Oh good lord I'm so tired of the arguing about piracy. Time and time again: it's a service problem, not a money problem. And if it is a money problem -which it isn't-, it's because your goods are...
Oh good lord I'm so tired of the arguing about piracy.
Time and time again: it's a service problem, not a money problem. And if it is a money problem -which it isn't-, it's because your goods are too expensive.
It's willful ignorance, or putting on a show for shareholders, or something else dumb because it can't be grievances about "lost sales" in earnest.
And to target Google of all reeks of desperation. A way to get this conversation back into the limelight again. It was lame when it was Napster, it's still lame when it's zLibrary.
There's also the side issue of "all money should be my money". Some % of products will be acquired through other means, but there's people out there that see every single instance of this as a...
There's also the side issue of "all money should be my money".
Some % of products will be acquired through other means, but there's people out there that see every single instance of this as a lost sale, and it's fucking insane.
I deeply despise single-use textbook codes. They're an absolute scam which universities endorse. It destroys the value of the book itself. Edit: spelling
I deeply despise single-use textbook codes. They're an absolute scam which universities endorse. It destroys the value of the book itself.
Don't forget they're often for rentals. You can't access them anymore after a certain amount of time, so you pay $100+ for a rental. The publishers also often had a test/homework portion of the...
Don't forget they're often for rentals. You can't access them anymore after a certain amount of time, so you pay $100+ for a rental. The publishers also often had a test/homework portion of the site, so you basically HAVE to buy from them at some point. I think math students are hit the hardest in that aspect.
One of my intro science classes spent the syllabus day mainly talking about cheap sources for the required textbook. The instructor started and led the discussion herself. Sadly, we still had to buy a code for the homework/test portion of the publisher's site, so no matter what option we'd have to pay at least $100.
It’s because the textbook companies are basically writing the entire curriculum for a lot of these classes. The reps visit schools and say “I have a way to make sure that all of your information...
It’s because the textbook companies are basically writing the entire curriculum for a lot of these classes. The reps visit schools and say “I have a way to make sure that all of your information is up-to-date and that the most important stuff is covered, and I have put together tools to ensure your students succeed. And it all works with your LMS so you guys have a lot less work!”
I wouldn’t call it a grift. Students do actually get good education out of it. But it shifts the costs of a class from the school to the student, and it has a lot of other externalities that are significantly worse than just buying a book, like you mentioned.
Where I feel like it’s a grift is where schools have gone all-in on a single publisher. My college was like this: with few exceptions all the books I was required to purchase was from Cengage. It was so bad that the publisher had a subscription service that would let you have access to digital versions of the textbooks and tools. It was cheaper for a full time student but part timers were stuck in the mud paying full prices. Plus when the class was over you would lose access to the books!
Whenever the price of textbooks come up, I love citing the fact that textbook prices rose by over 1,000 percent since 1978. Actually, this is even more shocking to me. The last time I specifically...
Actually, this is even more shocking to me. The last time I specifically searched for the price (which was apparently 10 years ago), the number was at 700 percent. I found sources from 2013 and 2014 quoting 812. This article was published in 2015, and its URL says "prices-have-risen-812-percent" so I assume that was the original figure in that article before quickly adjusting it after publication.
I'm scared to see how much prices have risen now.
Keep in mind, a large number of textbooks are digital these days. Even physical textbooks, in my experience, often included an online component for doing homework or taking tests. So the publishers don't have the original costs with printing and shipping books to justify the price hike. Those online portions also mean students can't buy used books, so for some classes the publishers are guaranteed to directly sell to every student every semester.
textbook mafia has taken over. When we were kids I studied from brothers textbooks and next year my sister took them. Now they update the books every year and the students have to buy them. there...
textbook mafia has taken over. When we were kids I studied from brothers textbooks and next year my sister took them. Now they update the books every year and the students have to buy them. there is no other option.
For textbooks, I would say it’s a money issue not a service issue. Many (not all, not even most, but many) publishers have pretty good digital textbooks available. I know from experience because I...
For textbooks, I would say it’s a money issue not a service issue. Many (not all, not even most, but many) publishers have pretty good digital textbooks available. I know from experience because I have had to buy them in the past. For me, it’s about spending $100-$300 on a book when the price of schooling is already insanely expensive. I also would be more understanding of the revenue wasn’t almost entirely taken by publishers and stupid book stores.
EDIT: While only for educational purposes, please be advised to use extreme caution when using any libraries that purport to be "z-library". There are many scam versions of it- Wikipedia article...
EDIT: While only for educational purposes, please be advised to use extreme caution when using any libraries that purport to be "z-library". There are many scam versions of it- Wikipedia article on it I believe has the only "valid" URL
Wikipedia helpfully lists a few shadow libraries (for strictly educational purposes) though to be abundantly clear- these are NOT what this article/suit is about.
The article is talking more about sites that actually re-sell books in an unauthorized way. The complaint lodged by the publishers lists the domain names of these sellers and they seem to be sketchy/scammy online shops that just take pirated stuff and actually sell it for money.
Piracy is a complicated bit of law. There are international agreements, but countries have implemented these in slightly different ways. In general, merely downloading pirated material is a civil...
According to the suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Google advertises and promotes known pirate websites that sell unauthorized copies of textbooks and other educational materials in violation of copyright and trademark laws. Furthermore, the suit charges that the tech giant continues to promote these sites despite receiving tens of thousands of infringement notices from the publishers and repeated requests to address Google’s relationship with known pirates of infringing digital content. The suit also stresses that without Google's advertisements, the pirate sites would have a difficult time remaining in business since they are largely unknown to the public save for these ads.
Piracy is a complicated bit of law. There are international agreements, but countries have implemented these in slightly different ways.
In general, merely downloading pirated material is a civil tort, while distributing pirated material for profit tips it into a criminal offence.
Google advertises and promotes known pirate websites
Google needs a robust defence if those sites are paying Google.
Furthermore, the suit charges that the tech giant continues to promote these sites despite receiving tens of thousands of infringement notices from the publishers
This could be delicious if Google releases the numbers of malformed DMCA notices, and starts a process of "look, we get very many automated takedowns and these are potentially unlawful, someone needs to step in to stop it happening".
The suit also stresses that without Google's advertisements, the pirate sites would have a difficult time remaining in business since they are largely unknown to the public save for these ads.
People selling counterfeit physical product (very common with books) don't need Google, they have Amazon etc.
I love piracy. Is something not easily available to you? Piracy. Is something far too expensive? Piracy! It is the counterbalance to greed. For media, when Netflix was the only player in town and...
I love piracy. Is something not easily available to you? Piracy. Is something far too expensive? Piracy! It is the counterbalance to greed.
For media, when Netflix was the only player in town and had most everything on it that I was looking for, I subscribed to Netflix. Now that there are 10 different streaming services, I said bye bye. I was paying close to 100 a month for all of them. I cancelled them all and now I pirate media exclusively.
same. Like oh, you are taking away a show that I enjoy, and now I can't stream it anywhere? 🏴☠️ Oh, you won't provide a demo for your 70-80 dollar game so I can see if I enjoy it? 🏴☠️ oh, you...
same. Like oh, you are taking away a show that I enjoy, and now I can't stream it anywhere? 🏴☠️ Oh, you won't provide a demo for your 70-80 dollar game so I can see if I enjoy it? 🏴☠️ oh, you want to charge me even more to subscribe to your service that you're now shoving ads into unless I pay you even more? 🏴☠️ On the flip side, I'm literally planning to pay full price for a game that isn't even really my type of game, solely bc the dev said he supports piracy if you can't afford the game anyway.
But more strictly on topic, I'm having a sensible chuckle over this
“Google has been told over and over again about the pirates, but puts its own profits ahead of the law.”
the companies that were cool with leopards eating other people's faces price gouging people to increase their bottom line shocked when leopards eat the companies' collective faces a different company is willing to do something shitty to increase their bottom line too.
I dislike piracy against authors who are earnestly writing books in order to make a living. Writing is a hard gig and I believe they should be paid for their efforts. But against textbook...
I dislike piracy against authors who are earnestly writing books in order to make a living. Writing is a hard gig and I believe they should be paid for their efforts.
But against textbook publishers who overcharge students for their nuggets of knowledge, fuck 'em. Pirate away until the cost of textbooks comes back down to earth.
Oh good lord I'm so tired of the arguing about piracy.
Time and time again: it's a service problem, not a money problem. And if it is a money problem -which it isn't-, it's because your goods are too expensive.
It's willful ignorance, or putting on a show for shareholders, or something else dumb because it can't be grievances about "lost sales" in earnest.
And to target Google of all reeks of desperation. A way to get this conversation back into the limelight again. It was lame when it was Napster, it's still lame when it's zLibrary.
There's also the side issue of "all money should be my money".
Some % of products will be acquired through other means, but there's people out there that see every single instance of this as a lost sale, and it's fucking insane.
I deeply despise single-use textbook codes. They're an absolute scam which universities endorse. It destroys the value of the book itself.
Edit: spelling
Don't forget they're often for rentals. You can't access them anymore after a certain amount of time, so you pay $100+ for a rental. The publishers also often had a test/homework portion of the site, so you basically HAVE to buy from them at some point. I think math students are hit the hardest in that aspect.
One of my intro science classes spent the syllabus day mainly talking about cheap sources for the required textbook. The instructor started and led the discussion herself. Sadly, we still had to buy a code for the homework/test portion of the publisher's site, so no matter what option we'd have to pay at least $100.
It’s because the textbook companies are basically writing the entire curriculum for a lot of these classes. The reps visit schools and say “I have a way to make sure that all of your information is up-to-date and that the most important stuff is covered, and I have put together tools to ensure your students succeed. And it all works with your LMS so you guys have a lot less work!”
I wouldn’t call it a grift. Students do actually get good education out of it. But it shifts the costs of a class from the school to the student, and it has a lot of other externalities that are significantly worse than just buying a book, like you mentioned.
Where I feel like it’s a grift is where schools have gone all-in on a single publisher. My college was like this: with few exceptions all the books I was required to purchase was from Cengage. It was so bad that the publisher had a subscription service that would let you have access to digital versions of the textbooks and tools. It was cheaper for a full time student but part timers were stuck in the mud paying full prices. Plus when the class was over you would lose access to the books!
Whenever the price of textbooks come up, I love citing the fact that textbook prices rose by over 1,000 percent since 1978.
Actually, this is even more shocking to me. The last time I specifically searched for the price (which was apparently 10 years ago), the number was at 700 percent. I found sources from 2013 and 2014 quoting 812. This article was published in 2015, and its URL says "prices-have-risen-812-percent" so I assume that was the original figure in that article before quickly adjusting it after publication.
I'm scared to see how much prices have risen now.
Keep in mind, a large number of textbooks are digital these days. Even physical textbooks, in my experience, often included an online component for doing homework or taking tests. So the publishers don't have the original costs with printing and shipping books to justify the price hike. Those online portions also mean students can't buy used books, so for some classes the publishers are guaranteed to directly sell to every student every semester.
It's just pure greed.
Even as far back as 2004 I was paying like $300 for a draft-print book the professor was cowriting, not even something properly printed.
textbook mafia has taken over. When we were kids I studied from brothers textbooks and next year my sister took them. Now they update the books every year and the students have to buy them. there is no other option.
For textbooks, I would say it’s a money issue not a service issue. Many (not all, not even most, but many) publishers have pretty good digital textbooks available. I know from experience because I have had to buy them in the past. For me, it’s about spending $100-$300 on a book when the price of schooling is already insanely expensive. I also would be more understanding of the revenue wasn’t almost entirely taken by publishers and stupid book stores.
Anyone know of these "Pirate Sites" with the free textbooks so I can stay away?
EDIT: While only for educational purposes, please be advised to use extreme caution when using any libraries that purport to be "z-library". There are many scam versions of it- Wikipedia article on it I believe has the only "valid" URL
Wikipedia helpfully lists a few shadow libraries (for strictly educational purposes) though to be abundantly clear- these are NOT what this article/suit is about.
The article is talking more about sites that actually re-sell books in an unauthorized way. The complaint lodged by the publishers lists the domain names of these sellers and they seem to be sketchy/scammy online shops that just take pirated stuff and actually sell it for money.
Anna’s Archive is useful because it goes through most of the other sites listed here (libgen, scihub, etc) and is accessible all on one site
Almost all of my textbooks in college were on Library Genesis. Wikipedia keeps the latest link in its article sidebar.
Zlibrary is a good start.
Piracy is a complicated bit of law. There are international agreements, but countries have implemented these in slightly different ways.
In general, merely downloading pirated material is a civil tort, while distributing pirated material for profit tips it into a criminal offence.
Google needs a robust defence if those sites are paying Google.
This could be delicious if Google releases the numbers of malformed DMCA notices, and starts a process of "look, we get very many automated takedowns and these are potentially unlawful, someone needs to step in to stop it happening".
People selling counterfeit physical product (very common with books) don't need Google, they have Amazon etc.
I love piracy. Is something not easily available to you? Piracy. Is something far too expensive? Piracy! It is the counterbalance to greed.
For media, when Netflix was the only player in town and had most everything on it that I was looking for, I subscribed to Netflix. Now that there are 10 different streaming services, I said bye bye. I was paying close to 100 a month for all of them. I cancelled them all and now I pirate media exclusively.
Argh me mateys.
same. Like oh, you are taking away a show that I enjoy, and now I can't stream it anywhere? 🏴☠️ Oh, you won't provide a demo for your 70-80 dollar game so I can see if I enjoy it? 🏴☠️ oh, you want to charge me even more to subscribe to your service that you're now shoving ads into unless I pay you even more? 🏴☠️ On the flip side, I'm literally planning to pay full price for a game that isn't even really my type of game, solely bc the dev said he supports piracy if you can't afford the game anyway.
But more strictly on topic, I'm having a sensible chuckle over this
the companies that were cool with
leopards eating other people's facesprice gouging people to increase their bottom line shocked whenleopards eat the companies' collective facesa different company is willing to do something shitty to increase their bottom line too.I dislike piracy against authors who are earnestly writing books in order to make a living. Writing is a hard gig and I believe they should be paid for their efforts.
But against textbook publishers who overcharge students for their nuggets of knowledge, fuck 'em. Pirate away until the cost of textbooks comes back down to earth.