Quote:
Originally Posted by kovidgoyal
So you see nothing immoral in tricking people?
|
Anybody that is selling something is "tricking" you in the same way. And it isn't immoral, it's business.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kovidgoyal
As opposed to fraudulently passing off something that has a value of $0 as something that have a value of $10? The essential point here is that it is not just "any competitor" who is offering a lower price, it is the competitor whose product you cloned.
|
I'm very certain that the "value" of the PD books is much higher than $10. If you mean that he is selling it for more than he paid, you are right, but that is what everybody doing business does.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kovidgoyal
However, if said retailer has "magically" duplicated the product of his competitor and is then selling the very same product, that he got from his competitor, fully knowing that the product is indistinguishable, then he is committing vraud. And please note, I dont mean that what he is doing is illegal, I mean that it is dishonest.
|
How is it dishonest? There are books in the used books shops that look like they have never been opened by the previous owner, and therefore indistinguishable from those in shops. Does it mean that it is the retailer's moral duty to inform the buyers that a few months after a book is published, they can find it cheaper in a used books shop?
Quote:
Originally Posted by kovidgoyal
But the text is duplicated (and if calibre is working well) so is the formatting. Its like water in two different containers. The fact that one container is plastic and one is metal doesn't change the water.
|
Actually it does. Gases diffuse through plastic for example. And in the case of ebooks if the format is different, then the book isn't exactly the same. Do you assume that everybody has a copy of calibre on their computer? And do you assume that everybody knows about PG?