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Originally Posted by murraypaul
I think a more accurate comparison would be that the Canadian tosses the bag up in the air, and the American reaches across the boarder to grab it.....
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This scenario fails to express how the Australian server is making the materials available to the American.
A closer parallel might be that instead of the Canadian tossing it, he puts a bunch of pot on a table inches from the border, puts a little sign on it saying "not legal in the US," and does nothing as the American repeatedly reaches across the border.
Or: If the server distributing PD material was actually operating in America rather than Australia, and had a .au extension, what would be the difference? Just that the lawyers don't have to use an international stamp when sending a notice? From a practical perspective, the resulting level of access is identical.
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Originally Posted by murraypaul
Assume that the US still has legalised slavery, and Canada does not. A slave escapes to Canada. Is Canada ethically required to return the slave?
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If Canadian citizen is taken as a slave in the US, should Canada do nothing? After all, the Canadian slave is in the US, so US law applies.
I do agree there are situations where ethical concerns may override legal ones. Distributing ebooks where copyright is in dispute, well, just isn't one of them -- or at least, isn't anywhere near comparable to the ethical concerns relating to slavery.
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Originally Posted by murraypaul
I don't think that anyone is saying that Americans should be legally allowed to download books from PG Australia which are not PD in the US. They are saying that it is not PG Australia's job to enforce US laws.
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What I'm trying to point out is that
both halves of the transaction are involved in the process.
Passivity does not necessarily relieve you of any and all responsibilities, especially once the host is explicitly asked to stop distributing the material freely in locations where it is not yet in PD.
Again I do not believe a full take-down is required or justifiable (though it is often requested), but a disclaimer doesn't do it either.