3 ms·

Oh boo hoo. I'm playing "my heart goes out for you" on the worlds smallest violin. The dramatically expanded access to information and the positive benefits of

Oh boo hoo. I'm playing "my heart goes out for you" on the worlds smallest violin. The dramatically expanded access to information and the positive benefits of this far outweighs the benefits of the profits to publishers (and the minuscule subset of those profits which filter down to the authors). It's not even in the same ballpark. The standard deviation of author profits is massive. Don't trust their claim that most authors are hardly earning more than 20k a year as evidence that small time authors gets screwed over. The ones who earn that much are almost never targeted for piracy. Pirates go out of their way to minimize the impact that their actions have on small time authors. It's the same with video game piracy. It's the ones who are making hundreds of thousands a year who are going to lose out. Make this library permanent for the good of society.

chx 7y ago
This is patently untrue. I looked up the wife of my colleague who is the epitome of small itme author and sure enough it's there. You go on mobilism, it's there. Do not try to paint pirates in a positive light. I know them inside out: I have been a software pirate since 1985, I have been the co-sysop of the one of the largest warez FTP sites in Central Europe in what now seems a different life (this was decades ago, it was mostly over by 2003 and fully over in 2004). Noone, absolutely noone cares what they steal. And these days I still pirate my ebooks but then I order the physical book and donate it to the local library and then delete the pirated copy. Only way to deal with DRM and lack of physical space.
- Der_Einzige 7y ago
  It's one thing for the book to be available on this library. It's another for one to directly lose out on potential sales due to that availability.
  - chx 7y ago
    This has been the argument for software piracy for the longest time and it's a convincing one: a student can't afford Adobe Photoshop but if they use a pirated copy once they are at a company they will want to use it. Or, in less charitable terms, you can't get blood from a stone, so why bother. This argument is so untrue for books it's not even funny. There is a huge treasure trove of free ebooks available and very often you can get a used mass paperback for less than a dollar. And there's no win from a pirated copy.
    - TeMPOraL 7y ago
      Books, like movies, videogames and often software tools, aren't substitutable. If I like Photoshop, or want to use it because it's popular, I'm unlikely to accept GIMP as a free alternative. If I want to read or watch The Expanse, I'm 100% not going to read some random free e-book or dollar paperback, because that's a different book. You can't substitute Shrek for Star Wars, nor Slime Rancher for Call of Duty. Commodities don't get pirated. Commodities get market competition.
      - chx 7y ago
        So you decided on not just merely passing the time with reading but reading a specific book and because you can't afford to pay for it, now you think you are entitled to it for free because why? If I want to buy a Vuis Luitton suitcase but can only afford American Tourister then I can just help myself to it? How is that right?
        TeMPOraL 7y ago
        > If I want to buy a Vuis Luitton suitcase but can only afford American Tourister then I can just help myself to it? How is that right? If you could 3D-print yourself a copy that looks just like the original, then sure, I'd say it's absolutely right to do. But that's my opinion, I'm not a fan of the concept of intellectual property. Regardless, what you did here is trying to equate piracy with theft, which is incorrect. Copying does not make the original disappear. Copyright infringement may be a crime, but it's a different crime than theft, both legally and morally. > but reading a specific book and because you can't afford to pay for it, now you think you are entitled to it for free because why? Well, if I can't afford it, I'm not going to buy it anyway. The publisher loses nothing over me making a copy. And there's an argument to be made that popular works of art are essential, because they form a shared cultural background; not having access to them means being excluded from the discussions your society is having.
    - bigyikes 7y ago
      There have been many occasions in my life where I've pirated some Adobe product. I was about to do so again a few months ago and was worried about downloading malware until I had the realization: "Wait, I have a job now. I can just buy the software!" It felt good to give Adobe my money, and I am not certain I would have paid for the product today had I not donned my peg-leg and eyepatch growing up.
dws 7y ago
"Pirates go out of their way to minimize the impact that their actions have on small time authors." Citation, please.
- Der_Einzige 7y ago
  At least 50% of scene release readmes tell you to buy the game/book if you can. That proportion approaches ~80% the smaller that the developer/author is. But here's a recent article showing that software piracy increases sales of indie titles - https://www.polygon.com/2020/1/13/21063660/danger-gazers-torrent-steam-sales-piracy https://www.polygon.com/2020/1/13/21063660/danger-gazers-tor... In the context of books you'll find the exact same phenomenon.
  - gjs278 7y ago
    it clearly does not increase sales. you’d have to be a brain dead retard to pay for something you just got for free.
  - Zonulet 7y ago
    I am a small time author myself. If someone gives away a pirated copy of one of my books for free, but includes a readme inviting people to buy the book, I do not feel they are 'minimising the impact on me'. In fact I do not feel that makes any difference whatsoever. The best way for them to minimise the impact on me would be to not give away my book in the first place.

chx 7y ago

This is patently untrue. I looked up the wife of my colleague who is the epitome of small itme author and sure enough it's there. You go on mobilism, it's there. Do not try to paint pirates in a positive light. I know them inside out: I have been a software pirate since 1985, I have been the co-sysop of the one of the largest warez FTP sites in Central Europe in what now seems a different life (this was decades ago, it was mostly over by 2003 and fully over in 2004). Noone, absolutely noone cares what they steal. And these days I still pirate my ebooks but then I order the physical book and donate it to the local library and then delete the pirated copy. Only way to deal with DRM and lack of physical space.

Der_Einzige 7y ago
It's one thing for the book to be available on this library. It's another for one to directly lose out on potential sales due to that availability.
- chx 7y ago
  This has been the argument for software piracy for the longest time and it's a convincing one: a student can't afford Adobe Photoshop but if they use a pirated copy once they are at a company they will want to use it. Or, in less charitable terms, you can't get blood from a stone, so why bother. This argument is so untrue for books it's not even funny. There is a huge treasure trove of free ebooks available and very often you can get a used mass paperback for less than a dollar. And there's no win from a pirated copy.
  - TeMPOraL 7y ago
    Books, like movies, videogames and often software tools, aren't substitutable. If I like Photoshop, or want to use it because it's popular, I'm unlikely to accept GIMP as a free alternative. If I want to read or watch The Expanse, I'm 100% not going to read some random free e-book or dollar paperback, because that's a different book. You can't substitute Shrek for Star Wars, nor Slime Rancher for Call of Duty. Commodities don't get pirated. Commodities get market competition.
    - chx 7y ago
      So you decided on not just merely passing the time with reading but reading a specific book and because you can't afford to pay for it, now you think you are entitled to it for free because why? If I want to buy a Vuis Luitton suitcase but can only afford American Tourister then I can just help myself to it? How is that right?
      - TeMPOraL 7y ago
        > If I want to buy a Vuis Luitton suitcase but can only afford American Tourister then I can just help myself to it? How is that right? If you could 3D-print yourself a copy that looks just like the original, then sure, I'd say it's absolutely right to do. But that's my opinion, I'm not a fan of the concept of intellectual property. Regardless, what you did here is trying to equate piracy with theft, which is incorrect. Copying does not make the original disappear. Copyright infringement may be a crime, but it's a different crime than theft, both legally and morally. > but reading a specific book and because you can't afford to pay for it, now you think you are entitled to it for free because why? Well, if I can't afford it, I'm not going to buy it anyway. The publisher loses nothing over me making a copy. And there's an argument to be made that popular works of art are essential, because they form a shared cultural background; not having access to them means being excluded from the discussions your society is having.
  - bigyikes 7y ago
    There have been many occasions in my life where I've pirated some Adobe product. I was about to do so again a few months ago and was worried about downloading malware until I had the realization: "Wait, I have a job now. I can just buy the software!" It felt good to give Adobe my money, and I am not certain I would have paid for the product today had I not donned my peg-leg and eyepatch growing up.

dws 7y ago

"Pirates go out of their way to minimize the impact that their actions have on small time authors." Citation, please.

Der_Einzige 7y ago
At least 50% of scene release readmes tell you to buy the game/book if you can. That proportion approaches ~80% the smaller that the developer/author is. But here's a recent article showing that software piracy increases sales of indie titles - https://www.polygon.com/2020/1/13/21063660/danger-gazers-torrent-steam-sales-piracy https://www.polygon.com/2020/1/13/21063660/danger-gazers-tor... In the context of books you'll find the exact same phenomenon.
- gjs278 7y ago
  it clearly does not increase sales. you’d have to be a brain dead retard to pay for something you just got for free.
- Zonulet 7y ago
  I am a small time author myself. If someone gives away a pirated copy of one of my books for free, but includes a readme inviting people to buy the book, I do not feel they are 'minimising the impact on me'. In fact I do not feel that makes any difference whatsoever. The best way for them to minimise the impact on me would be to not give away my book in the first place.