To be clear, we\u2019re talking about Buddhisttorrents<\/a>\u00a0(and, by extension, sites like it), which directs users to unauthorized online copies of copyrighted works, most notably, books on Buddhism<\/a>.<\/p>\n The arguments break own into roughly these categories:<\/p>\n The question of who is hurt<\/b> is not as clear as some would like to make it. We cannot say that when someone is copying\/downloading a book, they are not<\/i>\u00a0buying it in physical form.<\/b> They might also<\/i>\u00a0buy it, or they may never have intended to buy it at all. It\u2019s an empirical question, and I\u2019m afraid I know of no data for it at the moment. But, in the music industry (in which people made the exact same argument), as I mentioned in the last post, it doesn\u2019t seem to be the case that one download = one less song\/album sold. As with the music industry, the publishing industry is vast and has many corners \u2013 perhaps academic presses are most like the record labels who specialize in jazz or classical music. In general the analogy seems quite good. I\u2019m foreshadowing here\u2026<\/p>\n Perhaps we could say that the downloader him\/herself is the one who is hurt. By following desire and then rationalizing it after the fact, the person has lost a valuable opportunity to simply practice. This seems to fall too much into guesswork of people\u2019s motivations for me. And it holds equally well for the rest of our consumerist world \u2013 \u201cdon\u2019t go there, don\u2019t buy that, just meditate on your desires.\u201d Not very useful.<\/p>\n On the other hand, if you are going to buy a book, and then instead download it and do not<\/i>\u00a0buy it, I think you are in fact stealing. If you have the means to support the arts, do so. If you live near a library that has it, go check it out there. If you are downloading a book just to be cheap, the karma is gonna get \u2018cha. But this is for you to discern in your own life, not for you to point out the faults in others.<\/p>\n Who benefits? \u00a0<\/b>Well, according to comments<\/a> at Buddhisttorrents, the downloader benefits. The first one has stayed with me since I first read it:<\/p>\n hi i live in mexico for me 1 boock cost 3 day of work \u2026\u2026and the books in spanish comes from spain and are 3 times more expensive than us prices\u2026\u2026plese consider this and kepp on\u00a0<\/span>thanks<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n There are many patronizing voices out there (I grew up in rural Montana, so I\u2019ve heard my share) that would say things like, \u201chey buddy, get a better job<\/i>. Go to the library \u2013 oh, wait, your government sucks and you don\u2019t have <\/i>a library, haha.\u201d<\/p>\n Fortunately, you are wrong\u2026 sharing media, especially ebooks, seems to increase publicity, fame, and even sales of the original material. It may not help the top five percent of creators become filthy rich, but it certainly helps to get the average author\u2019s name out and make a living. Here are some things you should check out:\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n http:\/\/craphound.com\/content\/download\/<\/a> The truth is, strict adherence to copyright is hurting the spread of ideas and the advancement of civilization.\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n And stealing is when you take something away from someone else. Ebooks, like fire, cannot be stolen, they can only be copied.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Watch just the last 2 minutes or so of this utterly remarkable man\u2019s lecture (link<\/a>):<\/p><\/div>\n The question of access seems to be one of the most important.<\/b> Obviously if you have plenty of money and space, you should buy the books. If you\u2019re spending your wealth on non-dharmic non-helping-the-world things and downloading books for free, then it seems clear that their wisdom is not sinking in very far. One of the assumptions, it seems, of those who disagree with downloading is that the people doing it are exactly these people.<\/p>\n On the other hand, reading the comments from people at Buddhisttorrents<\/a>, we get at least a partially different picture.<\/p>\n I liked and will perhaps slightly twist one of my friend Danny\u2019s statements from his post<\/a>, \u201cIf we\u2019re talking about truly sharing <\/i>these works (like, say, with other patrons in libraries), with everyone enjoying largely free and open access to these texts, there\u2019s really not much of a problem beyond better educating the public about their options through libraries and other services. So, as far as I can tell, the only trouble anyone could have would have to do with not being able to own <\/i>one of these pricey texts as private property\u2026 \u201c<\/p>\n Exactly. And sharing does seem to be the ideal of sentiments such as Dr. Lancaster\u2019s and many at the Buddhisttorrents site. If a friend, who happens to be a Buddhist monk, is at a library in Hong Kong, and scans and emails me an academic book (hypothetically of course \u2013 I was hypothetically living in a country we no fancy public libraries), we\u2019re sharing<\/i>.<\/p>\n It\u2019s wonderful.<\/p>\n Do I own <\/i>that pdf? Tricky question. Could I sell it? (laughter from the peanut gallery).<\/p>\n Do I own <\/i>the book? No, it\u2019s still in a library in Hong Kong. All I got was a shared copy <\/i>of it.<\/p>\n All that Buddhisttorrents creates is a giant, user-created and maintained, digital and open-access, library<\/i>.<\/p>\n And that means access for brilliant people who want to learn all over the world<\/i>, not just those who are so\u00a0privileged\u00a0as to have been born in rich countries<\/b>.<\/p>\n If you don\u2019t want your book in the library<\/i>, just be sure not to sell it to any of the library\u2019s potential donors.<\/p>\n Those of us who are wealthy enough and love<\/i>\u00a0(love!) the smell of new books will hopefully keep publishers and authors alive. And, as I and others have mentioned, hopefully publishers will find a way to make a bit off of digital downloads (isn\u2019t Amazon\u2019s Kindle<\/a> The law? The law is a mess. <\/b>Exhibit A: The Digital\u00a0Millennium\u00a0Copyright Act has a special section protecting the design of boat hulls<\/a>. Copyright Law<\/a>, fair use<\/a>, and so on. And if you want to pick up the 2nd precept stuff, I\u2019ll drop you like a woman in a river, my friend (if you need background, read here<\/a> \u2013 or watch the video with amazing klezmer music<\/a>).<\/p>\n As I said before, we need progress here \u2013 not entrenchment and finger-pointing. When I have a book out on Kant and Buddhist Ethics, if someone steals it, I\u2019ll figure they need it more than I do<\/i>. If it\u2019s a decent book and they read it, perhaps some good will bounce back my way.<\/p>\n Pretty graphs.<\/a> Music album sales are way down\u2026 BUT, digital single sales<\/i>\u00a0are soaring. Can we do the same with downloadable chapters or sections?<\/p>\n\n
http:\/\/www.thepublicdomain.org\/download\/<\/a>
http:\/\/www.ted.com\/talks\/margaret_stewart_how_youtube_thinks_about_copyright.html<\/a>\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=montanafreethink&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B004HFS6Z0\")
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Another option<\/i>, one that would take some technical know-how, would be to create a subscription service. People could sign up, pay a monthly fee, and download a set number of books\/articles per month. These would have a built-in shelf-life of, say, 30 days, and then they would self-corrupt (there is already software that makes pdfs non-cut and paste-able, and password permissions, and of course 30-day trials of software, after which it just won\u2019t open, so this must be possible. The patron could just re-download it, of course, thus necessitating another month\u2019s subscription, ad infinitum<\/i>.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/tracker\/7907151-4862442351174137381?l=americanbuddhist.blogspot.com\")
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