Quote:
Originally Posted by DMcCunney
I wonder whether a lot of this has nothing to do with the facts on the ground, and everything to do with unconscious attitudes about the world.
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Yes, I honestly think so. And it's not black-and-white, either, but as people tend toward the pessimistic view of humanity, they also tend to get more hysterical about the "evils of piracy," I think.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cstross
Ideally I'd like to see publishers print some sort of one-time download code in the back of my books so that purchasers can download an e-copy...
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Oh, I wish! (Why one-time?)
Quote:
Originally Posted by acidzebra
"Darknet" is a popular term on this board I've noticed, but I don't quite follow the way it is used here.
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I may have been one of the earlier people to popularize the term "darknet" in Mobileread discussions about DRM and piracy. I took my definition from this article:
http://www.bearcave.com/misl/misl_te...rm/darknet.htm
Quote:
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The darknet is not a separate physical network but an application and protocol layer riding on existing networks. Examples of darknets are peer-to-peer file sharing, CD and DVD copying, and key or password sharing on email and newsgroups.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DMcCunney
Agreed, most darknet copies are awful. I've seen them, wouldn't try to read them as is, and can't be bothered to do the work required to get them into any form I'd consider readable. I value my time too highly, and it's cheaper viewed that way to just buy the book.
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In my case, I
have bought the books in paper. They're inaccessable, in storage, and legitimate ebook versions are simply not available.
Otherwise I'd happily sell off my hard copy collection and use the proceeds to buy Baen-priced ebooks.
Instead, I put up with badly formatted ebook versions, because that's all I can get.
Which reminds me, I think one of the other breakpoints on how people feel about DRM and using the darknet comes down to whether one re-reads or not. People who re-read a lot (and about 50% of MobileRead members say they do) tend to insist on non-DRM formats, and tend to see nothing wrong with downloading a darknet copy of a book they've already paid for in paper. Those who read a book only once tend to have no problems with DRM and don't see any value in downloading a book they already have in paper.