4 ms·
Really? I pirate e-books because why would I spend money if I don't have to?
by Daz1 3y ago
Really? I pirate e-books because why would I spend money if I don't have to?
- throw__away7391 3y agoThis is the same reason I shoplift all my clothes.
- cinntaile 3y agoMaybe you would it it was just as easy and without consequences.
- duckmysick 3y agoIt sort of is. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27241085 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27241085 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30315992 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30315992
- concordDance 3y agoNote that shoplifting deprives the seller of the ability to sell those clothes while copyright infringement does not.
- esafak 3y agoAnd both deprive the creators of income.
- Brometheus 3y agoIncorrect.
- Fricken 3y agoGood point
- connorgutman 3y agoHonestly, this is a very privileged take based upon false assumptions. As someone who doesn't have disposable income ~90% of the books I pirate I would have never read otherwise. I'm not depriving the creators of income because I never had any to give them in the first place. Over 53% of Americans between the ages of 18-34 do not have any disposable income [1]. Additionally, Americans that do have disposable income should probably be saving it all in case of an unexpected medical emergency or layoff. These problems are only worse outside the United States. Before you lecture me about public libraries, go ahead and take a bus outside of San Francisco or whatever major city you live in and try to rent a book published in the last 5 years... I'll wait. For all of human history the poor simply didn't read. Digital piracy has changed the world for the better. As an (unsuccessful) author myself, I beg anyone who cannot afford to pay for my work to pirate it. Most authors I know feel the same way. If you're only into writing for the money your work probably sucks anyway! [1] https://www.marketingcharts.com/demographics-and-audiences-118571 https://www.marketingcharts.com/demographics-and-audiences-1...
- condwanaland 3y agoI'm sorry, I couldn't stop laughing at "this is only worse outside of the United States"
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- esafak 3y agoThere is a world of free reading material, recent and old. More than enough for anyone to educate and lift her/himself out of poverty. The Wikipedia alone, with all its errors, is a fountain of knowledge. You don't need piracy. I hope your indigent pirate going to compensate the authors once he has lifted himself out of poverty.
- midoridensha 3y ago>These problems are only worse outside the United States. Huh? I agree with everything up to this point. Of the G20 nations, only the US has all the problems you complain about: no disposable income, enormous medical costs, no job protections, etc. Well-run developed nations don't have these problems. As someone who left the US, the only real problem over here is that English-language books are hard to find in countries where English isn't widely spoken (which should be obvious of course), so of course e-books are very attractive for this reason. But then, as you can see in many comments here, the e-book sellers don't work much with people living outside the US, your "purchased" e-books stop working outside the US, etc.
- concordDance 3y agoThis is not correct. In economic terms if person A values a book at a price below the selling price and pirates it, the seller has not lost income compared to the counterfactual world where piracy was impossible.
- esafak 3y agoThat's not true, person A could still send the author money by other means, but really in that situation a trade should not take place because it is against the seller's consent.
- concordDance 3y agoI was assuming that the other means have transaction costs higher than the value to person A because this is the case in the real world (how many authors even have a Patreon?).
- esafak 3y agoSo write them a check. Visit them in person and shake their hand. Too high a transaction cost? What's good for the goose is good for the gander. Let's return to the central point: transactions ought to be consensual, and pirating ain't.
- concordDance 3y ago> Too high a transaction cost? Yes, those transaction costs are way above the worth of the item if its already below the selling price for person A. Note that in practice, almost all transaction costs are not money.
- hilbert42 3y agoIn a fairer system people wouldn't be put in the position of having to act unlawfully. The key to the problem is political action.
- concordDance 3y ago"Having to"? Is that a typo? Normally "have to" is used when the consequences of not doing so are very dire, possibly life threatening. A person shoplifting a copy of Harry Potter for their own use would not normally count.
- hilbert42 3y ago"...so are very dire" Many would contend the consequences would be very dire if they didn't act. For example, those who depend on Sci-Hub for educational material. They'd contend they've no other option.