Re: NY Times Ethicist Condones Ripping Off E-books

This debate is intriguing.  Even though I've never purchased or created a
pirated e-book and don't plan to start, I found Chris' reasoning
persuasive.  But I want to be sure I completely understand Joseph's
arguments, too.

Chris, but it seems to me that your argument is based on the premise that
consumers are buying content, not physical form.  If I buy a hardback novel,
I buy the story; how I choose to read the story is up to me.  I could ask my
sweetheart to read it out loud to me, I could read it silently to myself, I
could photocopy it and read the photocopy in the tub, I could scan it and
read it on my phone.  As support for this view, you mention the court
decision about music--same principle, different physical form.

Joseph, at first I thought you were saying, "It's ok for music because of
the court case, but it's not ok for something else."  But as I reread your
message, I think maybe you're saying something different.  You're saying
that consumers purchase the material object and have no right to transform
it into another material object without permission.  A cd is already a
digital file, so there's no real difference between listening to it on your
cd player or on your hard drive--but if that cd contained (for example),
software that prevented us from listening on our computers, we would have no
right to tamper with those restrictions, because it was clear the seller
hadn't given us that right. Do I have that right?

Calling on "contract" might settle the legal question, but it doesn't really
settle the ethical question.  Chris is merely viewing the implied contract
differently--as a contract to access the content.  If Chris and Joseph enter
into a contract but they each have a different idea of what the contract
means, we can't say that Joseph's view is automatically more ethical because
he is the seller.

Thinking about how someone could personally use a rapid book scanner, if
such a thing existed . . . I can think of a few possibilities:

* switch formats while reading a single book (p-book at the beach, in the
tub; e-book on a plane, in bed, in large font for glasses-free reading)

* switch formats for scholarly books (or cookbooks, or textbooks, or
reference books)  (write comments in the margins of the p-book; use computer
to quickly locate passages in an e-book, or to accurately copy quotes from &
insert into articles or emails)

* make a portable e-copy for travel (e.g., traveling with textbooks while
teaching online classes; putting guide to theme park on small device for use
inside the park; bringing to store when buying materials/ingredients for a
project in the book)

* make an e-copy when when the e-copy isn't available in a usable format
(e.g., e-book only available in Kindle format but you don't have a Kindle,
so you buy the p-book and scan it into whatever format)


Chris's argument would mean all of these are ethical uses, if I understand
things right, and Joseph's argument would mean all of these are unethical.

It's hard to see how a legal prohibition on all these uses would be the
right balance of interests, though.  For example, switching formats of
scholarly books would make research easier and potentially more accurate.
Switching formats while reading a single book could allow people to finish
books more quickly and potentially buy more books, too.  etc.

Of course I say this as someone who has happily purchased the Beatles' White
Album in multiple formats!

Joseph, would you also find it unethical to use photocopies for some of
these purposes?  e.g., you're traveling to Helsinki but don't want to drag
the whole Fodor's guide with you, so you photocopy the restaurant pages and
bring those.  Or, you're making a complicated recipe and photocopy the
recipe so as not to risk the glossy photos in the original.  Or, you're
making a project from one of those Sunset books and photocopy the materials
page to bring to the store, rather than writing out a separate list and
maybe making a mistake.  If your argument is premised on the idea that you
bought the book and can't change its format, I guess the answer is that
photocopies are unethical too.

I hope this email doesn't anger anyone . . . I am thinking out loud but of
course would never steal.

Beth


On Wed, Apr 7, 2010 at 6:24 AM, joseph harris <[email protected]> wrote:

> From: "Robotech_Master"
> > And in a somewhat more balanced frame of mind:
> >
> >
> http://www.teleread.org/2010/04/06/p-books-to-e-books-the-ethics-of-downloading-and-the-legality-of-scanning/
> >
> > --
> > Chris Meadows aka         | WWW: http://www.terrania.us      | Somebody
> > Robotech_Master           | ICQ: 5477383  AIM: RoboMastr     | help, I'm
> > [email protected] | Skype, LJ-Gizmo: Robotech_Master | trapped
> in
> > [email protected]        | Facebook: Robotech.Master        | a sig
> file!
>
> Chris,
>
> I can't imagine that you and I are ever going to agree on this, but are you
> seriously supporting this set of arguments.
>
> The court decision quoted deals specifically with music in digital media;
> it is not about all media, nor is it about approving the obtaining of fresh
> copies of the files. It deals simply with the issue of how you utilise a
> digital music file that you legitimately own; and then it must assume that
> you have not agreed, in the contract of purchase, to other terms.
>
> There is a simple issue of contract, by the way.
>
> Here (UK) the issue of copying print content was dealt with very early in
> the existence of Xerox copying machines; it is against copyright law - of
> course this was before the US joined the rest of the world in Berne. The
> question was exactly the same; what have you purchased. The answer is you
> have purchased a single copy with no further rights to publish more copies,
> or cross media, or even get  paperback free if you bought the hardback.
>
> Now it may be hard for the US traditionalists to understand that the net
> has thrust us all into each other's laps. And since most everything can be
> made a digital file the potential for taking without payment or respect to
> law is great.
>
> Suggesting that, because you have paid for a copy of something, you are
> automatically entitled to get other copies that have been stolen,  is
> ethical correctness gone mad.  I always rear up when I hear the word ethics
> or ethical - I know it is going to be an attempt to justify why the morals
> of millenia should be ignored. Truly, here, I was not disappointed -
> unfortunately.
>
> Far from being 'reasoned', it is merely a verbose extension of Cohen's
> 'permission to steal'. Verbose because the writer hopes the point will be so
> confused by the verbiage that none will argue against.
>
> It is simply an attempt to justify the 'I want, I take' philosophy. Whether
> the law should sensibly be rewritten in light of technical changes is
> something worth discussing - internationally.
>
> While many think the whole publishing scene is now settled into a brave new
> world, the truth is the changes have not even finished raising the dust.
> That other crutch for the taking argument, 'I can so I will', would not be a
> good principle to encourage elsewhere.
>
> The plethora of devices and formats is not a problem created by the
> publisher or author - why punish them for the actions of others? Because it
> is easy?
>
> Joseph
>
> Joseph Harris - Debt Control Man
> http://www.controlyourdebtcrisis.co.uk
> Author: Control Your Debt Crisis on Your Own Terms
> http://twitter.com/debtcontrolman
> SAQ - SAve the cheQuese it is easy
>
>
>
>
>
>
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-- 
Beth


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