Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
darryl, I don't disagree with anything you've said in your post above. Of course nobody is going to end up in court for downloading something from "archive.org". The reason for my warning about the contents of the site was simply to make people aware that it is not always a "safe" site to download from, and that if downloading pirated books is something that you wish to avoid doing (and many people on this forum disagree with piracy), you may wish to check the legitimacy of a book that you find on the site before you download it. If, as some people on this thread have indicated, they feel that this is "not their job", and they don't wish to do so, then that is of course their personal choice to make.
I make no apology, however, for giving the warning about the site: it's a site that I make extensive use of for both personal reading matter and academic research, and I have personally (and one more than one occasion) had quite obviously pirated books appear among the search results returned by the site. Some people may find that warning useful. Those who do not are free to ignore it.
|
Thanks Harry. I don't have any issues with your position as you now state it. I think this thread has been useful in that we now know more about archive.org, and the applicable law in both Australia and the UK.
I also agree that not only many but likely most people on these forums disagree with piracy. Personally, in general I myself think that piracy is morally wrong as a general rule. But there are, at least in my view, arguably exceptions. Legally, of course, I do not recommend that anyone break the law. However, I also think Copyright and other Intellectual Property Laws have become bad laws which often do as much or more harm as they do good. But, as you pointed out earlier, this topic is best left for another thread. I may start one in due course.