4 ms·

I also pirate things. Often. I don't want to, but I'm always forced to by shitty policy. Apple TV requires credit card verification to stream in certain circum

I also pirate things. Often. I don't want to, but I'm always forced to by shitty policy. Apple TV requires credit card verification to stream in certain circumstances. That verification is broken for me... So despite the fact I pay for Apple TV, I pirate when I'm away from home. I'm not entitled to the rights of the Ebooks I bought. I guess publishers can just change them[0], and god forbid I put my book on my own EReader. What I tend to do is buy the book and strip DRM. I'm privileged to even have the ability to buy the book, I guess. And buying ebooks? Terrible experience as well. At the book store, you can just page through the book to see if it's what you actually want. I wanted to buy a book on a development topic I'm interested, and the ebook costs 70$. No problem if it's the book I want, but the preview is just not enough, so I pirated it, then decided to buy it. It really bothers me how consistently the best option is just not to pay. [0] https://goodereader.com/blog/kindle/ronald-dahl-ebooks-being-updated-automatically-with-censored-versions https://goodereader.com/blog/kindle/ronald-dahl-ebooks-being... Sidenote: I think there's a potential market for a service that allows local bookstores to sell ebooks. It sounds stupid, but I absolutely love browsing the book store... Just when it comes down to it I buy the ebook because it's a much nicer reading experience. I'd love if I could go to a bookstore, take the book to the counter, "buy it", and then the clerk takes the book and credits the ebook my account. Lately I've been playing around with connecting the digital and physical worlds. I've been toying with smart windchimes for notifications, christmas lights that tell me the weather, and all sorts of little connections. It's beautiful.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
StanislavPetrov 3y ago
The same can be said for the absolutely awful way that "smart" tvs work these days. A friend of mine has a "smart" tv and pays over $400 a month for cable tv and a huge variety of streaming services in order to watch all the things he wants to watch. Many times we have tried (and failed) to navigate the dizzying array of networks and services in an attempt to watch a game or a fight that should be legitimately able to watch due to his paid subscriptions, only to give up and end up pirating it because it was unavailable and/or too much of a hassle.
pierat 3y ago
Indeed! I have 4 library bookshelves (7 foot tall ones). And they're packed with books. *Bought* books. But dealing with more current "online books" are a fraud. They 'sell' these books, but in actuality they're rentals due to DRM. I cant read them on Linux; I cant sell them; I cant read them on my phone; I can't print past their arbitrary print limits. I have none of the same rights of these physical books. So, yeah, I'll pirate.
- internetter 3y ago
  I'd say, maybe buy the physical book and pirate the Ebooks. I haven't been the best at this... I just buy the ebooks and strip them... But I suppose I could buy a physical book locally and have a loaner for a friend, or give it to charity
  - sn0wf1re 3y ago
    Kill a tree just so that you can feel morally correct and the author gets a 2¢ royalty? Naw, just pirate and don't feel bad since apparently that is what publishers want you to do[0]. Maybe buy the author a coffee if you ever run into them. [0] based on their actions it sure seems like this is the case.
    - kennend3 3y ago
      "Kill a tree just so that you can feel morally correct and the author gets a 2¢ royalty? " As others have said, you seem shockingly unaware that trees are GROWN specifically for making paper. NO ONE is cutting down premium "old growth" forests to make paper.. Nice "virtue signal" on your part, too bad you did not spend 5 mins to learn where paper comes from first.
    - B1FF_PSUVM 3y ago
      > Kill a tree You know that paper producers own land where they farm trees for pulp, right? It's not like they're making deserts out there randomly chopping down trees.
nunuvit 3y ago
I have legal, instant access to nearly every technical publication I need in digital form, but I still illegally download almost everything. It's much faster to get the docs, I don't have to slog through crippled page navigation or search, and they don't cut me off because I've opened too many research papers in one day to see if any of them actually answer my question. The music and TV/film industries figured out how to get people to pay. The print industry can figure it out too.
- camjohnson26 3y ago
  We’re living in the dark ages of copyright policy.
  - nunuvit 3y ago
    Copyright policy needs improvement, but I don't think I support any changes that would help much here.
    - internetter 3y ago
      > I don't think I support any changes > that would help much here. You don't support changes that would help improve copyright policy?
      - nunuvit 3y ago
        Seriously? here = my previous comment
        internetter 3y ago
        Oops, sorry... got lost in the thread :)
scarmig 3y ago
Put a unique QR code in each physical book in some standardized location (probably the publisher's imprint page). Then, someone can scan it to purchase it. The bookstore then gets a cut of the purchase. It would even work browsing a friend's bookshelf or a library. Seems like it'd be a win for consumers, publishers, and bookstores all alike, and it doesn't seem too complicated to implement technically.
- thinkmassive 3y ago
  From manning.com: > Print copies, wherever they are bought, come with free electronic versions in PDF, ePub and Kindle formats. With your print copy in hand, register it on the Manning site and you can download the digital versions from your account. No affiliation, I’m just a long-time satisfied customer.
- contingencies 3y ago
  It's called an ISBN. That's the barcode on all books printed since the latter half of the 20th century. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN
  - birdman3131 3y ago
    ISBN's are not unique.
    - wizzwizz4 3y ago
      They're nearly-unique; there probably aren't more than ten books sharing the same ISBN.
      - icedchai 3y ago
        Perhaps the previous poster means unique per physical copy?
        scarmig 3y ago
pnzrdrgoon 3y ago
Tabletop RPG publishers are making inroads towards making digital versions of books available with purchase of physical books from indie games shops. Whenever I'm looking for a new TTRPG book I always first ask my Friendly Local Game Shops if they're in the Bits & Mortar program and it influences where I purchase. Even if the shop isn't part of the program many of the publishers will now send a PDF if you send them a picture of the receipt (shout out to Free League Publishing for being awesome about this). https://www.bits-and-mortar.com/ https://www.bits-and-mortar.com/
thinkmassive 3y ago
> No problem if it's the book I want, but the preview is just not enough Manning has a decent solution to this. You can browse the entire book, but only a small section of it at a time is “descrambled” in the live view. On more than one occasion I’ve used this to look up some specific topic, which was immediately viewable (and unblocked me on that problem), then gone on to purchase the book because I know it’s high quality and I’m likely to refer to it in the future for other reasons. https://www.manning.com/ https://www.manning.com/
- zamnos 3y ago
  I might be misunderstanding the scheme, but that sounds like someone would just need to automate viewing of consecutive sections in live view as it would unblur each section until you've downloaded the whole book. What am I missing?
  - thinkmassive 3y ago
    You’re not missing anything, but apparently it works for them. I suppose if it were more widespread then there’d be more incentive to automate scraping entire books. They also sell their eBooks as normal PDFs (no DRM). I assume it’s a healthy combination of making high quality technical publications easy to acquire at a reasonable price. Similar to how digital movie and music piracy finally died down when that media became reasonably easy to acquire legally.
gameshot911 3y ago
> I don't want to, but I'm always forced to by shitty policy. "forced" You say that as if your hands are bound. Creators have an intrinsic right to distribute their work as they see fit. You do not have an intrinsic right to it. If you don't like their terms, then your right is to not consume it. NOT to steal it. If you decide to thieve, then that's your call. Just don't pretend it's being "forced" upon you.
- internetter 3y ago
  Who defines "thievery"? The RIAA? If I buy something, I expect full rights to it. Dead simple. I pay for the content, and then I pirate it because the distributer somehow invested millions of dollars (instead of distributing to authors, mind you) into making a less consumer friendly platform than piracy. Not to mention, internet piracy is not thievery. The only thing in limited quantity is the silicon that enables it. If piracy did not exist I would likely not buy these things in the first place, because the stupid restrictions mean I can't consume what I paid for. In that way, my hand is indeed forced. Tell me, who is being cheated here?
  - brookst 3y ago
    > I expect Great! You can expect whatever you want. Just as the seller can set whatever terms and price they want. > who is being cheated here? Well, if the seller is clear as about the terms they are willing to sell for, and you just take it without paying, you are the one cheating. You may have a moral right to cheat because you, I guess, have a right to have everyone offer the deal you expect. But I think it's taking it a bit far to say that not only are you going to take the content without paying, but you also want to feel cheated when doing so.
    - internetter 3y ago
      > and you just take it without paying, you are the one cheating. I think you glossed over the part where I pay for everything I pirate.
BlackjackCF 3y ago
I think it’s wild that publishers don’t do something like pay an extra dollar if you’re buying the hard copy and also get the ebook. It’s also wild that the ebook is often as expensive as a hard copy.
bombcar 3y ago
I wonder if someone in the USA could setup a "piracy forgiveness service" where they accept amazon orders of books and movies and just immediately shred them.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

StanislavPetrov 3y ago

The same can be said for the absolutely awful way that "smart" tvs work these days. A friend of mine has a "smart" tv and pays over $400 a month for cable tv and a huge variety of streaming services in order to watch all the things he wants to watch. Many times we have tried (and failed) to navigate the dizzying array of networks and services in an attempt to watch a game or a fight that should be legitimately able to watch due to his paid subscriptions, only to give up and end up pirating it because it was unavailable and/or too much of a hassle.

pierat 3y ago

Indeed! I have 4 library bookshelves (7 foot tall ones). And they're packed with books. *Bought* books. But dealing with more current "online books" are a fraud. They 'sell' these books, but in actuality they're rentals due to DRM. I cant read them on Linux; I cant sell them; I cant read them on my phone; I can't print past their arbitrary print limits. I have none of the same rights of these physical books. So, yeah, I'll pirate.

internetter 3y ago
I'd say, maybe buy the physical book and pirate the Ebooks. I haven't been the best at this... I just buy the ebooks and strip them... But I suppose I could buy a physical book locally and have a loaner for a friend, or give it to charity
- sn0wf1re 3y ago
  Kill a tree just so that you can feel morally correct and the author gets a 2¢ royalty? Naw, just pirate and don't feel bad since apparently that is what publishers want you to do[0]. Maybe buy the author a coffee if you ever run into them. [0] based on their actions it sure seems like this is the case.
  - kennend3 3y ago
    "Kill a tree just so that you can feel morally correct and the author gets a 2¢ royalty? " As others have said, you seem shockingly unaware that trees are GROWN specifically for making paper. NO ONE is cutting down premium "old growth" forests to make paper.. Nice "virtue signal" on your part, too bad you did not spend 5 mins to learn where paper comes from first.
  - B1FF_PSUVM 3y ago
    > Kill a tree You know that paper producers own land where they farm trees for pulp, right? It's not like they're making deserts out there randomly chopping down trees.

nunuvit 3y ago

I have legal, instant access to nearly every technical publication I need in digital form, but I still illegally download almost everything. It's much faster to get the docs, I don't have to slog through crippled page navigation or search, and they don't cut me off because I've opened too many research papers in one day to see if any of them actually answer my question. The music and TV/film industries figured out how to get people to pay. The print industry can figure it out too.

camjohnson26 3y ago
We’re living in the dark ages of copyright policy.
- nunuvit 3y ago
  Copyright policy needs improvement, but I don't think I support any changes that would help much here.
  - internetter 3y ago
    > I don't think I support any changes > that would help much here. You don't support changes that would help improve copyright policy?
    - nunuvit 3y ago
      Seriously? here = my previous comment
      - internetter 3y ago
        Oops, sorry... got lost in the thread :)

scarmig 3y ago

Put a unique QR code in each physical book in some standardized location (probably the publisher's imprint page). Then, someone can scan it to purchase it. The bookstore then gets a cut of the purchase. It would even work browsing a friend's bookshelf or a library. Seems like it'd be a win for consumers, publishers, and bookstores all alike, and it doesn't seem too complicated to implement technically.

thinkmassive 3y ago
From manning.com: > Print copies, wherever they are bought, come with free electronic versions in PDF, ePub and Kindle formats. With your print copy in hand, register it on the Manning site and you can download the digital versions from your account. No affiliation, I’m just a long-time satisfied customer.
contingencies 3y ago
It's called an ISBN. That's the barcode on all books printed since the latter half of the 20th century. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN
- birdman3131 3y ago
  ISBN's are not unique.
  - wizzwizz4 3y ago
    They're nearly-unique; there probably aren't more than ten books sharing the same ISBN.
    - icedchai 3y ago
      Perhaps the previous poster means unique per physical copy?
      - scarmig 3y ago

pnzrdrgoon 3y ago

Tabletop RPG publishers are making inroads towards making digital versions of books available with purchase of physical books from indie games shops. Whenever I'm looking for a new TTRPG book I always first ask my Friendly Local Game Shops if they're in the Bits & Mortar program and it influences where I purchase. Even if the shop isn't part of the program many of the publishers will now send a PDF if you send them a picture of the receipt (shout out to Free League Publishing for being awesome about this). https://www.bits-and-mortar.com/ https://www.bits-and-mortar.com/

thinkmassive 3y ago

> No problem if it's the book I want, but the preview is just not enough Manning has a decent solution to this. You can browse the entire book, but only a small section of it at a time is “descrambled” in the live view. On more than one occasion I’ve used this to look up some specific topic, which was immediately viewable (and unblocked me on that problem), then gone on to purchase the book because I know it’s high quality and I’m likely to refer to it in the future for other reasons. https://www.manning.com/ https://www.manning.com/

zamnos 3y ago
I might be misunderstanding the scheme, but that sounds like someone would just need to automate viewing of consecutive sections in live view as it would unblur each section until you've downloaded the whole book. What am I missing?
- thinkmassive 3y ago
  You’re not missing anything, but apparently it works for them. I suppose if it were more widespread then there’d be more incentive to automate scraping entire books. They also sell their eBooks as normal PDFs (no DRM). I assume it’s a healthy combination of making high quality technical publications easy to acquire at a reasonable price. Similar to how digital movie and music piracy finally died down when that media became reasonably easy to acquire legally.

gameshot911 3y ago

> I don't want to, but I'm always forced to by shitty policy. "forced" You say that as if your hands are bound. Creators have an intrinsic right to distribute their work as they see fit. You do not have an intrinsic right to it. If you don't like their terms, then your right is to not consume it. NOT to steal it. If you decide to thieve, then that's your call. Just don't pretend it's being "forced" upon you.

internetter 3y ago
Who defines "thievery"? The RIAA? If I buy something, I expect full rights to it. Dead simple. I pay for the content, and then I pirate it because the distributer somehow invested millions of dollars (instead of distributing to authors, mind you) into making a less consumer friendly platform than piracy. Not to mention, internet piracy is not thievery. The only thing in limited quantity is the silicon that enables it. If piracy did not exist I would likely not buy these things in the first place, because the stupid restrictions mean I can't consume what I paid for. In that way, my hand is indeed forced. Tell me, who is being cheated here?
- brookst 3y ago
  > I expect Great! You can expect whatever you want. Just as the seller can set whatever terms and price they want. > who is being cheated here? Well, if the seller is clear as about the terms they are willing to sell for, and you just take it without paying, you are the one cheating. You may have a moral right to cheat because you, I guess, have a right to have everyone offer the deal you expect. But I think it's taking it a bit far to say that not only are you going to take the content without paying, but you also want to feel cheated when doing so.
  - internetter 3y ago
    > and you just take it without paying, you are the one cheating. I think you glossed over the part where I pay for everything I pirate.

BlackjackCF 3y ago

I think it’s wild that publishers don’t do something like pay an extra dollar if you’re buying the hard copy and also get the ebook. It’s also wild that the ebook is often as expensive as a hard copy.

bombcar 3y ago

I wonder if someone in the USA could setup a "piracy forgiveness service" where they accept amazon orders of books and movies and just immediately shred them.