Piracy vs Bookstores - Page 2

tompe · 03-17-2008, 08:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Illegally downloading them sends all the wrong signals to publishers and only confirms the frequently-encountered view that DRM is required because there are so many people who break the law.

But if you want to send the signal that DRM is bad then you cannor buy DRM:ed books.

Actually I think that it would be a very bad things if publisher thought that DRM works. The faster they realize that they need another model the better.

tompe · 03-17-2008, 08:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patricia

No, because our books are either public domain, released under a Creative Commons licence or with the copyright holder's permission.

So is all books here based on PD book released under PD? I thought that was not the case.

RCR · 03-17-2008, 08:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

I am very disappointed to read this thread. People must make these decisions for themselves, of course, but personally I would hope that anyone who wishes to make eBooks a success would indicate that fact by going out and buying them from those publishers who are producing them.

Illegally downloading them sends all the wrong signals to publishers and only confirms the frequently-encountered view that DRM is required because there are so many people who break the law.

I buy ebooks where I can. I'm not fussed by DRM. I only read a book once or twice, and I'm not going to share it. If I can no longer access it in a year or two, I don't really care.

I would by far prefer to buy an ebook, rather than pirate one. I'm more than happy to pay for convenient access, decent format and few flaws. I don't bother pirating music or games or software, because it's easier to get the real thing just by paying for it.

But for me, the problem is the AVAILABILITY of a particular book. If a book is ONLY available on the dark net, should you simply not get it?

I recently went to Amazon for a Pbook and it was listed as out of print and unavailable. I then went to the dark net and found an ebook version. What should I do? Ignore it? Or download it?

And if I download it, doesn't that send the message to the publishers that maybe there is a market for an electronic version of a book they are currently not doing anything with?

HarryT · 03-17-2008, 08:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tompe

But if you want to send the signal that DRM is bad then you cannor buy DRM:ed books.

Actually I think that it would be a very bad things if publisher thought that DRM works. The faster they realize that they need another model the better.

I have no personal objections to DRM.

HarryT · 03-17-2008, 08:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RCR

But for me, the problem is the AVAILABILITY of a particular book. If a book is ONLY available on the dark net, should you simply not get it?

Personally I wouldn't, but that's just me. It's not for me to say what you should or shouldn't do.

Quote:

I recently went to Amazon for a Pbook and it was listed as out of print and unavailable. I then went to the dark net and found an ebook version. What should I do? Ignore it? Or download it?

What I would do myself is buy it 2nd hand. http://www.abebooks.com lists the inventory of 10s of thousands of small 2nd hand bookshops. You can find pretty much anything there.

Quote:

And if I download it, doesn't that send the message to the publishers that maybe there is a market for an electronic version of a book they are currently not doing anything with?

I don't know, does it? Do you write to the publisher and say "I have illegally downloaded your book because I can't buy it as a legal e-book?". If you don't, how do they know that you've downloaded it?

As I say, I'm not going to preach to anyone and say "you shouldn't download stuff illegally". That's a decision we each have to make individually.

Puddytat purr · 03-17-2008, 08:56 AM

What exactly is DRM, what's it do?

JSWolf · 03-17-2008, 08:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tompe

So is all books here based on PD book released under PD? I thought that was not the case.

Not all are released under the Public Domain. Some are released under a Creative Commons license and some are witht he author's permission.

HarryT · 03-17-2008, 09:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Puddytat purr

What exactly is DRM, what's it do?

"Digital Rights Management". The "locking" of an e-book to a specific device. Eg, when you buy a MobiPocket book you can enter the IDs of up to (generally) four MobiPocket devices on the web site you buy the book from. The eBook can then be read on those devices only. There is software available to remove most forms of DRM, which is legal to do in some countries, but not others.

JSWolf · 03-17-2008, 09:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RCR

I recently went to Amazon for a Pbook and it was listed as out of print and unavailable. I then went to the dark net and found an ebook version. What should I do? Ignore it? Or download it?

And if I download it, doesn't that send the message to the publishers that maybe there is a market for an electronic version of a book they are currently not doing anything with?

Nope. That sends no message whatsoever as the publisher has no idea you just downloaded that book. The only way the publisher knows what you want is to actually tell the publisher.

Nate the great · 03-17-2008, 09:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Puddytat purr

What exactly is DRM, what's it do?

It's supposed to stop you from pirating an ebook. Works great, doesn't it?

DRM = Digital Rights Management

tompe · 03-17-2008, 09:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Not all are released under the Public Domain. Some are released under a Creative Commons license and some are witht he author's permission.

You misunderstood my question. I wonder if I can take something that is based on PD and put on another web site? Is the version put here really PD?

Puddytat purr · 03-17-2008, 09:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

"Digital Rights Management". The "locking" of an e-book to a specific device. Eg, when you buy a MobiPocket book you can enter the IDs of up to (generally) four MobiPocket devices on the web site you buy the book from. The eBook can then be read on those devices only. There is software available to remove most forms of DRM, which is legal to do in some countries, but not others.

I thought as much, it's not time locked or anything though is it? It's just that this comment confused me:

Quote:

Originally Posted by RCR

I buy ebooks where I can. I'm not fussed by DRM. I only read a book once or twice, and I'm not going to share it. If I can no longer access it in a year or two, I don't really care.

Why wouldn't you be able to access it after a year?

The only problem I can see then with DRM is that you can't sell the ebook on like you could with a pbook

HarryT · 03-17-2008, 09:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Puddytat purr

I thought as much, it's not time locked or anything though is it? It's just that this comment confused me:
Why wouldn't you be able to access it after a year?

You may not be able to access it if you buy a different type of bookreader, or even if you buy a different reader of the same make and the retailer has gone out of business.

Personally this doesn't bother me because the type of books I buy which use DRM are generally the type of paperback I'd read and throw away. I buy most books for the pleasure of reading them once; I don't personally consider an e-book to be a "lifetime investment". Some people do. Personally if I spend $10 on an eBook I regard it like spending $10 on a movie or a pizza - it's a one-time pleasure.

Virtually all the books I want to re-read are out-of-copyright classics.

Puddytat purr · 03-17-2008, 09:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nate the great

It's supposed to stop you from pirating an ebook. Works great, doesn't it?

Like a charm!

Pirating is always going to be out there, if people want a film they'll wait until it comes out on Sky Movies and record it to a DVD-R rather than paying around £15 for the film.

Music can easily be downloaded and in a chatroom environment, music is passed back and forth regularly. Or you'll hear a CD while at a mates house and they'll offer to do you a copy.

I personally don't understand how people can rip books so quickly - my scanner takes ages to do anything

JSWolf · 03-17-2008, 09:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tompe

You misunderstood my question. I wonder if I can take something that is based on PD and put on another web site? Is the version put here really PD?

PD has to do with the country in question. So when you download a PD eBook here, check that it is PD where you want to repost it. If not, you can't legally do so. For example, if an eBook is PD in Canada, but not the USA, then you cannot put it up on a server in the USA under it becomes PD in the USA.

The eBooks that were done with the author's permission cannot be reposted unless you obtain permission from the author.

The eBooks that are under a Create Commons license you can repost.

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03-17-2008, 08:56 AM	#21
Puddytat purr Enthusiast Posts: 48 Karma: 55 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Isle of Wight (that's the little speck at bottom of the UK map) Device: Bookeen Cybook	What exactly is DRM, what's it do?