It's a shame that so many people in the US think that "free speech" means "I can say anything I want".
It's entirely true that free speech means that you can say anything you want; however, people don't understand that there can be repercussions for their speech.
The search for a cure for cancer, or of the many chronic conditions such as lupus, muscular dystrophy, etc., would end because there's no profit to be made even if they succeed.
You forgot about academic research. There are people out there that want to solve a problem purely to solve a problem.
Take a look at amazon.co.uk sometime and compare a textbook there to the same book in the US. The only difference is likely that one says "international version" on the cover. Oh, and it'll be less than half the price.
So, I took your advice and just did a few comparisons:
March's Advanced Organic Chemistry: Reactions, Mechanisms, and Structure. $79.31 and £73.10
Modern Physical Organic Chemistry: $114.00 and £66.49
Classics in Total Synthesis: $90.18 and £61.75
In my case, two of the books are more expensive in the United Kingdom and one is less expensive. I know this might not hold true in all cases, but I don't think the main problem is price gauging. What was always a pain for friends of mine was constant edition updates and the professors that required new editions. A buyer is no longer able to buy a used book when a new edition comes out, and if a new edition was printed they are unable to sell their book back to any bookstores.
The summary was poorly worded. I think that the author intended to mean this:
The freedom of the current system is nice, but it comes at too high a cost -- honest people currently pay extra to subsidize thieves.
It does not seem that the author was stating that you should have to pay to subsidize theft.
You will find the same sort of problem with radio stations as well. They adjust the power output based on the time of day...
That's wrong, and I think you might be confused. AM radio stations change their power levels throughout the day; the stations are required to lower their power at night so they don't blast another AM station off the air. In the mornings, they can go to a higher power. FM stations always attempt to stay at full power; remember, they aren't just trying to broadcast to the people in vehicles, they're aiming for building penetration also.
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It's a shame that so many people in the US think that "free speech" means "I can say anything I want".
It's entirely true that free speech means that you can say anything you want; however, people don't understand that there can be repercussions for their speech.
Rapist? We have some mine fields we need mapped out.
Your punishment is a bit too harsh. It's way too easy to become a "rapist"/convicted sex offender in this country; even if you never raped anyone.
I'll no longer need to steal Plutonium from the Libyans! ;-)
There, fixed that for ya.
Did these designers go on to work for NASA?
The search for a cure for cancer, or of the many chronic conditions such as lupus, muscular dystrophy, etc., would end because there's no profit to be made even if they succeed.
You forgot about academic research. There are people out there that want to solve a problem purely to solve a problem.
Take a look at amazon.co.uk sometime and compare a textbook there to the same book in the US. The only difference is likely that one says "international version" on the cover. Oh, and it'll be less than half the price.
So, I took your advice and just did a few comparisons:
March's Advanced Organic Chemistry: Reactions, Mechanisms, and Structure. $79.31 and £73.10
Modern Physical Organic Chemistry: $114.00 and £66.49
Classics in Total Synthesis: $90.18 and £61.75
In my case, two of the books are more expensive in the United Kingdom and one is less expensive. I know this might not hold true in all cases, but I don't think the main problem is price gauging. What was always a pain for friends of mine was constant edition updates and the professors that required new editions. A buyer is no longer able to buy a used book when a new edition comes out, and if a new edition was printed they are unable to sell their book back to any bookstores.
It's full of stars.
The summary was poorly worded. I think that the author intended to mean this: The freedom of the current system is nice, but it comes at too high a cost -- honest people currently pay extra to subsidize thieves. It does not seem that the author was stating that you should have to pay to subsidize theft.
Something is definitely going to have eyes in places other than its face.
I believe Martin Luther posted his Ninety-Five Theses on the doors of the Castle Church in Wittenburg, not on the wall.
That's wrong, and I think you might be confused. AM radio stations change their power levels throughout the day; the stations are required to lower their power at night so they don't blast another AM station off the air. In the mornings, they can go to a higher power. FM stations always attempt to stay at full power; remember, they aren't just trying to broadcast to the people in vehicles, they're aiming for building penetration also.
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/30/1449222