Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
I agree that it could be done, but I think personally that it's far more likely that someone is simply going to make an illegal copy and give that away, don't you? That's just human nature.
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What do you mean by "illegal copy?"
Seriously. Let's have some definition of this term.
If something is "illegal," that means that doing it violates the criminal law (exposing the violator to a term of imprisonment or some lesser penalty, like "community service") or violation of the civil law (exposing the violator to a fine or lesser penalty, but not imprisonment.)
So, do you think that it is against the criminal law to simply make a copy of an undRMed ebook and give it to someone else? Specify the law - cite the statue and section of the law to which you are referring. I don't think you can.
Or perhaps you think that making a copy of an ebook and giving it away is a violation of some civil statue, resulting in a fine? Again, specify the law - give us a citation that we can look at and see if it means what you think it means - namely, that a person can be fined for making a single copy of an unDRMed ebook and giving it to someone else.
Or perhaps you think that it is a violation of some statute to remove DRM from an ebook, copy it, and give the copy away. Or copy a DRMed ebook, remove the DRM from the copy, and give the copy away. If you do, what section of the law are you referring to - not which general law, but which specific section of the law?
You might be able to give us a citation on this, but when you do, I believe I will be able to show that the law to which you refer only covers commercial copying, not a single act of copying where money is not involved.
Finally, are you using the term "illegal" to refer to a breach of contract? If you are, then you are misusing the term. It is NOT "illegal" to breach a contract. Contracts are breached all the time. It
might be financially dangerous under some circumstances, but it's not "illegal," and it is confusing the issue to refer to such things as being against the law.
(Actually, I agree with your primary point, which is that the way that an ebook is likely to be transferred will almost inevitably involve a copy being made. I just think that you need to stop calling such copying "illegal" unless you can support that characterization by something more than your say-so.)