Hi guys,
what's all the fuss about?
The license agreement that comes with KanjiGym Light clearly states that no-one is allowed to decrypt, hack or "un-obfuscate" the program's database(s).
Not too difficult to read, if you ask me.
And that's exactly the point: Why doesn't anybody ASK before they do stuff like that? Chances are, if you don't hurt the books' sales, you'll get a friendly reply. Heck, you'll ALWAYS get a friendly reply. It might be "no", though.
And why might it be "no"? Well, c'mon guys, you're not 16-year-olds anymore.
Any publisher who prints 2,000 or more copies of any book NEEDS to sell those copies. Because there are actually people out there making a living by printing, advertising and distributing books. Let alone the booksellers, those people standing in bookstores, handing us the copies and operating the cash registers.
There's always a risk of not selling a book that has been printed. It's the publishers's risk, and it happens more often than not. Now, if you do something that might endanger further sales of the (few) books that actually make it out there in the market, you are doing your part in bringing down the book market.
If you want to deprive those people of their regular income, true enough, at first there's no-one to stop you, except for your own decency. Just don't whine if one day the state attorney knocks at your door. I won't pity you. I hope you won't pity yourselves, either.
So why are the "German friends" all "sweaty" about this? Because the German books are NEW. If you help killing them off before they've even had a chance to amortize themselves... well, do the math yourselves.
I, being a menial author in all this, have not even earnt the costs for the flights and the stays in Japan yet. You know, the actual investments needed for editing and typesetting the German books. Let alone received a single cent for the actual WORK of translating and writing them.
C'mon, people, you are intelligent and reasonable. All this is not rocket science:
Please do ask before doing anything that infringes other people's copyrights.
And do read the friggin' license agreement.
(Pardon my French, but I'm a bit peeved by the comments that have been made in this thread already.)
Let the publisher decide what to do with their data, OK?
After all, you don't even know who owns the rights for DIGITAL distribution, do you? Maybe you're infringing the rights of people you don't know at all, and maybe there are projects in the making by people who rightfully don't want you messing with their plans. Because their plans just might involve people who, again, get paid for doing what they do. Whose daily income is based on being able to do that. Sorry, guys, that's the way an economy works. Good for all of us. Gives us a chance to actually make a living out there.
That's why it is not up to you to decide how to use data that aren't yours. (Just in case I haven't been able to make my point by now.)
So, by all means, ASK BEFORE doing what you want to do, OK?
Robert Rauther
(editing: typos)
what's all the fuss about?
The license agreement that comes with KanjiGym Light clearly states that no-one is allowed to decrypt, hack or "un-obfuscate" the program's database(s).
Not too difficult to read, if you ask me.
And that's exactly the point: Why doesn't anybody ASK before they do stuff like that? Chances are, if you don't hurt the books' sales, you'll get a friendly reply. Heck, you'll ALWAYS get a friendly reply. It might be "no", though.
And why might it be "no"? Well, c'mon guys, you're not 16-year-olds anymore.
Any publisher who prints 2,000 or more copies of any book NEEDS to sell those copies. Because there are actually people out there making a living by printing, advertising and distributing books. Let alone the booksellers, those people standing in bookstores, handing us the copies and operating the cash registers.
There's always a risk of not selling a book that has been printed. It's the publishers's risk, and it happens more often than not. Now, if you do something that might endanger further sales of the (few) books that actually make it out there in the market, you are doing your part in bringing down the book market.
If you want to deprive those people of their regular income, true enough, at first there's no-one to stop you, except for your own decency. Just don't whine if one day the state attorney knocks at your door. I won't pity you. I hope you won't pity yourselves, either.
So why are the "German friends" all "sweaty" about this? Because the German books are NEW. If you help killing them off before they've even had a chance to amortize themselves... well, do the math yourselves.
I, being a menial author in all this, have not even earnt the costs for the flights and the stays in Japan yet. You know, the actual investments needed for editing and typesetting the German books. Let alone received a single cent for the actual WORK of translating and writing them.
C'mon, people, you are intelligent and reasonable. All this is not rocket science:
Please do ask before doing anything that infringes other people's copyrights.
And do read the friggin' license agreement.
(Pardon my French, but I'm a bit peeved by the comments that have been made in this thread already.)
Let the publisher decide what to do with their data, OK?
After all, you don't even know who owns the rights for DIGITAL distribution, do you? Maybe you're infringing the rights of people you don't know at all, and maybe there are projects in the making by people who rightfully don't want you messing with their plans. Because their plans just might involve people who, again, get paid for doing what they do. Whose daily income is based on being able to do that. Sorry, guys, that's the way an economy works. Good for all of us. Gives us a chance to actually make a living out there.
That's why it is not up to you to decide how to use data that aren't yours. (Just in case I haven't been able to make my point by now.)
So, by all means, ASK BEFORE doing what you want to do, OK?
Robert Rauther
(editing: typos)
Edited: 2008-02-20, 4:37 am

