Do you pirate books and why?

[Barbara1955]

95% 0f the books I get are ones I got as HB then PB Several Times over the Decades! Most are Dead! So I dont feel guilty for Not Suporting their Relatives!

[StephenM]

Originally Posted by Giggleton

We simply imagine the farming robot as a text, in other words the robot is the software code that someone has written. Should this someone be given license fees in perpetuity for their design? Would letting this robot only function in locales that could afford the licensing fees be fair? Or should we simply give the robot's designers a certain number of years to collect fees from the robot's use?

Certainly the designer should be remunerated? But how? Withholding the robot from those who could not afford the licensing fees seems cruel and unusual doesn't it?

And once the robots start to design and build their own robots, do we have to pay licensing fees to the robots?

[StephenM]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

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

DRM is only an inconvenience to the first person who downloads the media. Once he/she removes the DRM, and uploads the DRM-free media, it is no longer an issue for anyone. DRM is like the lock on your car. It only stops the honest and trustworthy, who are not the people one needs to protect the media against. Anyone who isn't technically proficient to remove the DRM themselves probably knows a teenager who is.

[cghipp]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

I don't have a problem with getting books from friends or the bookdrop by my apartment's mailbox center, nor with listening to music while shopping, nor with watching movies on someone else's TV. I am glad to live in a time & place that has so much free entertainment. I can't imagine having to pay for every shred of music or literature in my life.

That is not at all what I meant, and I think my meaning was pretty obvious.

[StephenM]

Originally Posted by The Terminator

Or a service like NetFlix for ebooks.

I believe DC Comics is currently doing exactly this. For a monthly subscription fee, you get access to thousands of comic book titles, past and present.

[Rhialto]

Originally Posted by Katie1

Last week I went on a FREE site & got 25 Free eBooks
TODAY on http://us.kogrid.com/ I Got the EXCATE same ebooks for FREE thru Amazon!
Do I feel guilty for using the 1st Free site last week NOOOOO
Because I now have it so I can read them on my K3...Coby & my son can read them on his Literati! I dont need to worry about DRM!

A lot of sludge there, as well as some very racy stuff. Don't have the show covers option on if at work.

[CWatkinsNash]

Originally Posted by Rhialto

A lot of sludge there, as well as some very racy stuff. Don't have the show covers option on if at work.

I turned on the covers just for giggles. A book of Grandma's cookie recipes right above a Selena Kitt-edited erotica anthology. And for those who try it - it remembers your covers on/off choice, so if you don't want an eyeful of naked posteriors on your next visit, turn them back off or clean your cookies.

I actually like it in a way, because it's a different way to view the offerings, but for the day-to-day I think I'll stick to ATDrake's curated posts in the bargain's forum. They are entertaining and much easier on the eyes!

[xg4bx]

at a regular msrp of $3.99 for 13 page books, that had better be some great smut. thankfully its free.

[Zeroburn]

My random thought here: I do believe most of us agree on some of the "legit" reasons to pirate a ebook. I think in a way overall, the publishing business model is definitely archaic in this day in age where a digital platform now exists. Much like the music industry has changed (and was only changed by force or else it was about to implode, the publishing industry must do the same in some manner.

At this point in time they are being as stubborn as the past industries have been to digital change, and looking at it as a loss in revenue and profit - which is not the case if they would just let go of DRM and international right restrictions, ect. and just did open and fair business practices with a reasonable price tag.

My two cents.

[Giggleton]

Originally Posted by StephenM

And once the robots start to design and build their own robots, do we have to pay licensing fees to the robots?

This is a good question, When we throw strong AI into the mix, things will probably start to get interesting. Of course by that time we might not need money anymore (hopefully )

[Barbara1955]

The Porn Covers dont bother me.... 57 yrs old & son is 37 yrs old
I found too many Freebies to let it stop me from using the site.
Yesterday I got 25 from 2 authors

I am one of those Dummies that Cant remove the DRM & No one I knows can either I downloaded ALL the things people on here told me to but just cat get it to work together! Kinda sucks since I Lost 2 PAID eBooks [so far] I got from Amazon! Yep they Limit how many times you get to download a book!! Sucks! I have 2 kindles [1 broke they replaced it] tried 3 tablets [returned] Now have my 4th Tablet. Changed my desktop to laptops [3rd now] The other day I had to take the Tablet back to Factory! Amazon decided 2 of my eBooks could no longer be download any more Amazon Wont even tell me How Many Downloads I am allowed!!
So IF I can get it Free 1st thats the way I going from now on!

[Katsunami]

I don't pirate books, music, games or software EXCEPT when there is no way to get it legally. If no store will sell me an ebook because it may not be sold in the Netherlands, then I WILL pirate it and read it.

I once used a shareware version of a program to do some stuff on the computer, but it was limited to doing it's thing only 10 times, while I needed the software around 200 times. The price was OK at only $10, but the developer only accepted one sort of credit card I didn't have. I contacted him, and requested him to provide me with an alternate way to pay. The answer basically was: "Sorry dude, not going to happen." Therefore, I pirated the program, batch-edited my 200 files, and wiped it away afterward.

So yes, I'll pirate stuff, but ONLY when there is no possibility to get it legally.

Luckily, this only happens very seldom, at least at this moment.

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by Belfaborac

I ticked once in a while, since I have about 20-25 books obtained from the "DarkNet". All are books I already own, which have yet to emerge in digital form. Once in a while I look them up in Calibre and do a search to see if they've become available as e-books. If or when I find that they are, I'll happily buy them. In several cases (though not all, I think) I have also e-mailed the authors to tell them I've done this and to say I hope their books will be released as e-books soon.

I don't consider this pirating, but for the purposes of the poll I suppose it serves as such.

If you do continue to write the authors, make it clear that you bought the paperback book already. I've seen two authors post lately about fan mail from people who write and tell them they downloaded the book from a pirate site and "just loved it" and wanted to let the author know. It's very difficult to reply to those emails. It's a bit different if you're making it clear that you did buy the book, but wanted to be able to buy it ebook. (It's also different if the ebook exists.)

Fan mail can be a difficult thing sometimes.

[Larken]

I have downloaded pirated books. Because I started reading on a Palm Pilot years ago, it was kinda the thing because ebooks weren't widely available commercially. Over time, I began to feel some guilt, so I would purchase a "real" book and keep it on the shelf, but would still download the pirated edition for mobility.

I have been uncomfortable with DRM. Back when my wife and I both had Sony Readers, I attempted to take the dive into the world of DRM books and made a couple purchases. The DRM was through Adobe. Over the next year or so, I changed out devices enough that I ran out of devices that I could subscribe to my Adobe account and ended up in a long, drawn out email conversation with them trying to get my account reset so I could add more devices. This took about two weeks just to get them to reset my account clearing off my old devices. Since then, I have not gone back to DRM books.

I have often thought that a better idea would be to go to a book signing of someone like Jim Butcher with $150 or so, and hand it to him and say "Here... this is for all the books I've read that you've written, but I haven't purchased" I figure it might put more money in their pocket than if I bought them off the shelf. Of course, I might just get punched too...

[ProfCrash]

Or you could remove the DRM and not worry about books not working on different devices.