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Originally Posted by bhartman36
First of all, let me say that $140 is ridiculous for a textbook -- especially one that "expires". That's just nonsense.
However, I know someone who's written a textbook, and let me tell you, it's disheartening to see that textbook online in pirated form (as a pdf, in this case). When you invest significant time and effort into getting your book written and published, it's very disheartening to see some punks distributing it for free (and one site was adding insult to injury by even charging for users to register so they could download books).
Part of the problem is pricing. When you're dealing with college students, who don't have a lot of money to begin with, charging $100 for a textbook just makes the incentive to get a pirated copy too great. It should be remembered, though, that this isn't necessarily the author's greed. It's publishers that set the prices. Maybe if self-publishing for textbooks takes off, that'll change, but I think that's some way off.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bhartman36
I think the more ethical thing to do would be either a) simply not to buy the book and take your chances without it, or b) find an alternate book or books that will give you the same information. There aren't very many textbooks with unique information in them, are there?
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have you actually BEEN to college? with very few exceptions textbooks are unique and it is impossible to substitute them. ANY hard science book is normally well over $100. history, religion, philosophy, all of the "ology's" are anywhere from 50 to 300