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i’m thinking of doing a series on false entitlements – like this one i came across recently – having to do with ebooks

many people think they have the right to copy an ebook from one device to another device – they say they paid for the ebook – they own it liked they owned physical books in the past – and ownership gives them that right to duplicate copies – or the right to transfer ebooks from the original ereader device to another

huh?

since when were people able to take a physical book and move it in its entirety to another book – book pirates do that – but for those who want to abide by the law – copying of physical books can only be done under specific conditions – otherwise it’s illegal – and immoral in that the authors and book publishers and book sellers are cheated out of their rightful wages

in primitive days of physical books – if a neanderthal wanted another book – he had to buy it – even if he promised to destroy the original copy – he wasn’t allowed to chisel a complete copy

there was always the option to buy a a book in a different format – but not for free – if he wanted one on papyrus rather than stone – he paid for it – if he wanted a portable one – he purchased a small version that could be slipped beneath his animal skins

so where did today’s cro-magnons get the idea that they had a right to have several copies on various devices having paid for one – or the right to transfer their one copy to another device – certainly not from the ownership of physical books

the conceptual model could only have come from the realm of computers – where users could copy a file – or cut & paste the contents electronically – with ease – – of course – it’s usually their own files – or ones given to them without restrictions

but what about files that came with restrictions – the file owner relied on the honesty of the recipient to adhere to the license – or on the legal threat hanging over the recipient should he be discovered

that’s what a copyrighted ebook is – an electronic file or files – with restrictions – as delineated by copyright laws – and in the licenses (ie contracts) that come with the devices and ebooks

yet thanks in large part to the ease of disobeying those restrictions – and the practice with unrestricted files – many computer users don’t want to be constrained by any restrictions

unchecked movement of files among the computer-raised generation has given birth to a sense of entitlement – treating restrictions as an mere inconvenience – easement has made that practice a “right” – presumably protected by law – or should be – –  besides – writers and publishers make too much money – the entitled will claim – so they can afford the loss – (just don’t demand any of their labor and income without their permission)

i remember the fury sparked when amazon erased purchases of Orwell’s novel “1984” – after learning that they didn’t properly acquire the license to sell the ebook – physical books too can be printed and sold without legit copyrights – but they cannot easily be recalled – so the publishers and authors and other involved parties lose their rightful payment & the right to control the distribution of the book

but the “1984” flub demonstrated that correcting such mistakes with ebooks are easy – amazon simply sent delete instructions over the internet to each buyer’s kindle – leaving many outraged customers – not cuz they suffered a financial loss – amazon offered refunds or credit – but cuz they feel entitled to keeping the ebook regardless of the copyright issue and the losses to the writers & other parties

the point i’m making is that no one should be citing an analog between physical books and ebooks when discussing copying or transferring ebooks – and people shouldn’t assume that the most convenient way for them is a right – and no one should claim the right to deny payment to the creators of a product and the distributing industries involved – unless they allow their labor and income can be exploited too  

but in this entitlement era – i suspect that many people will go to their deaths resenting this right to be paid model – and it’s only when those who claim to be entitled to the industry of others finally die off – will there be a population accustomed to the ebook market

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there is another thing that outrages ebook buyers – which too has no analog with physical books – it’s one where i sympathize with the outraged – it has to do with the uninvited update of ebooks – while i don’t mind the updating of the content – i find other updates such as cover art and changes in formatting annoying – i think that all such updates should be approved by the ebook buyer before it can occur – or there could be user settings that allow or disallow all future updates 

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btw – if you’re interested in protecting you kindle books from manipulation – download all your purchases to your computer – and backup the folder (usually called “My Kindle Contents”) – that way if amazon deletes or retouches your books – the backup with have the original copies – – you’ll have to learn to deal with the filenames – which are not the book names – internet research or your favorite AI guru can provide assistance – – and your respect for the creators’ rights and the distributors’ rights – will depend on your level of entitlement – and if you want your labor to be rewarded