Quote:
Originally Posted by kovidgoyal
I promise we can have the discussion about what should be done after we are all agreed that duplicating a PD text and then selling it without informing the customers that it is a duplicate is wrong.
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You're not getting that agreement.
Because, simply put, there is nothing wrong with it -- legally OR morally. No one owns it, therefore anyone can do whatever they like with it.
Let's say you purchase a public domain ebook for $10, and no one bothers to inform you that a free version is available. Net loss: $10.
I walk into Tourneau Corner and look at a watch that is $1000. The sales person neglects to tell me that their competitor sells it for $900. Net loss: $100.
You're losing ten times more in the watch scenario than in the PD scenario. Do you take Tourneau Corner to task for "jacking" their customers? For neglecting to tell the customer that they could save $100 by going somewhere else? If not, why not?
There is no special moral connotation to "free ebooks," nor have you advanced any such argument. All you've done so far is appeal to your own emotional position that "there is something rotten in Denmark." Unfortunately, it simply is not persuasive.