E-Book Piracy: The Publishing Industry's Next Epic Saga?

[pepak]

Originally Posted by seagull

I own paper books. I would like those paper books on my e-reader. I could of course scan and OCR them but it's a process that I could skip by torrenting them, and achieve the same end product. Obviously the uploader has committed an illegal activity by uploading copyrighted work without the permission of the copyright holder. What about me? Should have I repurchased the titles? What if those titles are as of yet unavailable in eBook format?

Two things which may or may not be relevant to you:

1) In my country, I can legally download copyrighted work under certain conditions, regardless of whether I actually own the original version. I pay for this privilege in form of extra "tax" on CDs, CD writers, copiers, hard disks etc.

2) It has been my experience that if I want a quality end-product, it is usually much less work to do it all (scan it, OCR it, proof-read it) than to download it (or, sadly, buy it) and "just proof-read it". Exceptions exist, of course.

[Greg Anos]

Originally Posted by kennyc

I tend to disagree. It's better to let nature take it's course rather than die struggling in our own garbage. Those works that are relevant and important will remain so of their own accord, those that have little relevance will fade away. This is how it should be.

Relevance to whom? Obviously, if somebody is copying/"pirating", it's relevant to somebody. The implication is that somebody else has to right to tell another person what is "relevant"....

Is 500K to a meg or two of cheap flash space garbage?

[tompe]

Originally Posted by kennyc

As I said there should be no guarantee that a work is available, it should follow the natural processes just as in evolution.

Which natural process are you talking about? I cannot see anything natural about how books survives since they survive or die in a non-natural environment.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

Relevance to whom? Obviously, if somebody is copying/"pirating", it's relevant to somebody. The implication is that somebody else has to right to tell another person what is "relevant"....

Is 500K to a meg or two of cheap flash space garbage?

To society Ralph, to society the species as a whole. It's actually quite simple if you bother to think about it.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by tompe

Which natural process are you talking about? I cannot see anything natural about how books survives since they survive or die in a non-natural environment.

See above.

[Greg Anos]

Originally Posted by kennyc

To society Ralph, to society the species as a whole. It's actually quite simple if you bother to think about it.

The species has no concept of copyright. Only the western civilization has. Which is only one of many civilization cycles. And even that was a later addition... The human species has been around a lot longer that you have, Kennyc.....

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

The species has no concept of copyright. Only the western civilization has. Whohc is only one of many civilization cycles. And even that was a later addition... The human species has been around a lot longer that you have, Kennyc.....

Gawd Ralph, what do you think writing, books, libraries are about? Sheesh.

I don't know, I'm getting quite tired of those members who seem only to want to argue and impose their beliefs on others. It's one thing to state one's beliefs and the environment in which they exist. It's another to insist only you see the truth. From here on out when someone attempts to argue matters of opinion I will simply not respond other than to state my position. I could care less if you believe it or not.

[Bremen Cole]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I beg your pardon? The MP3 format does not have DRM.

Of course you are correct, I was using "mp3" in the generic use meaning digital music. They are actually WMA's.

[DawnFalcon]

Originally Posted by seagull

May I ask why you payed for illegal items? In my mind that's actually worse than not paying for them

If he's talking about the Russian site I'm thinking about, it's fully legal under Russian law, and big music companies have tried and failed in court to shut it down. Indeed, I believe VISA was heavily fined in Russia for refusing to process payments to said site.

[Bremen Cole]

Originally Posted by seagull

May I ask why you payed for illegal items? In my mind that's actually worse than not paying for them

Simple. The site was/is legit in Russia... therefore no adware, spyware or virus. Easy navigation. Never a problem, every album was perfect and including cover art...etc. All the "legal" sites at the time had 128 bit, I got excellent quality 360 bit there. They had every genre, oldies, the very latest...etc. Well worth the little money. If the music industry ever went back to DRM I would not hesitate to purchase from them again. I am still glad I went there if for no other reason than to have Beatles albums. I am not a big Beatles fan, but enjoy playing them for nostalgic reasons

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by DawnFalcon

If he's talking about the Russian site I'm thinking about, it's fully legal under Russian law, and big music companies have tried and failed in court to shut it down. Indeed, I believe VISA was heavily fined in Russia for refusing to process payments to said site.

That sounds strange. Russia is a signature to the International Berne Copyright Convention; I really don't see how they can legally sell copyrighted material without the permission of the copyright holder.

[Bremen Cole]

Originally Posted by DawnFalcon

If he's talking about the Russian site I'm thinking about, it's fully legal under Russian law, and big music companies have tried and failed in court to shut it down. Indeed, I believe VISA was heavily fined in Russia for refusing to process payments to said site.

That is the site, and you are correct about VISA. As a matter of fact I used VISA on the site......

Just to be clear... The ONLY reason I used the site was because of DRM. When I had legal, good quality alternatives (in this case Amazon's MP3's) I did not do business with them again. I am one of those strange folks that believe that when I buy something, it is mine to do with as I wish. Otherwise, why buy it.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by HarryT

That sounds strange. Russia is a signature to the International Berne Copyright Convention; I really don't see how they can legally sell copyrighted material without the permission of the copyright holder.

Google will in two seconds give you for example:

http://www.allofmp3.ru/press/centre....993&d=12886483

They claim legal to sell. Legal to buy in Russia. And:

Every user of AllOFMP3.com who comes outside Russia has to realize that downloading files from the Internet can be illegal in his or her country. AllOFMP3.com cannot be held responsible for actions of foreign users.

[HarryT]

OK, so it's legal for them to sell it, but not necessarily legal for someone in western Europe or the US to buy it?

[Greg Anos]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Gawd Ralph, what do you think writing, books, libraries are about? Sheesh.

I don't know, I'm getting quite tired of those members who seem only to want to argue and impose their beliefs on others. It's one thing to state one's beliefs and the environment in which they exist. It's another to insist only you see the truth. From here on out when someone attempts to argue matters of opinion I will simply not respond other than to state my position. I could care less if you believe it or not.

Shakespeare didn't have copyright supporting him. Nor did Cervantes. Or any of the Greek plays, or Roman writings. Or the Analectics of Confucius (Kung-Fu-Tse). Or Marlowe, Omar, ect.... (And yes, the Library of Alexandria didn't have a copyright supporting it, either.)

Copyright is a Western Civilization invention, from the 1700's forward. Born by the printing press, dying by the computer chip. Selah.