Matt Greer wrote: > On Wednesday 29 August 2001 16:09, you wrote: > > >>what I did supported my community and helped strike a(n >>admittedly small) blow at Borders and everything it stands for. >> > > You also struck a blow at a very innocent, and undeserving bystander...the > author(s) of the book. If you want great linux resources to be available in > book form, then the thing to do is to not steal them. > > If you're really concerned about Borders, there are many legal ways to go > about it, that don't screw over innocent book authors. Stealing from them in > the guise of some "protest" doesn't accomplish anything other than show your > maturity level. > > Matt > > > I appreciate the point. (not sarcastic, just so you know) This point is the most relevant (to how I feel) of all the points I expect to be faced with, and the counter to this and many others is: "So how are you liking your mp3's?" Most all people see no problem in downloading mp3's. What about making mix tapes for your friends, back before the dawn of cds? I never had an allowance as a kid so when I finally saved up money for a blank tape I would record songs off the radio and make my own tape, taping over old songs with new ones as my tastes changed. Was that wrong? The point I'm trying to make there is that the concept of intellectual property is in a lot of ways pretty stupid. Did MC Hammer have to live on the streets because I dubbed "Too Legit to Quit" instead of trotting down to the record store and buying the single? No-- MC Hammer lives on the streets because he's got some lame, back-stabbing friends that conned him. Authors, not unlike musicians, get jack for royalties. In the music industry you're talking about pennies on the dollar, and from friends of mine in the writing profession I can tell you it's not much better. From sources at local Borders stores, I know that the standard industry markup for their products is between 150 and 171%. So let's take that off the $40 pricetag of Generic Geek Book X, and we have $16 pre-Borders. As a person who has my ear to the grapevine within the writing industry, I know that 3-5% royalties for the writer are exceptional, and reserved only for the Stephen Kings and Michael Crichtons of the world. Let's pretend that Matt Welsh (Running Linux) is such a world-renowned guru that O'Reilly decided to give him a massive 5% cut on the book. Eighty cents. But wait, there were four authors of that book. Twenty cents each. And that is with some *major* rounding up. The stamp to send them what I owe will cose one and a half times as much. So my point is that you have a good point in that I am not supporting the writers, and I honestly respect and appreciate that. In fact I have gone so far in the past (with musicians) as to write them explaining that I burned their cd off mp3 because I refused to support their label, but that I would be more than happy to mail them a check for $10 (1,000 times the normal royalty) or make a similar donation to an organization of their choice. This has actually turned out to be a neat way to learn about my favorite artists, as the few that returned the letter actually gave some incredibly neat charities. Anyway, I'm sorry I went on for so long (again) I just really wanted to get across that the way I feel about this has nothing to do with my "maturity level". I have spent a lot of time thinking very seriously about both the precursors and the effects of my actions, and I am willing to rethink those every time I am confronted about them. The most significant thing to me is that it may be wrong to steal from Borders, but it is way more wrong to buy from Borders. I'd really like someone to address that, or to respond and say "Yeah, neat, I never thought of it like that before, I'll order everything locally from now on." I'm not trying to recruit an army to loot and pillage, I am trying to get people to think about the ramifications of their actions. A lot of people are yelling at me about how what I do is childish and immature, how I just haven't thought out what I do and why it's wrong. That is absolutely appalling to me. I have spent SO much time thinking about whether or not this is right. How long have you (you is used in general, not Matt) thought about whether it's right or wrong to shop at Borders? If people would put in half the time thinking about shopping that I do about stealing, the world would be a much better place. Thanks for the response, Isaac "The system's set up so almost nobody gets paid." Courtney Love, on music contracts http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2000/06/14/love/index1.html
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