Life In 19x19

RobertJasiek wrote:They can't be both: A source for having helped you a fair bit and silly.

Sorry, I thought my meaning was clear. I mean that it's possible to distribute digital books in a manner that is both more convenient and more valuable than getting a typically low-quality scanned pirate copy, and since that seems to be winning the day in other forms of digital media (games, music, TV & movies) I expect it will be the future of Go books too.

All this talk about piracy is going to frustrate reputable publishers and authors (existing and potential) from publishing more high quality go books. Soon all that will be left to publish will be those annoying books which just pirate freely from what is available on the internet and print it up for unsuspecting purchasers. Amazing books like this one
http://www.amazon.co.uk/game-equipment- ... 6130079648

previously discussed about the above book on this thread
viewtopic.php?f=17&t=1523

Sorry but I have a hard time believing that all of a sudden new Go books will stop being published ever again. However, suppose all three existing major publishers (who apparently only publish Go books because they are lovely chaps) decide not to bother any more, if there's a 5 or 10 year period where no new books get published in English someone with the right knowledge and experience will decide there's a market for one/some (even if it's 'just' another group of passionate players with no desire to get rich off it).

Well if you take the case of Yutopian and you look at the number of new go books they put out vs the number of go books they have on perpetual monthly discounts of 25%-30%, you can feel a sense of their frustration at trying to get rich with publishing go books.

CnP wrote:no desire to get rich

It is impossible to become rich by publishing or writing Western go books. Somebody wishing to get rich could become an investment banker.

I've read the thread and know all the arguments presented... but seriously all of you advocating piracy, especially of go books, make me sick. There are no words to describe my disgust.

'Piracy will always be there, so publishers will have to deal with it' - how can that even be an argument...

Helel wrote:

p2501 wrote:all of you advocating piracy, especially of go books, make me sick. There are no words to describe my disgust.

Mod Edit: Image removed (see post above) -- topazg

Helel, I'd think a publisher or an author would feel your avatar as being even more appropriate in their dealing with people who advocate piracy on public forums. lol

p2501 wrote:I've read the thread and know all the arguments presented... but seriously all of you advocating piracy, especially of go books, make me sick. There are no words to describe my disgust.

'Piracy will always be there, so publishers will have to deal with it' - how can that even be an argument...

Who do you think is actually advocating piracy in the form of "getting stuff for free and never paying for it"?

I'd forgotten how absolutist anti-piracy positions spoil your ability to use logic.

Tchan: Wikipedia is creative commons. If that book acknowledges that it's taken from Wikipedia, it is not piracy. Since none of us are stupid enough to buy that book, we don't know.

Robert: Acknowledging that one pirates books does not constitute asking for illegal material. It's amazing that the person on the boards who has the most detailed understanding of the minutiae of go rules cannot parse a simple and unambiguous English statement when he finds it inconvenient.

p2501: I'm not sure whether anyone in this thread is advocating piracy--probably someone is, given 120 posts, but that's not the norm. To say that we should not take particular means to fight piracy is not advocating piracy, any more than people who oppose the drug war must really really want you to shoot up heroin (I think that's an ok political analogy).

I refuse to call what topazg describes doing as piracy in anything but a technical* sense. If you disagree and think he's reprehensible, I hope you also advocate shooting jaywalkers.

* Which isn't much of a technical sense at all, since pirates kill people while digital pirates copy information.

Now, there are plenty of smart discussions about the proper nature of IP law or the best approach to piracy. Let's have those if we're gonna keep talking.

I probably jumped to gun so to speak.

I understand that for the sake of a proper discussion, one must present counter arguments even if they oppose ones own opinion. I also understand that helel is just trying to provoke a little bit.

The cause for me getting so riled up is spread of the entire thread. With people admitting to pirating go books, people trolling Robert just because, illogical arguments, people just wanting to be right, ...

On the one hand I have a big interest in the discussion and on the other hand I try hard to stay out of it, give the manner in which it is conducted.

jts wrote:

quantumf wrote:How does this kickstart model work for (a) new authors that no one has heard of and hence have no trust in; and (b) consumers who put money up for a book that turns out to be lousy?

The same dilemma currently exists, it's just the publishers who eat the losses for a miserable book rather than the community at large. (Although perhaps the consumers still eat the loss for a book that turns out to be physically lousy.) I suppose a publisher or editor gets to see a draft of a book before approving any payments, but I'm sure the same thing could be arranged on Kickstart.

Someone I dislike (but that's not really the point) used Kickstarter to shop his book around. He offered a sample chapter and made periodic updates to a blog about the topic while soliciting donors. He also was professionally employed in a related field, but that's actually less of a testimony than an established go author.

I'd say most unknown authors shouldn't solicit kickstarter for books. Really, in the internet age, there shouldn't be many unknown book authors. There will be reasons why some people won't fit this mold, but the average first book author should have forum posts, blog posts or articles of some kind to make a name.

hyperpape wrote:It's amazing that the person on the boards who has the most detailed understanding of the minutiae of go rules cannot parse a simple and unambiguous English statement when he finds it inconvenient.

Another attempt of a meta-discussion about myself I do not join.

RobertJasiek wrote:

hyperpape wrote:It's amazing that the person on the boards who has the most detailed understanding of the minutiae of go rules cannot parse a simple and unambiguous English statement when he finds it inconvenient.

Another attempt of a meta-discussion about myself I do not join.

But you did join it, just now. If not, you would simply have not responded.

RobertJasiek wrote:

hyperpape wrote:It's amazing that the person on the boards who has the most detailed understanding of the minutiae of go rules cannot parse a simple and unambiguous English statement when he finds it inconvenient.

Another attempt of a meta-discussion about myself I do not join.

Fair enough, but the main point of that response was not personal--saying "I pirate books" is not asking for illegal material. It's not even necessarily advocacy.

hyperpape wrote:

RobertJasiek wrote:

hyperpape wrote:It's amazing that the person on the boards who has the most detailed understanding of the minutiae of go rules cannot parse a simple and unambiguous English statement when he finds it inconvenient.

Another attempt of a meta-discussion about myself I do not join.

Fair enough, but the main point of that response was not personal--saying "I pirate books" is not asking for illegal material. It's not even necessarily advocacy.

It's just documenting an admission of guilt.