Quote:
Originally Posted by bwana
Surely, the publishing companies deserve to make a profit on the books they print. But was the price of books ever determined by the worthiness of the text? The price of books is more closely related to their cost. And when a radically less expensive and more pervasive medium is introduced - why do we have to justify the old models? When the printing press was invented, the value of scribes declined but the collective literacy skyrocketed. As electronic distribution of text becomes ubiquitous, the use of DRM serves only to artificially maintain the prices of books.
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The deserve a chance to try and make a profit, just deserving profit outright sounds a lot like saying work adds value and I tend to disagree with Mr. Marx. Profit is not something they're entitled to if their buisness model becomes unworkable that's really just too bad they're not the first industry to have to change or die they won't be the last, whatever new model works may or may not have the same profit level, that's also too bad. Demand changes, means of production change a new balance is found even if said balance is zero (see a lot of new typewriters in stores these days?) I mean it sucks for people who might lose their jobs or have to take pay cuts and it isn't really their fault its happening to them but the world changes, paying congress to pass laws artificially propping up your buisness model may work in the short run but just pisses off more and more people in the long run.