Quote:
Originally Posted by cmbs
Far as I'm concerned, if mobile read is so upright, they shouldn't allow talk of illegal activities on their website. Surely there are forums just for honorable and unwilling-but-forced thieves where they can discuss this stuff.
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In fact, MobileRead does not allow posters to provide direct information that supports pirating efforts (such as links to DRM-breaking software, which is illegal in the U.S.). And if you read the site overall, you'll see that the site is not devoted to discussion of illegal activities... in fact, most of the moderators and participants actively discourage illegal activities (with the exception of DRM-breaking, which, when done for private use and not redistributed, is tolerated even in this country).
Primarily, this site discusses promotion and legal use of e-books. In such a context, the subject of illegal book distribution will come up... after all, the very definitions are variable from country to country, and these discussions help to make that clear to the entire community. Many of us try to provide logical arguments to dissuade others from participating in illegal activities. We also try to work out ways to satisfy all international requirements, and find a way for everybody to operate in an acceptable and legal manner... something that has not been done before, and may never be, but we keep hoping.
There is no better place, short of the U.N., to be having these discussions, than a site like MobileRead. We are in a position of being able to help find solutions to problems that are too recent for our politicians to have worked out yet, and so we might positively influence the process. Knowing what does and does not work, what people do and do not do, and where the laws work and do not work, are paramount to coming to an eventual understanding, and hopefully, a solution.
I don't want to know that people are stealing e-books... but if they are, I do want to know how and why, because that may be something I can fix. And that makes it acceptable for such discussions to be aired here.