E-reads and Curtis Agency Declare War on Piracy

[starrigger]

General comment, to the group. While it's been swell being the focus of this discussion, I have a book to write, so I'm going to head on out again. I'll probably check back once in a while, but doubt I'll join in unless the conversation takes a different turn. (Now where's that Unsubscribe button?)

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

I can see an error in your logic here: if you were unclear in the earlier posts, and then clarified things, that means that you became more clear when you got annoyed. If being annoyed makes you less clear, that means that you wouldn't have been able to clarify things.

At this point it just seems that you have a vendetta going on here.

[Sil_liS]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

At this point it just seems that you have a vendetta going on here.

Because I replied to his post, or because I didn't think he made sense?

[Sil_liS]

I went back to the article, and it seems like the action will be against fileshare sites only. Initially I thought that this included torrent sites, but one of the comments made me realize that this is not the case.

As far as p2p and IRC, I wouldn’t expect users getting books that way would pay for the book anyway. Also, IMO, most pirate newbies are scared to use p2p in case the gov. is watching. So then what you have left are the file upload websites. Muso is automated – file sharers might spend 30min – 1hr+ breaking files up and uploading, takes 3 seconds for me to take it down.

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

Because I replied to his post, or because I didn't think he made sense?

Because you are nitpicking to try to find fault with everything he says.

[Sil_liS]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

Because you are nitpicking to try to find fault with everything he says.

I haven't commented on everything he said. If you think that that is because I didn't find anything wrong with it, I could prove you wrong. I merely commented on the more glaring aspects. But this is a problem of perspective: you think that I was trying really hard to find problems, while I'm actually trying really hard to ignore the lesser ones.

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

I haven't commented on everything he said. If you think that that is because I didn't find anything wrong with it, I could prove you wrong. I merely commented on the more glaring aspects. But this is a problem of perspective: you think that I was trying really hard to find problems, while I'm actually trying really hard to ignore the lesser ones.

So you think this:

I can see an error in your logic here: if you were unclear in the earlier posts, and then clarified things, that means that you became more clear when you got annoyed. If being annoyed makes you less clear, that means that you wouldn't have been able to clarify things.

Was a constructive addition to the conversation?

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

I haven't commented on everything he said. If you think that that is because I didn't find anything wrong with it, I could prove you wrong. I merely commented on the more glaring aspects. But this is a problem of perspective: you think that I was trying really hard to find problems, while I'm actually trying really hard to ignore the lesser ones.

Yes please, by all means, start several brand new campaigns that incontrovertibly prove why anyone who didn't feel that starrigger was "wrong" are they themselves, wrong and completely illogical about thinking they are right. That would help. A lot.

[Sil_liS]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

So you think this:

Was a constructive addition to the conversation?

Logic is always a constructive addition to the conversation.
But how did this help the conversation:

Originally Posted by murraypaul

At this point it just seems that you have a vendetta going on here.

If you go by the logic: posts that don't relate to the topic pointed at a member are a vendetta against said member, does it mean that you have a vendetta against me?

Also, I've looked in the thread, but it doesn't seem like you've expressed an opinion that relates to the topic, but only opinions that relate to the disagreement between Starrigger and me. So: do you think that the E-reads/Curtis project has any chance of success?

[Sil_liS]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Yes please, by all means, start several brand new campaigns that incontrovertibly prove why anyone who didn't feel that starrigger was "wrong" are they themselves, wrong and completely illogical about thinking they are right. That would help. A lot.

Well I wrote posts about the initial topic of the thread, but it seems like nobody is actually interested in that.

[Harmon]

Originally Posted by molman

@Harmon: I find this whole knowing possession of infringing works interesting. I'll have to look into it. I mean though not the same, if I was in possession of knowingly stolen goods I would imagine there’d some repercussion under the US legal system (beyond just removal).

Yes, it is interesting. In the 19th century, what we would regard as a pirated pbook was not a stolen object merely because it was pirated. But one could steal a particular volume of a book, pirated or not.

So then we got the copyright laws, which addressed pirated books, and in some sense turned them into stolen objects, but not entirely. It was still not illegal to merely possess a pirated volume, in the sense that you could not be arrested or fined for having one. But I believe that a pirated volume could be repossessed from the person who possessed it, by the author or legitimate publisher, working through the courts.

In the US, you always have to take the First Amendment into account, and that probably underlies the situation, but I really don't know that to be true - it's just my sense of the law based on other things I know about how the First Amendment has worked. And to top it off, I still think that the concept of "intellectual property" is incoherent, and that the digitalization of books is demonstrating that. OTOH, it might just be that I don't really understand it.

[molman]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

It's funny because my wife thought of me when she saw that comic the other day Randall's xkcd comics just continue to be fantastic.

[Harmon]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

Also, I want to SERIOUSLY thank Harmon, because I hadn't thought about PG distribution. Thank you Harmon. You are awesome.

Aw, shucks,... <scratching toe in dirt> Actually, it wasn't exactly my thought - I was responding to someone else and intended to contradict him - I initially thought that PG wouldn't host anything not clearly out of copyright. But I thought I'd make sure I knew what I was talking about & found out that I didn't. (This happens a lot, according to my wife...)

BTW, I've often wondered why an author, finding a pirated book on a pirate site, wouldn't set up a tip jar and a link to the pirate on his own site, along with a message to the effect that "if you want to, you can get the book <here> and you have my permission to do it if you pay me." Or point to the site, and say "you can find a poorly edited pirated version <here> for free, but if you prefer to read rather than edit, here's the authorized version for X bucks." And I certainly would include something in any digitized version of my book telling the reader where to find and pay for a legitimate copy, in case he's reading a pirated copy.

In other words, in a sense, pirate sites are advertising & distribution networks provided to the author for free by volunteers. Sort of like PG, only you might be able to make a buck off of it.

[Sil_liS]

Originally Posted by Harmon

So then we got the copyright laws, which addressed pirated books, and in some sense turned them into stolen objects, but not entirely. It was still not illegal to merely possess a pirated volume, in the sense that you could not be arrested or fined for having one. But I believe that a pirated volume could be repossessed from the person who possessed it, by the author or legitimate publisher, working through the courts.

How does repossessing a digital file work? Scan the computer & tablet & reader & external drive & etc. of the person who possessed it and remove it? And hope that they don't have an USB stick somewhere?

[Greg Anos]

Originally Posted by starrigger

Thanks for the offer, but my novels are now all up for sale as ebooks. (A couple are still available for free.)

I'm still slowly getting my short stories digitized, but I guess I'd have questions about putting them into Gutenberg. (I might consider it.)

Starrigger, if you need assistance scanning/proofing of those short stories, let me know. I'll work for free (Professional Courtesy). Samples of my work are available on Project Gutenberg Austrailia. See Man Abroad or The Crystal Button for my work examples. (Both are P.D. in US, life +70, life + 50 and life + 100 countries)