Math Trade for books?

[Chew Terr]

Does anyone know how BoardGameGeek math trades work? I only know the basica and have never participated in one. However, basically, people say 'I want to get rid of these games' for a few days. After those few days, there's a list of available games, and you can mark which ones you're interested in. After that, there is a tool (which I know nothing about) that matches all of these requests, so that person 'a' may send one game to person 'b' and receive one in return from person 'c'.

If anyone knows how this sort of thing works or how to set it up, I was thinking that we could do the same idea with go books? It seems like we finish reading books and sometimes don't intend to go back and reread them for a long time, so we might be better off swapping them around a bit.

[Phelan]

Seems like an interesting idea. I have nothing I'd like to trade right now, though.

[John Fairbairn]

You don't think western go publishers, authors and booksellers have enough disincentives already? Many books struggle to sell 50 a year.

[jts]

"Swapping" books is just another name for communism, and as such is a violation of the intellectual property of the authors of those books.

EDIT: Oops, John ninja'd me.

[Chew Terr]

You don't think western go publishers, authors and booksellers have enough disincentives already? Many books struggle to sell 50 a year.

I figure, if I can afford to buy 10 go books a year, but a legal way to read 20, I'll do that. I would in no way want to stop buying new books, have no fear. =) Just trying to stretch limited funds a bit.

[shapenaji]

"Swapping" books is just another name for communism, and as such is a violation of the intellectual property of the authors of those books.

EDIT: Oops, John ninja'd me.

^This is a fantastic fallacious argument... I swear, when I read your first sentence, I thought you were kidding. Then I read the next two sentences and realized you were serious.

Communism has nothing to do with the legality/illegality or morality/immorality of swapping books. Can you make a counter argument which doesn't resort to red herrings like communism?

By your logic, sharing a cupcake is communism, and is thus a violation of baker's rights.

(I personally believe John is right, this is not a good idea with this group, sales are very low, and the greater publicity that would be gained by the underground movement wouldn't result in higher sales. However, I can't STAND it when people pick up these buzz words and apply them to anything they don't like)

[Dusk Eagle]

"Swapping" books is just another name for communism, and as such is a violation of the intellectual property of the authors of those books.

Really? Communism is a system of government that aims to eliminate societal classes and private property. Unless Chew is advocating for an overthrow of the government, to call it communism is simply absurd. You would do better to call it copyright infringement, as that would be within the realm of possibility. However, this would still be wrong, as Chew is living in America and thus the First-Sale Doctrine applies. You may think it is bad for Go book publishers if he swaps books with others, but it is definitely not illegal.

For what it's worth, I am not convinced that swapping books would actually result in lower sales to publishers. If you particularly enjoy a book, you may want to buy yourself a permanent copy. If you want to keep a permanent copy, than that is one less book you can swap. Plus, if you have your appetite whetted by reading Go books, you might come to appreciate them more and thus be more interested in buying them. However, this paragraph is moving into the realm of the copyright/piracy debate that is ongoing, and so to avoid associating the completely legal activity of trading away old possessions with the questionable practice of piracy, I will stop here.

[jts]

Can you make a counter argument which doesn't resort to red herrings like communism?

What about socialism... do you think socialism is a red herring?

By your logic, sharing a cupcake is communism, and is thus a violation of baker's rights.

Normally when you share a cupcake you divide it into two parts and each person eats one delicious cupcake-morsel. No swapping involved. If you shared the same bite of cupcake, on the other hand, that would be communism. We shouldn't talk more about this example of yours, though. Joaz is trying to keep this a family-friendly establishment.

[deja]

Are public libraries okay?

[shapenaji]

Can you make a counter argument which doesn't resort to red herrings like communism?

What about socialism... do you think socialism is a red herring?

By your logic, sharing a cupcake is communism, and is thus a violation of baker's rights.

Normally when you share a cupcake you divide it into two parts and each person eats one delicious cupcake-morsel. No swapping involved. If you shared the same bite of cupcake, on the other hand, that would be communism. We shouldn't talk more about this example of yours, though. Joaz is trying to keep this a family-friendly establishment.

YES socialism is a red herring in this conversation. Socialism and Communism are both forms of government (where communism is a far left subset of Socialism).

A group of people implementing a bartering system is not socialism, or communism... Are you really this dense?

Are you one of those people who is swayed by the absurdist godwin-violating refrain of "Obama is a Nazi", or the hilariously ignorant "Health Care reform is communism"?


See Dusk Eagle for a more in depth refutation...

[jts]

A group of people implementing a bartering system is not socialism, or communism... Are you really this dense?

Here I will have to insist that I am the buoyant one. Barter is a mode of exchange that doesn't use a liquid store of value as the medium of exchange. But as you yourself admit, the aim of these "swaps" is, in fact, to prevent people from acquiring new books. It's not as though they're proposing to buy books from Kiseido with pigs and strawberries.

... or the hilariously ignorant "Health Care reform is communism"?

Well, it isn't, is it? The ACA mandates that people buy health insurance from private insurers on the free market. It's Medicare, Medicaid, the VHA and SCHIP that are dirty, dirty communism.

[Monadology]

But as you yourself admit, the aim of these "swaps" is, in fact, to prevent people from acquiring new books.

Completely seperate from the validity of any of your other claims, there is absolutely no way that you can be serious when claiming that the aim of sharing a book is to prevent someone else from buying that book. You're doing this to pull our legs, right?

[jts]

"Swapping" books is just another name for communism, and as such is a violation of the intellectual property of the authors of those books.

Really? Communism is a system of government that aims to eliminate societal classes and private property.

Why do we have to bring class into it?

For what it's worth, I am not convinced that swapping books would actually result in lower sales to publishers.

If this line of argument is right, then why has musical communism crippled the music industry? link

(Shapenaji will no doubt object to my use of "communism", preferring "piracy", but piracy can only happen at sea, whereas communism can happen anywhere -- even where you least expect it... perhaps even on your friendly neighborhood go forum... )

[Solomon]

Could we end the communism/socialism debate? From the forum rules: "Religious, political, and sexual topics are not allowed." and "Keep posts relevant to the topic..."

Thanks.

[Dusk Eagle]

Back on topic...

I'd be interested in this idea. However, given that we're a small community, I think 1-to-1 swaps (that is, A gives to B and B to A) would work better. This also requires no more infrastructure than what we already have, and it also ensures that you only trade with people whom you trust. It can also be negotiated whether the swaps are permanent or temporary if done 1-to-1.

As much as I like this idea, I'm not sure how much I could actually be a part of it, as I only have three Go books total, and at the moment would only be willing to part with two.