4 ms·

Ok. I agree forced may be a bit of a strong word since i can always choose not to pirate it. However what about books or scientific papers which are hidden beh

by Fuxy 13y ago

Ok. I agree forced may be a bit of a strong word since i can always choose not to pirate it. However what about books or scientific papers which are hidden behind pay walls or just incredibly expensive. The price of a good programming book is about £20. But when your monthly income is £300 that is a lot of money. Not to mention you have to pay electricity, gas, etc. and the prices for the utilities are not that much different. So your options are: 1. buy the book and not eat for 2 weeks 2. pirate it 3. don't do anything and let your progress as a programmer be hindered by the lack of knowledge That's what i call being forced. There's no situation where i can say i helped the author with the little i have and progressed in my development as a programmer. If you give in to the system they set up knowledge become the privilege of the wealthy I agree that content creators need to live but the one size fits all approach is really f*ed up. Open it up let people pay as much as they want or set different prices for different regions piracy will fall considerably if you do and for god sake don't limit peoples access to content by regions it's a sure way to increase piracy.

jscheel 13y ago
I will agree with you that it's definitely important for products to be priced appropriately for the region they are sold in. And, I understand that access to information can be a huge roadblock, which is why it's important for people to free up information as best as possible. Still, when you consider things like public libraries, free access to internet, etc., you have to question whether or not you have really tried to do it without pirating someone else.
- duncan_bayne 13y ago
  Really? How about turning that around: how is it okay for me to pay more for something, solely because I live in a different country? This is known as the 'Australian Tax' here, and is at the point where for some software products (Microsoft's dev tools, e.g.) it's cheaper to buy a budget flight to the USA, buy them there, then return. Geographical pricing is morally indefensible.
  - jscheel 13y ago
    I'm talking about lowering the cost in areas to match the economy. I too think the cost of software in Australia is crazy.
    - duncan_bayne 13y ago
      They are the same thing. The exact same thing. All you're quibbling about is that you don't like where the pricing is set for the region in which you live.
      - jscheel 13y ago
        Huh? I'm not quibbling about anything. You brought it up, not me. I'm perfectly happy where pricing is at in my region. It's commiserate with the general economy. Nothing is disproportionately priced here. Some areas seem to be out of sync with their economy, either high or low.
        duncan_bayne 13y ago
        Indeed - and if things get too far out of sync, it becomes worthwhile to import things from countries where they aren't. Except that such free trade is often prohibited by law.
      - jscheel 13y ago
        And I sure as heck don't justify stealing just because you don't like the price.
        smaudet 13y ago
        And you are a moron - price isn't morally excusable, if anything price is directly related to effort. While you may not be 'forced' to buy something, being forced not to buy something when it puts you at serious, life-threatening disadvantage, is just as bad. While a song may not put you in this position (incidentally making your song a piece of pretentious overpriced garbage that you are lucky anyone listens to at all), lack of access to a piece of software, knowledge, or the like, can put you at a serious disadvantage. The only reason we ever put up with Microsoft and their DRM was their 'ships with prebuilt computers' policy - Apple's machines (which have much worse DRM) are (rightly) seen as pretentious crap by comparison - no one would put up with their garbage if they were forced to. As a further metaphorical illustration of just how utterly moronic you are, what if we DRMed access to food and water? Sorry, you can't grow food, can't store water, can't distribute it to your starving neighbor. Can't remove pesticides, can't filter your water. Gotta keep those $$$ coming in for the water company, now, don't we? You wouldn't sell your life for a product just because it was priced that high - DRM is junk which just hinders natural economics. There is nothing good about it.
jonhendry 13y ago
"The price of a good programming book is about £20. " If only we had a global computer network by which you could find a much cheaper used copy. Or even a free loaner copy.

by Fuxy 13y ago

jscheel 13y ago

I will agree with you that it's definitely important for products to be priced appropriately for the region they are sold in. And, I understand that access to information can be a huge roadblock, which is why it's important for people to free up information as best as possible. Still, when you consider things like public libraries, free access to internet, etc., you have to question whether or not you have really tried to do it without pirating someone else.

duncan_bayne 13y ago
Really? How about turning that around: how is it okay for me to pay more for something, solely because I live in a different country? This is known as the 'Australian Tax' here, and is at the point where for some software products (Microsoft's dev tools, e.g.) it's cheaper to buy a budget flight to the USA, buy them there, then return. Geographical pricing is morally indefensible.
- jscheel 13y ago
  I'm talking about lowering the cost in areas to match the economy. I too think the cost of software in Australia is crazy.
  - duncan_bayne 13y ago
    They are the same thing. The exact same thing. All you're quibbling about is that you don't like where the pricing is set for the region in which you live.
    - jscheel 13y ago
      Huh? I'm not quibbling about anything. You brought it up, not me. I'm perfectly happy where pricing is at in my region. It's commiserate with the general economy. Nothing is disproportionately priced here. Some areas seem to be out of sync with their economy, either high or low.
      - duncan_bayne 13y ago
        Indeed - and if things get too far out of sync, it becomes worthwhile to import things from countries where they aren't. Except that such free trade is often prohibited by law.
    - jscheel 13y ago
      And I sure as heck don't justify stealing just because you don't like the price.
      - smaudet 13y ago
        And you are a moron - price isn't morally excusable, if anything price is directly related to effort. While you may not be 'forced' to buy something, being forced not to buy something when it puts you at serious, life-threatening disadvantage, is just as bad. While a song may not put you in this position (incidentally making your song a piece of pretentious overpriced garbage that you are lucky anyone listens to at all), lack of access to a piece of software, knowledge, or the like, can put you at a serious disadvantage. The only reason we ever put up with Microsoft and their DRM was their 'ships with prebuilt computers' policy - Apple's machines (which have much worse DRM) are (rightly) seen as pretentious crap by comparison - no one would put up with their garbage if they were forced to. As a further metaphorical illustration of just how utterly moronic you are, what if we DRMed access to food and water? Sorry, you can't grow food, can't store water, can't distribute it to your starving neighbor. Can't remove pesticides, can't filter your water. Gotta keep those $$$ coming in for the water company, now, don't we? You wouldn't sell your life for a product just because it was priced that high - DRM is junk which just hinders natural economics. There is nothing good about it.

jonhendry 13y ago

"The price of a good programming book is about £20. " If only we had a global computer network by which you could find a much cheaper used copy. Or even a free loaner copy.