Like so many of my fellow Gen Ys, as it seems, I attain almost everything I own via the internet. I haven't done much research on the subject, but my theory is that we've grown up in isolation of the rest of the world, and as the internet became more prominent we realized that we could get what we wanted, any time we wanted it. Personally, I don't think that's a bad thing but a rather large step in humanity. I can easily envision a future where analog stores are considered exotic specialty shops, and a future where there are little limitations to development.
I also haven't done much research on copyright laws, but I can understand the essential concept behind it - that paying the creator pays them for their time and effort, as well as supports them and their further works. That being said, if the book is out of print, and thus the author wouldn't receive loyalties for it, then I don't understand why going out of your way to pay for a used book is an ethical decision. Yes, I understand that buying a used book would, in some small way, aid the economy, but if the original point of the payment was to support the creator then paying for a used book has completely lost its point.
I think that most people here see the word "pirated" and instantly reject everything associated with it. "Abandonware" is commonly thought of as acceptable for download, since paying for it no longer does anything. Certain rules and laws should be seen as temporary, and this is one of them. In the digital age, there can be near-infinite copies of a single document. Before, copies of text were finite to the amount of resources they had enough money to pay for. As it seems, all the physical copies were sold, the author/publisher got the money they wanted, and now the circulation of money is over with.
This is a confusing transition. In my opinion, the age of the finite deadtree books is over, and the authors and publishers got their money when they wanted it. Let those texts fade away and restructure copyright (or more preferably, creative commons) for the age of the infinite resource.
I apologize for the semi-rant. I probably should have taken the time to write out a well-written, well-thought-out reply, but I didn't. I hope there are some strands of wisdom to be found here.
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Like so many of my fellow Gen Ys, as it seems, I attain almost everything I own via the internet. I haven't done much research on the subject, but my theory is that we've grown up in isolation of the rest of the world, and as the internet became more prominent we realized that we could get what we wanted, any time we wanted it. Personally, I don't think that's a bad thing but a rather large step in humanity. I can easily envision a future where analog stores are considered exotic specialty shops, and a future where there are little limitations to development. I also haven't done much research on copyright laws, but I can understand the essential concept behind it - that paying the creator pays them for their time and effort, as well as supports them and their further works. That being said, if the book is out of print, and thus the author wouldn't receive loyalties for it, then I don't understand why going out of your way to pay for a used book is an ethical decision. Yes, I understand that buying a used book would, in some small way, aid the economy, but if the original point of the payment was to support the creator then paying for a used book has completely lost its point. I think that most people here see the word "pirated" and instantly reject everything associated with it. "Abandonware" is commonly thought of as acceptable for download, since paying for it no longer does anything. Certain rules and laws should be seen as temporary, and this is one of them. In the digital age, there can be near-infinite copies of a single document. Before, copies of text were finite to the amount of resources they had enough money to pay for. As it seems, all the physical copies were sold, the author/publisher got the money they wanted, and now the circulation of money is over with. This is a confusing transition. In my opinion, the age of the finite deadtree books is over, and the authors and publishers got their money when they wanted it. Let those texts fade away and restructure copyright (or more preferably, creative commons) for the age of the infinite resource. I apologize for the semi-rant. I probably should have taken the time to write out a well-written, well-thought-out reply, but I didn't. I hope there are some strands of wisdom to be found here.