Quote:
Originally Posted by wraylewis
As a practical matter, quite a few kids younger than 13 were using the service, and I am not aware of Apple actively trying to stop them.
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So, is it reasonable to believe Apple would also not try to stop them if they decided to crack the DRM on what they got, and shared it? Because that, too, is forbidden by the TOS; why should kids believe one part of the TOS is more important than the other?
If there's a system whereby people are actively encouraged to violate some parts of the TOS--parents encouraged to buy devices & services for kids obviously too young according to the rules--why would anyone feel compelled to obey the rest of those rules?
I'm perfectly aware that kids have *non-legit* access to ebooks right now, and plenty of it. But if they have to break the TOS of the sales sites to get those books, how is that less immoral than downloading the books from the darknet? Is there a nice explanation somewhere, that says "it's okay to break THESE rules but not THOSE rules because...?"
I maintain that commercial ebooks-for-children won't take off the way they have for adults until they can
fully legitimately buy them for themselves... and possibly not until they can legitimately share those books with friends, somehow. Reading, for most kids, is one way they connect with each other. Especially geeky bibliophiles. And kids' income is limited; if they have to buy full-price every ebook they read... they'll read a lot of freebies and indie books, and publishers will miss out on a lot of word-of-mouth promotion.
As long as children's ebooks have to go through a parental filter, they'll be tied, in the child's mind, to being dependent; something for "little kids" that older ones step away from as they find their own interests.