Kindle e-Book piracy accelerates - from CNET

[rogue_librarian]

Originally Posted by Shouston

As an author of two in a series of four and my second now available on Kindle I hope there is something put in place soon to stop piracy.

I'm sorry, what? We have that, it's called DRM.

And furthermore where and what happens to the stolen ebooks once they are taken?

That's a good question. But since it's not possible to "steal" ebooks, ever, that question never crossed my mind. (If you're talking about violating copyright: there's no difference to purchased files, I would think: they end up on some user's harddisk.)

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by Shouston

As an author of two in a series of four and my second now available on Kindle I hope there is something put in place soon to stop piracy. And furthermore where and what happens to the stolen ebooks once they are taken?

What about something in place to allow readers who legitimately purchase e-books to read them on any device? What about something in place that doesn't assume criminal intent on the part of a legitimate purchaser?

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by Shouston

As an author of two in a series of four and my second now available on Kindle I hope there is something put in place soon to stop piracy.

What would you suggest? (Genuine question).

Some countries are already banning entire families from the internet if one family member gets accused of unauthorised downloading more than twice. Other countries are imposing insanely high fines on people caught downloading, and/or prison sentences. Governments are seizing domain names even vaguely associated with piracy.

Yet piracy continues, unaffected by any of these measures ...

[Enkidu of Abydos]

Originally Posted by Catlady

What about something in place to allow readers who legitimately purchase e-books to read them on any device? What about something in place that doesn't assume criminal intent on the part of a legitimate purchaser?

You of course know the basic principle of justice is you're guilty until proven innocent and maybe even after that ?
I mean the kind of justice greedy rich capitalists impose on those they exploit...

[Enkidu of Abydos]

Originally Posted by mr ploppy

Some countries are already banning entire families from the internet if one family member gets accused of unauthorised downloading more than twice. Other countries are imposing insanely high fines on people caught downloading, and/or prison sentences. Governments are seizing domain names even vaguely associated with piracy.

Yet piracy continues, unaffected by any of these measures ...

Of course I don't approve of it, but if you think about it, draconian punishments of a few sacrificial lambs to scare the others into submission are the only (even remotely) effective means of fighting piracy, because there is currently no technology for full-proof and longterm protection of digital information from being read or copied.

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by Enkidu of Abydos

Of course I don't approve of it, but if you think about it, draconian punishments of a few sacrificial lambs to scare the others into submission are the only (even remotely) effective means of fighting piracy,

Like with the war on alcohol in the 20s and the war on drugs in the 90s? Has creating martyrs ever worked?

[J. Strnad]

There's a romance about pirates, being a pirate, living "according to your own rules...or none at all", and on and on. I love old movies, too, and Jimmy Buffett, and I was once the "rebel without a clue", and I understand all that, plus the "something for nothing" mentality, and sticking it to the man, ad nauseum.

But when you come down to it, there's nothing to pirate without those boring old fuddy-duddies who learn a craft, work at it diligently, and market their work to a public that's willing to pay something for it.

Pirates are parasites. Okay, they've been around forever, they'll be around forever, they have a certain mystique about them, but they aren't the ones who make the work they pirate possible.

Each of us can decide, on a book by book basis, whether we want to encourage and contribute...or suck off other people's contributions.

Am I perfect? Hell, no. If someone loans me a CD, it may end up on my iTunes. I may then seek out more of that artist's work...or I may not.

But we should all have a notion in our heads about what we're doing. It shouldn't depend on the probability of getting caught and it shouldn't be a kneejerk action. We should think about it and make a decision. If we do that, we'll be all right, I think.

[jlmwrite]

Originally Posted by Kenneth_irl

To be completely honset I think piracy can be a heathy thing. It gives the consumer more control over what he/she really wants to spend their hard earned money on. This encourages companies to actually make quality products.

If people can afford and really like the product in mind, I've got no doubt they'll actually want to buy the product and support the company/band/person, etc.

So with this argument, I can walk into my local home improvement store and take a couple of power tools so I can better decide which I'd like to buy at some nebulous point in the future. If I don't like DeWalt's power drill, I'll just hoard it in my garage to encourage them to make a better drill. If I like the Makita drill, then I'll want to go back and buy it.

Right?

Sheesh... Products are products, whether in digital or physical formats. Just because it's easier to find and take digital products with virtually no worries that a loss-control person will see you and call the police still doesn't justify acquiring pirated media.

[rogue_librarian]

Originally Posted by jlmwrite

So with this argument, I can walk into my local home improvement store and take a couple of power tools so I can better decide which I'd like to buy at some nebulous point in the future.

Is it really out of the question to make an effort to understand the different nature of tangible and intangible goods? Yes, I am afraid a minimum amount of abstract thinking will be required.

Products are products, whether in digital or physical formats.

Actually, no, there are some crucial differences. Most people who negate that difference have an agenda, hidden or otherwise (of course some are just plain stupid).

[Enkidu of Abydos]

The difference is in scarcity as someone said...