Quote:
Originally Posted by schex86
And I may be way off base here, but IMO, every man, woman, and child who can type on a keyboard or write with a pen is worthy of the designation of "Author", and that this concept is the key to mankind fulfilling its true potential. If you agree, then why focus on the perpetuation of a long obsolete publishing industry? While it of course provides the benefits of "book" distribution, it also harms society with its ridiculous demands of artificial scarcity of information. It insists that only publishers be paid for producing copies, when the reality is that for an ever growing segment of society, copying is free, and such services are no longer required.
Publishers, if faced with an ever shrinking market, should consolidate where necessary and reallocate their capital in a manner beneficial to the societies that produced them in the first place.
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I suggest this argument may become more clear if distinctions are clearly made between a work's creation (authorship - phase one) and a works subsequent digital duplication/dissemination (publication - phase two).
Artificial scarcity applies only to phase two, not phase one.