Every fucking week with this story.
- They used scans “found online” and people bitched as if piracy is theft.
- This workaround is the same as ripping your CDs to MP3.
- They can’t just donate the book because then it’s not ‘a backup copy,’ it’s piracy again.
- They’re only buying one of each book.
- If it’s old enough to be public-domain they don’t bother.
Stop posting pearl-clutching headlines like it’s a library firebombing campaign.
They used scans “found online” and people bitched as if piracy is theft.
People bitched because it’s an extraordinarily clear “rules for thee but not for me” situation.
People bitched because they’ve turned justified criticism into an identarian search for pretense - which is why they’re still bitching, when these companies follow the rules!
I think more than the concern is that the book is destroyed after
One. One copy of of every book. (Per company, but still, it’s a narrow field.)
They’re not seeking out antique dusty tomes for a king’s ransom. They’re checking off ISBNs for anything that got published. That’s usually only rare when nobody bought copies because nobody cared. Anything older than Steamboat Willie is on Project Gutenberg, free for the taking.
And I remind anyone still cross - if you’re against them just using torrents, this is what you’re asking for. This is the completely above-board alternative, done in a sensible manner.