Kindle e-Book piracy accelerates - from CNET

[DJHARKAVY]

Originally Posted by Namekuseijin

Mr. Ploppy, I'm not talking about paperbacks here. This is mobileread after all.

About the income: how are authors supposed to get some when their books are available for free? No digital guns forcing people into being good citizens, remember?

I had the opportunity today to walk out of three different stores with merchandise, if I so chose, without paying.

I am fairly certain that I would not get caught, and in one store, after I bought it, I stuck it in the same pocket (saving a bag) as I would have had I wanted to take it.

So it was not fear of getting caught or shot that caused me to pay. It was the idea that I was paying for what I got. The price was fair and the store deserved to make their profit. I had full ownership of what I bought and could do what I wanted with it after purchase.

If I feel the same way about an ebook, I will buy it, as I have with over a thousand books. But the lack of a gun to stop me from stealing it, or the 'gun' of easily removed DRM is not what is determining whether I buy a book or not.

[wvcherrybomb]

I will NEVER buy a Topaz book. Every time I see one - which has unfortunately become more frequent - I consider aquiring the book on the dark side just for retaliation.

I can now disinfect them, but it took me a very long time to figure it out. I will take them when they are offered free and dedrm them. However, I will never spend a cent for one as a matter of principle.

The most recent Topaz book I wanted I bought from B&N instead and then converted for my K3.

If it ever comes to pass that concrete laws against stripping DRM are put in place in my country, I may as well just download my books for free since I would be a criminal anyway.

[Grimm]

Nevermind.

[snipenekkid]

Originally Posted by Lemurion

I agree with most of what you're saying about the pricing of ebooks - I for one look for ebooks of current paperbacks at paperback prices or lower.

What I don't agree with is your take on audiobooks: I really don't think most readers will take them up in favor of ebooks because they're a very different experience.

I love reading, not so fond of listening. Audiobooks just don't interest me. (And before you go on about modern ones being much better, I'm more than willing to stipulate that they are, but it still doesn't make them desirable for me.)

Ok, you don't like audiobooks, so what? My point is the cost for a format many people find far more fun and useful is not significantly more and when your timing is right, it's less than the ebook version in many cases. But since you don't shop for audiobooks you won't realize that part.

BTW, many people have out grown those "wacky" morning shows or the same six songs played endlessly on 500 radio stations and actually enjoy the audiobooks on their commute. Nobody said a damn thing about you needing to like the format so "...lighten up Frances." It gets really old with the selfish "it's all about MY way and what I WANT" crap. Think beyond yourself for a change.

[goodereader]

The growth of ebook piracy is mainly arbitrated to the growth of low cost e-readers proliferating the landscape. (hello 39.99 literati) Not only that, but there are more quality ebooks now then at any point EVER before.

Publishing companies still are not worried, I remember an article we wrote here http://goodereader.com/blog/e-reader...-book-convert/ where the CEO of penguin says ebooks account for 1% of the companies total book sales. Paltry. Many other majors say virtually the same thing. There will literary be NO crackdown on ebook piracy for another 4 or 5 years.

[Richey79]

Originally Posted by Namekuseijin

How many kind enough souls would pay for them after stealing them?

Actually, I suspect that many people who buy video games now use this purchase model, at least on the PC.

Since most games don't release representative demos, many users torrent to test the single-player experience. They watch for a while, and see whether the devs and publishers update their software to fix bugs and listen to the customers, and then buy the software legitimately ( yes, that they've "already stolen" ) to support the developers who are working in the right way to further an industry they are passionate about.

Most torrent releases for video games include in their documentation sincere encouragements to buy the game if you like it.

This model is more appropriate for e-books than MP3s for two reasons. Firstly, the music industry has been generally unpopular since the coke-fuelled exec life-styles of the eighties and because of the perception that the industry will do anything to cling on to its outdated sales model, to the detriment of customers. Secondly, if you read a good book, like the gamer who cares enough to find out a bit about the team who designed their game, the passionate reader feels a real link to the author who provided them with enjoyment.

With bookstores looking like they may become rather more thin on the ground in the near future, perhaps this is going to be the one way left to truly browse a book before you buy.

[Crowl]

Originally Posted by Richey79

And yet the music industry still manage to increase their profitability year-on-year.

It's a vicious circle: as they become less and less willing to take any kind of risk on interesting artists, music fans (understandably) want their product less and less.

I guess this is just the music industry version of the chicken and the egg question, which came first the mp3 downloads or the procession of pop idol shows so that even the lowest common denominator of pop music has deteriorated.

[Crowl]

I found it quite interesting that he went close to making a few fairly obvious conclusions near the end e.g when he mentioned the person with netflix choosing a torrent instead because it was quicker, surely the flaw there is that the legal option is inferior to the illegal one?

You see similar idiocy in other areas such as video games where there have been times where copy protection measures have prevented actual paying customers from playing a game that has caused no problems to the person with the pirated version.

Despite the obvious drawback of drm, this is an area where amazon are doing their bit to help avoid piracy because they make it easy to quickly get the book you want on your device, unless it is a book that is unavailable for some random publisher-related idiocy it is going to tend to be the simpler option for most people.

Another example he gave was people downloading because they objected to the price matching or exceeding a hardback while overlooking the more obvious instance of them downloading because a publisher had either held back a release of an ebook or was not releasing one at all in certain regions which were likely to be true at least as often as his example and would result in more people discovering their piracy options.

[queentess]

Originally Posted by snipenekkid

Ok, you don't like audiobooks, so what? My point is the cost for a format many people find far more fun and useful is not significantly more and when your timing is right, it's less than the ebook version in many cases. But since you don't shop for audiobooks you won't realize that part.

BTW, many people have out grown those "wacky" morning shows or the same six songs played endlessly on 500 radio stations and actually enjoy the audiobooks on their commute. Nobody said a damn thing about you needing to like the format so "...lighten up Frances." It gets really old with the selfish "it's all about MY way and what I WANT" crap. Think beyond yourself for a change.

You compared ebooks and audiobooks. He pointed out that they are not the same product and a comparison is not really effective. You flipped out. The End.

Really uncalled for. Perhaps you should try thinking beyond yourself.

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by Crowl

I guess this is just the music industry version of the chicken and the egg question, which came first the mp3 downloads or the procession of pop idol shows so that even the lowest common denominator of pop music has deteriorated.

I don't think pop music has ever been much different to be honest. There's been brief periods when different types of music have been popular -- Beatles, T-Rex, Slade, Hawkwind, Sex Pistols, Tubeway Army, that sort of thing -- but those have always been the exceptions and there has always been the more sanitised/manufactured music underneath ready to take over again once the latest fad is over. The main difference I think is none of the less mainstream bands bother with major record labels any more so most people will never get to hear them.

[Namekuseijin]

Originally Posted by mr ploppy

I don't think pop music has ever been much different to be honest. There's been brief periods when different types of music have been popular -- Beatles, T-Rex, Slade, Hawkwind, Sex Pistols, Tubeway Army, that sort of thing -- but those have always been the exceptions and there has always been the more sanitised/manufactured music underneath ready to take over again once the latest fad is over. The main difference I think is none of the less mainstream bands bother with major record labels any more so most people will never get to hear them.

have to tell I only recognized Beatles and Sex Pistols. and the latter was but a lame marketing ploy -- not much unlike the fab 4, but at least those got some talent and played actual music...

I don't listen to the music industry yearly droppings, I just enjoy music by itself. Shouldn't even be called music industry, it's actually just recording industry for teenagers. There are far better musicians and music outside this mafia... internet radio made possible to know a lot of them, but even then internet radio too is 80% recording industry droppings...

[Namekuseijin]

Originally Posted by DJHARKAVY

I had the opportunity today to walk out of three different stores with merchandise, if I so chose, without paying.

I am fairly certain that I would not get caught, and in one store, after I bought it, I stuck it in the same pocket (saving a bag) as I would have had I wanted to take it.

So it was not fear of getting caught or shot that caused me to pay. It was the idea that I was paying for what I got. The price was fair and the store deserved to make their profit. I had full ownership of what I bought and could do what I wanted with it after purchase.

If I feel the same way about an ebook, I will buy it, as I have with over a thousand books. But the lack of a gun to stop me from stealing it, or the 'gun' of easily removed DRM is not what is determining whether I buy a book or not.

ah, a kind enough soul is found!

funnily enough, no store is invaded everyday by hordes of people grabbing their stuff all the time and no payment.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by Grimm

Except in the case of ebook piracy there is no money being made by the pirate, they are sharing, not selling.

NOT justifying at all, just making a point.

There are plenty of pirates out there selling CD's and DVD's with pirated ebooks on them.

[silasgreenback]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

There are plenty of pirates out there selling CD's and DVD's with pirated ebooks on them.

I'll take your word for it, but it's hard to believe anyone would pay for them.

Kind of blows the mind that someone would be willing to have unsanctioned files, know where to find a vendor that actually pirates them, and despite it all, lack the gumption to find them on their own.

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by silasgreenback

I'll take your word for it, but it's hard to believe anyone would pay for them.

Kind of blows the mind that someone would be willing to have unsanctioned files, know where to find a vendor that actually pirates them, and despite it all, lack the gumption to find them on their own.

There could be several reasons — it's easier to buy them than find them yourself, they might be worried about virus or getting caught downloading, or they might not know there is anything illegal about them.

The Stephen King ebook collection on Ebay says that they are all in the public domain. It doesn't say in which country that is the case, but it would be reasonable for anyone buying on Ebay to take the seller's word for it.