Do you pirate books and why?

[Belfaborac]

Originally Posted by nonobjective

Not at all? Really? I certainly think it prevents casual or "convenience" piracy. Circumventing DRM is certainly possible but it requires some technical skill.

How does it do that? Someone, somewhere will break the DRM within hours or days (if it isn't already broken) and once it's broken and the book made available it becomes trivial to pirate it.

[Redcard]

Originally Posted by nonobjective

Not at all? Really? I certainly think it prevents casual or "convenience" piracy. Circumventing DRM is certainly possible but it requires some technical skill.

Not really.

Most casual / convenience pirates know where to go to get tons of pirated materials, and the job of circumvention has already been done for them. It just takes one person to do a circumvention, and then the rest can benefit.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by nonobjective

Not at all? Really? I certainly think it prevents casual or "convenience" piracy. Circumventing DRM is certainly possible but it requires some technical skill.

You mean it sometimes prevents people in one family sharing an ebook, and sometimes prevents someone loaning a favourite book? Perhaps.

Not really what I'd call piracy, which I would consider to be large-scale anonymous sharing of an ebook.

[nonobjective]

Originally Posted by Belfaborac

How does it do that? Someone, somewhere will break the DRM within hours or days (if it isn't already broken) and once it's broken and the book made available it becomes trivial to pirate it.

So you are making the case DRM has not prevented a single instant of piracy? If DRM offered no resistance to the free flow of media, why then do so many rail against it?

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by nonobjective

So you are making the case DRM has not prevented a single instant of piracy? If DRM offered no resistance to the free flow of media, why then do so many rail against it?

It offers no resistance to large-scale unauthorized filesharing. It impedes many types of fair use, and casual sharing among family members. The objection is to the hype that the impairment of legitimate uses--switching devices, getting a new OS, sharing with a spouse--is somehow acceptable because it "prevents piracy."

In short: it penalizes legitimate users while offering no detriments to mass uploaders.

[Pookeysgirl]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

I have pirated seven books, ie the Harry Potter series. When the author gets off her butt and sells them through her website or Amazon or where ever, I will happily purchase the books. I have no interest in re-reading the last 4 books in hardback form because they uncomfortable to hold and are far to heavy. I bought the hardbacks and the paperbacks so I don't feel like I have deprived her of any money.

This is exactly what I did. They are the ONLY books that I have ever pirated. And the second the ebooks become available to me I will re-purchase them all.

[nonobjective]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

It offers no resistance to large-scale unauthorized filesharing. It impedes many types of fair use, and casual sharing among family members. The objection is to the hype that the impairment of legitimate uses--switching devices, getting a new OS, sharing with a spouse--is somehow acceptable because it "prevents piracy."

In short: it penalizes legitimate users while offering no detriments to mass uploaders.

I agree with everything you said. What I disagreed with was the following:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I'd say it doesn't prevent piracy at all.

I don't mind hyperbole in the least, but when it's offered as a contrast to the more accurate original statement it just strikes me as chest thumping.

[bill_mchale]

Originally Posted by hidari

99% of writers do have a job. Almost none of them only write. Writing as an occupation is a privilege of the modern era...

That may be true, but I wonder how true it is for writers who publish a novel every year or two? Many, if not most, of the authors I read regularly either do/did not have day jobs or had jobs that were directly related to their writing.

Certainly many mid-list authors who still have day jobs aspire to make enough money from their writing so that they don't have them any more.

--
Bill

[sbroome]

Originally Posted by Pookeysgirl

This is exactly what I did. They are the ONLY books that I have ever pirated. And the second the ebooks become available to me I will re-purchase them all.

I think you should get the ebooks free if you have proof of purchase for the paper books, but I understand why publishers are slow to adopt that model.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by nonobjective

I don't mind hyperbole in the least, but when it's offered as a contrast to the more accurate original statement it just strikes me as chest thumping.

It depends on your definition of piracy. I don't consider letting a friend read a book that I've greatly enjoyed when I've finished reading it 'piracy'.

[ProfCrash]

Originally Posted by sbroome

I think you should get the ebooks free if you have proof of purchase for the paper books, but I understand why publishers are slow to adopt that model.

I did not get the CDs free for the LPs I had bought when I moved from albums to CDs. I don't expect to get the digital version of books that I purchased for free now.

If I want the e-book version of something I already own, I buy it. I have probably repurchased about 50 books for my e-reader because I wanted to read the e-book version. I will repurchase the Harry Potter books when they become available as e-books.

I have a feeling that is going to be a long, long time coming.

[sbroome]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

I did not get the CDs free for the LPs I had bought when I moved from albums to CDs. I don't expect to get the digital version of books that I purchased for free now.

If I want the e-book version of something I already own, I buy it. I have probably repurchased about 50 books for my e-reader because I wanted to read the e-book version. I will repurchase the Harry Potter books when they become available as e-books.

I have a feeling that is going to be a long, long time coming.

Comics are already doing it, it's a way to keep people who are tempted to go digital-only from doing so.

[Ninjalawyer]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

I did not get the CDs free for the LPs I had bought when I moved from albums to CDs. I don't expect to get the digital version of books that I purchased for free now.

If I want the e-book version of something I already own, I buy it. I have probably repurchased about 50 books for my e-reader because I wanted to read the e-book version. I will repurchase the Harry Potter books when they become available as e-books.

I have a feeling that is going to be a long, long time coming.

What you say makes sense, but there's been a culture change thanks to digital goods. People are now used to the idea of buying an MP3 once and being able to stick it on multiple devices or burn it to CD (i.e. format shifting). It's not the same thing, but people operate by using analogies, and the analogy isn't very hard to make; It's actually very interesting - people have moved from viewing the container (i.e. a paper book or magazine) as the unit of stuff that they're buying to seeing the information in that container as the thing they're buying.

[ProfCrash]

That is the logic behind removing DRM. I should be able to use my e-book on any e-reader and not be limited to one e-reader.

Personally, I am not buying paperbooks any more. If the suggestion is , buy the paper book, get the digital book, then ok. But if the suggestion is that I can send in my past book reciepts and get a free copy of the e-book then not so much.

There is a difference in bundling a current item, movies come with digital copies, comic books with a digital copy, and asking for the digitial version of something you bought before such bundling occured.

[nonobjective]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

I did not get the CDs free for the LPs I had bought when I moved from albums to CDs. I don't expect to get the digital version of books that I purchased for free now.

If I want the e-book version of something I already own, I buy it. I have probably repurchased about 50 books for my e-reader because I wanted to read the e-book version. I will repurchase the Harry Potter books when they become available as e-books.

I have a feeling that is going to be a long, long time coming.

I don't really think this is an argument to get anything free per se, it's an argument of what is (or should be) fair use.

Your LP/CD analogy is somewhat lacking... To make it more apt CDs and CD players would have to be exclusive. Memorex brand CDs only work in Memorex brand CD players, and Pioneer CDs in Pioneer brand players. You would only be allowed to listen to certain music in certain locations, and if you wanted to lend a CD to your neighbor you would also have to lend him your stereo system as well.

A scenario similar to this would probably have resulted in at least a few (warranted) consumer complaints, and the music publishers would have hopefully seen the light and relented.