Quote:
Originally Posted by GA Russell
I agree! That's why I think that the current model for paying authors is broken.
In effect, I expect that we will have a new morality in this regard in the 21st century digital age, because we now have the possibility of creating an infinite supply of a good.
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In some ways I can agree – large scale publishers trying to control the flow of information is no longer a functioning model. If people want to change the way something works, we need to be a part of the solution – not the problem.
There are a lot of things that I do not like about the current publishing industry. I don't like DRM, geo-restrictions, device golden handcuffs, etc. – but I would rather see a model being created by the users of the product rather than the users simply pointing out the flaws and taking advantage of them.
Think about that for a second. You could be the solution! DRM is the result of piracy and we hate DRM. Yet the way we show that DRM is the enemy is to: prove the creators of DRM are correct by doing what DRM is supposed to stop? If the problem is “the big bad publisher” – support the author! If every person who downloaded free books from the darknet made financial contributions to the authors (even while skipping the pub), I wouldn’t blink an eyelash.
The way I feel reminds me of a thread I was reading in the Calibre developers section (I did not comment because I do not have the technical ability). The person who started the thread spoke very passionately about how upset he was – every day new users come to MR by following a trail of bread crumbs from Calibre. These new users were different, they had a large sense of entitlement (Make Calibre do this! Make Calibre do that!). They did not do what others had done in the past when learning about the openness of Calibre: roll up their sleeves and donate time & effort into making Calibre a better product.
We are in a position to help define the way books will be read for years to come. What are we doing to take advantage of this position? I wish I had the technical ability that a lot of you do, I’d build a better mouse trap. Sadly, I don’t have that ability – my eyes glaze over when the conversations get too technical. Instead what I do is
support authors who go to bat for me and refuse to infect their products with DRM. I support publishers who produce DRM free products. I support Calibre and the developers of Calibre both by spreading the word far and wide AND financially. Do you know why I do that? Ass, cash, or gas - Nobody rides for free.