Piracy Experiment - Page 34

JSWolf · 02-08-2011, 04:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by starrigger

Ooh, sorry to hear that. My most painful Golden Age reread was Asimov's "Nightfall." I didn't do much better with Foundation, which I loved as a kid. On the other hand, I can with pleasure reread the old Tom Corbett Space Cadet books, and a few of my favorite old Winston SF juveniles. I'm not sure what the difference is, since the writing is pretty clunky in all of them.

It is interesting to go back to books we liked when we were younger and see what we think. I've done that and some are still good and others not so good. The first Star Trek novel I've ever read turned out to be not so good. It was Spock Must Die by James Blish.

JSWolf · 02-08-2011, 04:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by silasgreenback

I returned the same book to the library 1/2 finished about two months ago.

Up the stairs, down the stairs, blah, blah, blah.

I read the entire thing. But I don't get what makes it a classic. The writing isnt wonderful and the story is just so-so. Nothing classic about it.

queentess · 02-08-2011, 04:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I read the entire thing. But I don't get what makes it a classic. The writing isnt wonderful and the story is just so-so. Nothing classic about it.

I think this is classic as in old, not classic as in timeless

JSWolf · 02-08-2011, 04:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anke Wehner

I'd suspect those are just a sign that the publishing house was too lazy to do a proper job of the ebook, and left in boilerplate text that makes only sense for print books...

A lot of eBooks have things like * * * instead of the space for a section break just because that was in the pBook to mark a section break that fell at the end of a printed page. That and the generic covers are the most annoying things that are left in from the pBook.

pdurrant · 02-08-2011, 04:51 PM

I'll give my answer your other questions here

Quote:

Originally Posted by Catlady

Suppose I buy only five books and share all of them? Suppose I buy fifty books and share forty-nine?

I believe that was my point. Although there is not sharp cut-off line, you can still classify extremes. One grain of sand is a grain of sand. 10,000 grains of sand is a heap. 42 grains of sand? Grey area.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Catlady

And who is the "bad" person? The one who's sharing the books, or the one who's getting them for free?

Both.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Catlady

Suppose it's a public library that's sharing one ebook with thousands of people? I suspect that might adversely affect sales too.

As the library is sharing sequentially it won't make a lot of difference, and is in any case is explicitly permitted by the copyright holder making them available to the library system.

JSWolf · 02-08-2011, 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Back to ebooks:

I say that sharing a library of 10,000 commercial in-copyright ebooks against the copyright holders wishes with 10,000,000 people isn't merely illegal, it's also immoral.

I say that sharing 1 ebook with 1 friend is illegal, but isn't immoral.

Since you're arguing that quantity doesn't matter in cases of morality, which which of these two assertions do you disagree?

If I give an eBook I bought to a friend and then deleted every copy I have on my computer & backed up, is that still illegal? I may have access to that eBook via the shop I bought it from, but if I don't download it and I don't have access to it otherwise via my computer, is it illegal?

JSWolf · 02-08-2011, 04:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by queentess

I think this is classic as in old, not classic as in timeless

I think the term classic as used in the Book Club refers to books that are old and may or may not be classic. The way I look at it, a book is either a classic or it's not. Age is irrelevant. And I can cite some books I feel are classic like say The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy for example.

JSWolf · 02-08-2011, 04:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I believe that was my point. Although there is not sharp cut-off line, you can still classify extremes. One grain of sand is a grain of sand. 10,000 grains of sand is a heap. 42 grains of sand? Grey area.

42 grains of sand is a small pile. Pure black and white there.

pdurrant · 02-08-2011, 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

If I give an eBook I bought to a friend and then deleted every copy I have on my computer & backed up, is that still illegal? I may have access to that eBook via the shop I bought it from, but if I don't download it and I don't have access to it otherwise via my computer, is it illegal?

You'd have to consult a lawyer about that one, and it might well depend on where you live. I suspect that in most jurisdictions it's not explicitly covered by any law, and has never been tested in a court, so no-one really knows if it would be illegal or not.

JSWolf · 02-08-2011, 04:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

You'd have to consult a lawyer about that one, and it might well depend on where you live. I suspect that in most jurisdictions it's not explicitly covered by any law, and has never been tested in a court, so no-one really knows if it would be illegal or not.

Here is another issue...

My mother-in-law lent a reader to a friend. The book in question is also still available here and fully accessible. This friend is not going to be pulling the book off the reader and keeping it. I say this is legal. What do you think?

TGS · 02-08-2011, 05:00 PM

If I buy a DRM'd ebook from TESCO I can download it three times - does that mean I can give one, two or all three copies away?

pdurrant · 02-08-2011, 05:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Here is another issue...

My mother-in-law lent a reader to a friend. The book in question is also still available here and fully accessible. This friend is not going to be pulling the book off the reader and keeping it. I say this is legal. What do you think?

Have I mentioned that I Am Not A Lawyer?

It sounds legal to me. But again, IANAL. Don't rely on any statements I make about whether any act or omission is legal or not where you are.*

*OK, that might sound like I am a lawyer, but really, IANAL!

sircastor · 02-08-2011, 06:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TGS

If I buy a DRM'd ebook from TESCO I can download it three times - does that mean I can give one, two or all three copies away?

If you buy 3 copies of DRM'd ebooks can you give away any of them, DRM not withstanding? Do you own a digital copy of a book? Do you own 3? Does it matter how many copies you have?

The answer is not obvious. Because digital goods are essentially licensed (drm or no) the ownership of the thing is broken down. First sale doctrine isn't clear (at least to me)

JSWolf · 02-08-2011, 06:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TGS

If I buy a DRM'd ebook from TESCO I can download it three times - does that mean I can give one, two or all three copies away?

Tesco sells eBooks? When does a supermarket sell eBooks?

Belle2Be · 02-08-2011, 06:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Have I mentioned that I Am Not A Lawyer?

It sounds legal to me. But again, IANAL. Don't rely on any statements I make about whether any act or omission is legal or not where you are.*

*OK, that might sound like I am a lawyer, but really, IANAL!

*snickers*
Worst acronym ever

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02-08-2011, 05:00 PM	#506
TGS Country Member Posts: 9,058 Karma: 7676767 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Denmark Device: Liseuse: Irex DR800. PRS 505 in the house, and the missus has an iPad.	If I buy a DRM'd ebook from TESCO I can download it three times - does that mean I can give one, two or all three copies away?