Quote:
Originally Posted by Catlady
But the gray area is exactly the problem. I have no trouble with the concept that a wrong action that is done once should be punished less severely than a wrong action that is done more than once. But I do have trouble understanding in my own head why an act is moral if done once or twice, but immoral if done "many" times, however "many" is defined.
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Maybe the problem is your characterization of the action as "wrong." Is it wrong to share an ebook with a friend, if what you're doing is trying to turn your friend on to a new book, or a new writer? "Hey, try this guy, I think you'll like his stuff." As a writer myself (and I'm trying to maximize my income from writing), I don't think so. I'd be
grateful if you tried to interest someone else in my work.
I'd be less grateful if you tried to interest your 100,000 closest friends by giving them all copies of my book (unless it was one I'd decided myself to offer for free). I'd also prefer that you not give your friend copies of my entire backlist.
I don't think I've ever had a friend give me an ebook, but plenty of times people have given me copies of music. I've learned of a lot of new artists that way. And I've noticed that even when I was getting DRM'd music from itunes, or wherever, the terms generally allowed for a significant number of copies burned to CD. What's that for, if not to share with a friend?