From: John Gabriele Date: 2006-05-16T11:39:34+09:00 Subject: Re: Ticked Off On 5/15/06, Elliot Temple wrote: > >[snip] But is > every case of piracy deserving of the same great scorn? Same? No. But some variable amount of scorn depending upon circumstances? I believe yes. > I realise > this may be a tangential issue, but if someone can't afford a book > and is not going to buy it either way, whom has he harmed by > downloading it? A writer works on their book based on the premise that they will be reimbursed for each copy, thus making it worth their while -- otherwise they wouldn't bother writing it. In a perfect world, the price of the book might depend some amount upon circumstances such as, how much can the customer afford? Do they do their best to help others in society (discount!), or do they usually opt to screw the other guy (surcharge!) ? Have they had recent hardships out of their control which might justify a lower price? It goes the other way too. Suppose some company or person is producing copyrighted material that's damaging to society. If you illegally share their material, and if that sharing helps put them out of business (i.e. potential buyers get a free copy instead of paying for it), does that make sharing it right, albeit illegal? Hm... . To keep this post on-topic, I bought David's book -- the dead tree version. Manning gives you a complimentary pdf version to boot, but it's generated on the fly and has your name and email address emblazoned at the bottom of every page. So, if you leak your copy to the 'net, everyone knows it was you. :) Some might suggest that, what would make it even less likely to be shared would be if they put your name, address, phone number, credit card number, date of birth, and IP address somewhere on every page. Then, if you leaked your copy, people could find you and throw rotten eggs at your house. Though, that could also lead to privacy concerns (ex. kid buys book on internet with Dad's card, shares e-book/pdf with friends, and now folks know a little too much about Dad).