Author Topic: So, about book piracy.  (Read 35193 times)

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Stratovarius

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Re: So, about book piracy.
« Reply #80 on: August 08, 2008, 11:38:42 AM »
However, should it make for a humorous notation by an excellent authour, said mistake is allowed to pass unnoticed.
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Neema

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Re: So, about book piracy.
« Reply #81 on: September 13, 2008, 04:13:27 PM »
I got a lot of stuff illegally on my computer; all my RPG books (except for those that are free to download by itself), all the music on my computer save for 1 CD that my sistger gave me for free (t was her own band and it does suck IMO...Its called My Doll but its more like My Grain), and some vidss. I can't afford supporting some "Starving author" when I am trying to save up for college right after High School

awaken DM golem

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Re: So, about book piracy.
« Reply #82 on: September 15, 2008, 09:42:28 PM »
In a way,
taking the SRD,
and running it through an el-cheapo translation program like google's,
is not piracy at all;
it's doing what the SRD was supposed to do, in the first place.

Just fix a couple of untranslatable words like "polymorph".

Quote from: google

23 Languages Supported!

Arabic
Bulgarian
Chinese
Croatian
Czech
Danish
Dutch
English double translation is always a short term entertainer
Finnish
French
German
Greek
Hindi
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Norwegian
Polish
Portugese
Romanian
Russian
Spanish

Who's in the money now?

Sirperry

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Re: So, about book piracy.
« Reply #83 on: September 16, 2008, 01:57:19 AM »
I got a lot of stuff illegally on my computer; all my RPG books (except for those that are free to download by itself), all the music on my computer save for 1 CD that my sistger gave me for free (t was her own band and it does suck IMO...Its called My Doll but its more like My Grain), and some vidss. I can't afford supporting some "Starving author" when I am trying to save up for college right after High School

So here is an idea for you:  Do without.  If you cannot afford something, don't buy it OR steal it, just do without.
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Nox_Noctis

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Re: So, about book piracy.
« Reply #84 on: September 16, 2008, 04:16:09 AM »
Not to crash anyone's party (even if that party might be crashing another person's party), but when did this thread become about imposing morals and not about discussing actions (that may have moral implications)?

Sure, you did say it was an idea, but the same would apply if I said, "Here's an idea: stop killing babies and feeding them to alligators" (so chosen as the example because I figure it's absurd enough that it won't actually offend someone - cue the sarcastic exclamations from people trying to get a laugh by declaring that they do, in fact, feed babies to alligators, etc.). The imperative really makes "here is an idea for you" a dubious disclaimer, which means absolutely nothing.
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Sirperry

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Re: So, about book piracy.
« Reply #85 on: September 16, 2008, 01:45:35 PM »
I can't claim to be taking the moral high ground here, and I did not intend to.  I said a few posts back that I steal when it suits me.  I stated it the way I did because I personally feel that it is important that people realize the consequences of their actions.  The moral aspect is up to them, of course.
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Kuroimaken

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Re: So, about book piracy.
« Reply #86 on: September 16, 2008, 03:56:16 PM »
Quote
The moral aspect is up to them, of course.

Naturally. Morals are, if nothing else, our own self-imposed guilt penalty system.
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Sirperry

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Re: So, about book piracy.
« Reply #87 on: September 17, 2008, 12:58:38 AM »
Exactly.
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JaxGaret

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Re: So, about book piracy.
« Reply #88 on: October 01, 2008, 05:59:06 PM »
Just wanted to point that out that morals =/= ethics. You can do something unlawful and good, just as you can do something lawful and evil, lawful and good, or unlawful and evil.
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woodenbandman

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Re: So, about book piracy.
« Reply #89 on: October 01, 2008, 10:25:59 PM »
I totally steal things off the internet, but I usually end up buying it, or at least wanting to. Like, I downloaded ToB, and immediately wanted to buy it, so I eventually did. To whoever made that argument about Lucas, that's genious. I had never even thought of it that way.

Talen Lee

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Re: So, about book piracy.
« Reply #90 on: October 01, 2008, 10:44:21 PM »
I bought, sight unseen, Races of Eberron, Lords of Madness, and the Complete Psionic.

After that, I became quite happily certain that I was owed two whole books.

Jokes aside, though, books I've looked at, I'm more inclined to buy. I also don't use material in-game without having printed copies of the books, just for convenience's sake. So much of my own game, however, is a houseruled construction that is explicitly designed to reduce the book bloat, that I'm kind of travelling in my own weird way.

Caelic

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Re: So, about book piracy.
« Reply #91 on: October 02, 2008, 07:18:50 PM »
I got a lot of stuff illegally on my computer; all my RPG books (except for those that are free to download by itself), all the music on my computer save for 1 CD that my sistger gave me for free (t was her own band and it does suck IMO...Its called My Doll but its more like My Grain), and some vidss. I can't afford supporting some "Starving author" when I am trying to save up for college right after High School



Fair enough.  I, as one of the starving authors in question, can't afford to provide you with free entertainment simply because you feel entitled to it.  Consequently, I long ago stopped trying to make a living as a writer.  If enough people adopt your mentality, then more and more writers and musicians will adopt mine, and your supply of free entertainment will shrink drastically.

For the same reason, I have absolutely no sympathy when someone who has the above mentality gets nailed and slapped with massive fines.  I will admit to a quiet chuckle when they play the wronged innocent being victimized by those evil greedy artists.


TheEndIsNear

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Re: So, about book piracy.
« Reply #92 on: October 02, 2008, 10:44:51 PM »

EjoThims

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Re: So, about book piracy.
« Reply #93 on: October 03, 2008, 08:24:04 AM »
I, as one of the starving authors in question...

I happily support a starving author. Megaploitative corporations on the other hand can go fuck themselves.

CountArioch

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Re: So, about book piracy.
« Reply #94 on: October 03, 2008, 02:32:46 PM »
Stealing is a victimless crime.  Like punching someone in the dark.
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JaxGaret

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Re: So, about book piracy.
« Reply #95 on: October 04, 2008, 04:25:36 AM »
Stealing is a victimless crime.  Like punching someone in the dark.

Or like peeing in the swimming pool.
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Talen Lee

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Re: So, about book piracy.
« Reply #96 on: October 04, 2008, 04:51:29 AM »
Stealing is a victimless crime.  Like punching someone in the dark.

Or like peeing in the swimming pool.
In the dark.

altpersona

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Re: So, about book piracy.
« Reply #97 on: October 04, 2008, 12:14:59 PM »
heres a story,

bob is a botanist, bob specializes in grass. not weed... grass..

phil has a terrible lawn, phil buys some of bob's grass, not weed.

bobs grass is easy to tell apart from regular grass, its got a blue stripe on each blade, and only gets 2 inches tall.

phils lawn takes off... phils neighbors, friends, and anyone who see's his yard is impressed... they all would like to have a yard like his.

phil gives anyone who wants some, a piece of the grass to plant in their yard like he did.

phill paid bob some amount of something for his first grass seeds... phill gave away hundreds of  starter patches for free.

has anything been stolen?

another story...

bob makes music, pop gets paid by the radio stations to play his music..

phil likes bobs music, phil listens to hidef radio. phil records bob's latest work from his hidef radio, and gets a cd quality recording.. (its digital, so no static or the like).

phil plays the recorded copy in his car / on his mp3 player and offers his copy to anyone who asks for it..

phil transfers digital high quality copies of his copy of bob's music to dozens of people..

has anything been stolen?

another story, same as the last for the most part, but instead of a high quality digital recording from the radio, phil pays for bobs whole cd at a retail store. otherwise everything is the same...

has anything been stolen?

last story,

bob is a writer.. bob sells his books via traditional retailers.

phil likes bobs books. phil has a photographic memory once he reads one of bobs books, he can recite it verbatim in its entirety..

phil tells his kids the story from bobs book.. phil tells anyone who wants to hear, the story from bobs book.

someone likes the phils presentation of bobs story and records him tell it.

that someone gives anyone who wants it a copy of phil telling bobs story..

again, has anything been stolen?


the answer to all these is of course no. no rights have been infringed, no piracy has occurred.

theft is taking something from someone else with out their permission. once the initial transaction is complete bob is out of the picture.

copyright infringement is about the right to sell your product. bob has every right to sell any of his products... and phil has a right to make a copy and give it away. that part was verified by the supreme court in the 80s.

piracy is basically armed robbery...
webbster says this about piracy

1: an act of robbery on the high seas  ; also : an act resembling such robbery2: robbery on the high seas3 a: the unauthorized use of another's production, invention, or conception especially in infringement of a copyright b: the illicit accessing of broadcast signals

it also says it originates from the 1530s, before 'broadcast signals', the third definition is obviously an adaptation of a long existing stable term to a modern occurrence which is otherwise unrelated to the original use of the word.

so, again in summation, no theft , no infringement, no piracy..
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Talen Lee

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Re: So, about book piracy.
« Reply #98 on: October 04, 2008, 01:02:28 PM »
As you have eminently proven, you're not a writer. A good writer would actually construct a good story to reinforce his incorrect point.

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Re: So, about book piracy.
« Reply #99 on: October 04, 2008, 03:56:03 PM »
i do write, but in the interest of conserving space and getting to the point i aimed for down n dirty..

where is it incorrect? where is the theft? or infringement or piracy.

theft is a function of physical property.
infringement is about the right to sell your product
piracy is about boats and theft..

The goal of power is power. - idk
We are not descended from fearful men. - Murrow

The Final Countdown is now stuck in your head.

Anim-manga sux.