Quote:
Originally Posted by xg4bx
they want control of the material every second of its existence . . . if they could get away with it, every material goods supplier on earth would kill off the secondary market
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Who is this "they?"
In even a small industry, there are hundreds of executives and directors. Among them, there are undoubtedly people who have mistaken economic ideas. So what? Ad hominen attacks, especially against anonymous individuals, do not advance your cause.
Suppose there are two small bookstores in town selling new books. One is owned by a curmudgeon who complains about a third bookstore, the one that sells used books. The other new book store is owned by a more enlightened soul who sends his customers to the used shop when what they want is out of print. Now, let's say all three have a tiny side business selling eBooks. I'd say it is equally wrong to redistribute the eBooks, regardless of which store you bought it from.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Giggleton
WE ARE NOT TALKING ABOUT CARS
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I have somewhat similar feelings when people analogize book piracy to music piracy -- quite different, because almost all musicians were live performers before getting into recordings, while virtually no authors can realistically charge for live readings. However, book and music piracy aren't
totally different.
As for used cars, I think the economic rules applicable there have similarities to used paper books, and there has been a lot more used car research. I'd agree, however, that used cars are a lot different from eBooks, because the latter either work or don't work, with no intermediate phases.
If someone could invent an unbreakable DRM that automatically gained typos each time it was transferred, then a used eBook would really be like a used car. It's unfortunate for authors (and editors, agents, translators, etc.) that this is technically unfeasible.