"As to hanging, it is no great hardship...": Internet Piracy, and Who It Hurts.

[seanan_mcguire]

I am about to preach to the choir, because I have no idea what else to do, and frankly, I am at a loss for other options

Comments

[deire]

If other people can access the file, how could it even be grey?

[seanan_mcguire]

If she's paid for the book, has one copy of the file, and doesn't distribute it, it's the same to me as owning a physical copy.

For me, really, the issue is "if you can't get the file any way but through the illegal download site, you're encouraging illegal downloading," and I don't have a solution to that.

[ext_164950]

The problem I have with the "same as a physical copy" argument isn't with the reader, but with the people who are putting it up to be downloaded.

If you've already got a copy of the book, you've paid your money, great. Digital, physical, it's the same thing. The book is not the collection of pages, but the story within it.

But the book shouldn't be available for you to download in the first place.

Are you as a reader doing anything wrong? On the whole right/wrong scale I'm a little fuzzy at the best of times, but think of this.

You are downloading a book that shouldn't be out there, which shows the people who put it there that there's a demand.

Yes, if one person stops downloading it won't stop the tide. But just as that demand builds on a person by person basis, so does reducing that demand. If you stop downloading, sure, other people won't. But there will be one less person doing that.

But it's got to start somewhere.

[seanan_mcguire]

Word.

[deire]

Ah, okay. I hear 'torrent' and think 'other people can access'.

[seanan_mcguire]

That's pretty much the case.

[seanan_mcguire]

It's a gray area in that legally, I can't really say "oh, go ahead, it doesn't count if you've paid for it." That said, if I had my way, all books would be bundled physical+virtual, to make it easier on everyone. Personally, I think you're only obligated to pay for a book once. I just wish that everyone would.

[ext_232604]

That would definitely be ideal - I love the way the new Vorkosigan book came out, but I'm sure they don't feel they can do that with every author.

[branna]

This completely works for me (although these days, I admit I will happily pay top dollar to the publisher for pure virtual copies just so I don't have to _store_ the physical book. The key word here, however, is pay).

[tikiera]

I am waiting for the day I can pay a few dollars more and get a physical book and a electronic book at the same time. I am being good, and either buying the physical book or the electronic book, and trying to be content with the choice I made either way - but it's hard. I don't download books, though I do haunt the Amazon Kindle list for freebies - but that has lead to me picking up new series.

I wish, wish, wish I could lend the electronic books, even if it's only half a book. The first chapter isn't enough to get my friends hooked, and I find when lend out books I can make book chains of being lending and buying and lending and buying (the Dresden series got out to 12 links before I lost track, with many of those links actually being hubs).

I want the ease of electronic, but find I am buying books I know I want to take off in paperback, so I can lend, and hope they catch on.

[tikiera]

To be clear, I do try to buy in paperbook the books I think I am going to want to lend - all of yours are paperback, most new authors or new series, the first book in paperbook. Am getting annoyed at my shelves because of this - the urge to complete the set is still there, and I already spend too much books.

[seanan_mcguire]

Guh.

Do not even talk to me about spending too much in books; I'm trying to think of it as buying portable insulation.

[tikiera]

I budget myself, and rediscovered the county library system, where I have access to any book in any county library delivered to my local one. Wow, it's awesome.

[seanan_mcguire]

I'm scared of library cards. It kinda sucks.

[groblek]

My first boss had a house with the framing 2x4s exposed on the inside, so he used them as bookshelves. I suspect they helped a lot with insulating the place.