Day 286: Sunny Saturday

One Response to Day 286: Sunny Saturday

1. Tara Li says:

   January 14, 2012 at 7:33 pm

   I have to admit – I have seen pirate copies of all of your books available in e-format floating around the Internet (not necessarily on the Web – people keep missing that there is far more to the Internet than just the World Wide Web).

   Part of why I never mentioned it is that I haven’t had a clear read on where you stand on IP issues. Do you not use DRM because you feel it is morally wrong, or simply because you think DRM-hobbled books won’t sell as well, or that it’s just more bother than it’s worth? Where do you stand on the “Information Wants To Be Free” rallying cry? (Though the best fiction stories are not information, but distilled chunks of wisdom we should be thankful to have shared with us!) Do you feel copyright infringement is theft pure and simple, or do you share the view of those who feel that they are different things, because in copyright infringement, you lose nothing but purely theoretical future income?

   I know Cory Doctorow seems to have done fairly well making the electronic editions of all of his books freely available under a Creative Commons license, and the Baen Free Library & Baen CDs seem to suggest that those authors do fairly well in that way, but at the same time, Richard Stallman himself recognized that while he believed that the operating code of devices and programs should be freely available and modifiable, that the artistic elements (such as particular level designs, monster designs, and environmental artwork) should be protected.

   Of course, this plays somewhat into your Tech, Ed, and Culture class – as we see people’s attitudes on legal issues changing simply because now, it’s easier than ever simply to *do* it. (I remember in the late 70s – early 80s photocopying published D&D modules at the local college library because it actually turned out cheaper than buying the module, assuming the module was even available any more.)

   Regarding the note to self about geese flying overhead: I hope that was not a matter of direct experience talking…

   “Birdie, birdie, in the sky,
   Why’d you do that in my eye?
   I’m not mad, I’m not sad,
   I’m just glad that cows don’t fly!”

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