Latvian Police Raid Teacher's Home for Uploading $4.00 Textbook

richlv writes "Latvian police recently raided the home of a history teacher and confiscated his computer. The crime? Scanning a history book and making it available on his website covering various topics on history. The raid was based on a complaint from the publisher (Google Translate to English), which has a near-monopoly on educational materials in Latvia, often linked with shady connections in the Ministry of Education."

Comments

Don't copy that floppy!

[bhlowe]

Doesn't seem like fair use.. seems like blatant copyright infringement. As I learned in Boy Scouts, if you don't like the law, try to have it changed in an orderly manner, rather than disobey it. Failing that, if you're going to break the law, don't get caught.

Re:Don't copy that floppy!

[amiga3D]

I agree. On the other hand the response should be proportional. Uploading a textbook should have involved an officer serving a warrant. A raid and seizing equipment is more in line with a massive copyright ring. This over the top shit is really ridiculous and unwarranted. It's like someone caught jaywalking getting clubbed down, handcuffed, dragged away and thrown in the pokey. Enough with the over reactions already.

Re:Don't copy that floppy!

[AK Marc]

"educational use" is one of the fair use reasons, but applying US fair use to a Latvian action would be silly. Do they even have fair use in Latvia?

Re:and in the us the same book will be $200-$400 u

[flayzernax]

And most likely full of spin, error, omission, or propaganda... lol

Re:and in the us the same book will be $200-$400 u

[ATMAvatar]

Why limit it to one? At premium prices, customers demand premium quality. US history books will have all four.