Quote:
Originally Posted by taosaur
A reasonable argument, but it doesn't stand up. Any investor who sees the existence of a readymade market as a bad sign will never make a dime, and any software developer who sees an ad hoc chat game as competition I wouldn't trust to program a VCR. If you cannot exceed, in a for-profit venture, the standards set by people building on the author's work FOR FUN, then hire them or buy them out (which is precisely what smart companies do).
|
The fact you don't think it's a good business decision is *irrelevant*. The standard is if one can reasonably expect such a decision so that financial impact is indeed possible. The fact that we can reasonably expect investors to act in ways which we may not find logical doesn't change that. Investors all the time avoid markets that are already exploited in preference for lower-hanging fruit.
Quote:
Originally Posted by taosaur
False. You can find nearly complete bodies of work for, at the very least, dozens of authors being traded freely in torrents. Take Frank Herbert for example--Dune has probably been available on the intenet for as long as there's been an internet. Now, go to Amazon, Fictionwise, or Diesel and search for Dune. Do you think they got that book for free?
|
Invalid comparison. We're not talking about pirated ebooks vs. regular ebooks, we're talking about voluntarily allowing free, freely redistributable ebooks vs. later selling the same content. Yes, you CAN still try to sell the latter for money, and sometimes even succeed, but the value is still diminished.