Re: Digest Number 234

From: Roderick and Ellen Robertson <rjremr_at_...>
Date: Wed, 10 Jan 2001 15:24:51 -0800


> > Um, that sort of website is called being a part of the GTA, I think.
> > Certainly there's a lot of information that comes that way. But once
> > something is made public electronically, inevitably there's folks that
> > pirate or disseminate it. I just can't see Issaries doing that.
>
> I was thinking of a monthly *paying* subscription. As far as I know, none
of
> the published books by Issaries have been scanned and made available for
> free on the net whereas we got the long version of the Rufelza and Elmal
> cults for free on the internet. If we could pay to get the info online we
> could use the finished parts of TR, ST, SR *right now*... and get the
> finished product on paper later if we still wanted it.

The problem is that getting electronic files makes it that much easier to pirate - the time it takes to scan in a physical book is currently a deterrent to most people. And it doesn't even have to be intentional piracy - if I have the files handy on my PC, and Jeff says "hey, what's the rules for Y in the new book?", it's actually easier for me to send the complete file(set) than it is to open the file, search for the subject and cut&paste it. It's an "innocent" piracy, I didn't mean to take away money from Issaries, but now that's one sale they won't make, and if Jeff is one of those "Information wants to be free" radicals, he might decide to publish it on his webpage, or just send it to Rec.Games.FRP. Or I might slip and send the files to HeroWars or HW-Rules or the digest instead of Jeff, and bango, who needs to buy the paper copy?

RR

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