages the publisher is gaining- the ability to distribute books at almost zero cost (not including sunk costs required to produce the book), the ability to publish in multiple language markets at reduced costs, the ability to keep ALL of the titles he sells "in print," all the time. If e-books are going to sell well, the consumers want some perks too.
We aren't talking physical objects, but rather "digital objects." If I bought a license to use M$ CrapOS 98, does it matter whether I load it onto a machine from the distro disk, or from a borrowed disk, or from a set of files across a network? No, it doesn't.