Quote:
Originally Posted by Catlady
I like the movie analogy, but I think they are using software licenses as a model as well. We've all accepted the idea that when we buy software we are really buying licenses to use the software on a specified number of computers.
The trouble is, we have a long history of using books very differently--we're used to sharing them and donating them and reselling them, and "they" tell us we can't do that, and pretend it's some great gift when they enable lending for a specified period--wow!
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The point of course is that ebooks ARE software. What's quite certain is that they are not physical objects that can be "donated" or "resold". When you "share' an ebook, what you actually do is send a copy of the file to someone else-the original file stays with you. Indeed, you can "share" a book an unlimited number of times, and with total strangers, at no cost to you, while keeping the original -an impossibility with an actual book.
What needs to be done, ,I think, is:
1. The publishers and booksellers need to be much more upfront in telling end users that ebooks are software and are sold and licensed as much.
2. THere should be legislation setting out exactly what ebooks and other digital media are , and what are the rights of both content creator and consumer. The current situation just leads to frustration and confusion on the part of creator and conmsumer, who both feel that their rights are being slighted. There is no question in my mind that the current law is inadequate to the situation.