Quote:
Originally Posted by Giggleton
What exactly should we call the practice of not allowing me to read a Kindle book then???
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I think you need some more definition of the type of Kindle book that you expect to read, and how you are kept from reading it. I can sort of understand what you are trying to say, but there are too many complicating factors here.
1) If I publish a Kindle book and require you to pay to read it is that keeping you from reading it?
2) If the military distributes operational orders on a top secret mission to its field teams in Kindle format, should you be able to read it?
3) What about the diary I mentioned earlier in the thread?
4) What if Amazon chooses not to publish a book on child pornography?
Arguably, ebooks are the least censored of all book formats. It used to be that there were many gatekeepers between creators and readers. Publishers had to agree to publish the book, editors at the publishers could edit (censor) the book, and the limited shelf space at retailers meant that they had to choose which books to carry. Amazon, on the other hand, will 'publish' just about any ebook (I doubt they would publish child pornography and maybe not the instructions for making a nuclear bomb) and Amazon leaves it up to the market to decide whether the book will sell.
Most of us are concerned for two reasons. 1) Once we buy a book, we would like to be able to keep the book and format shift it as we change devices. 2) Orphaned works are books that are no longer available, and that have no active author/publisher. These Orphaned works are lost to the world until the copyright finally expired. Furthermore, since they are no longer available, widespread availability doesn't hurt anyone financially. A third concern is the length of the copyright. I list it separately, because its a bit tricky. There is no natural length for a copyright so we could argue infinitely: 1 Day? 1 year? 1 Decade? Life of Creator? Infinity? Many of us think the current term is too long, but I would be happy with the current terms if we could clearly define Orphaned works. I suspect that many books would eventually be Orphaned and released before the final copyright expiration. Perhaps there needs to be a copyright renewal every five years to keep a work from being Orphaned?
Anyway, the point is that I think you are talking about something else. I'm not claiming your opinion is right or wrong, just that it is not what any others are talking about. And that definitions in this area are complex, and you need some clearer definitions before we can really understand your point.