[Fsf-friends] Books and Ethics

[Mahesh T. Pai]

Vijay Kumar Bagavath Singh said on Fri, Jun 18, 2004 at 06:42:28AM +0500,:

 > What I  would like to  know is, "Is  it not ethically wrong,  if an
 > online version of a book is not made available?"

I guess  this part of your question  is not the same  as the remaining
part of the quote from your message.  Ethics of book publishing is not
concern of this list.

OTOH, if you mean "....version of a book is not made available under a
free license?", you are on topic.  ;(
^^^^^^^^^^^^
                        
The free software community by and large, is concerned with books when
the books are manuals for computer programs.

 >  (Especially when  all books are  typeset using computers,  and all
 > one has to  do is upload the electronic version of  the book to his
 > website.)

You certainly have a point, but ...
 
Printing expenses with costs of paper for a decent book is about 15 to
50  times more  than  burinig a  CD.  When profits  are calculated  as
percentages  of  price of  the  `end  `product',  your suggestion,  if
adopted,  will result  in  15 5o  50  times drop  in profitability  of
publishing houses.

Eaturally,  they are  avoiding  e-publishing, or  lobbying for  things
like DMCA to protect their profit margins. 

-- 
         Mahesh T. Pai    <<>>   http://paivakil.port5.com
സ‌്വാതന്ത്റ്യം എന്‌റെ   ജന്മാവകാശമാണ്.
Freedom is my birth right.