A Black man walks into a store, "Hello there sir I would like to buy your widget", "I am sorry sir you will have to buy it at the black wigget shop down the road". "But they don't have it in stock and I have the money here now, why can't I buy it?", "Ah that's because the black widget shop won't get it until much later because only they are allowed to sell to black people". "But that makes no sense! it's the same widget!", "That maybe so but I am not allowed to sell you widgets, you will have to get it from the black wigget shop". "So you are telling me just because I am black I can't buy your widgets?", "Pretty much". "Hey I will tell you what, you could get a white friend to buy the widget from me and they could give it to you". "That makes absolute no sense, just because they are white their money is somehow better than mine?". "No, but I am not licensed to sell widgets to black people only white people". *sigh* "Thanks you have been most helpful", "No problem, it's a great widget and I am sure you will love it when the black widget shops gets it in a couple of months".
This is the way I see it. Global world, different standards based on where you live. Date: Mon, 30 Jan 2012 11:05:48 +0000 From: [email protected] Subject: Re: Something about the release that bugs me. To: [email protected] Oops... had to final thoughts in that one! That's what happens when you go away from a part written email and then come back to it I guess! P From: Paul Atkinson <[email protected]> To: feistfans-l <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, 30 January 2012, 11:03 Subject: Re: Something about the release that bugs me. Hi Martijn, Sorry for the misspelt name. My mistake. I was rushing. To the body of the matter though,your intention to make a point is effectively saying because I can't have something legally I'm going to get it illegally until someone changes what they do.... but have you written to Amazon asking them to look again at there policy or asked them to explain it? Have you actually done anything to make YOUR voice heard? Have you considered that as a UK taxpayer I'd love you to buy you're book from the UK as ebooks have VAT applied, so you'd be sending money to the UK Treasury and not to Holland's? You also seem to make the invalid assumption that what you've done doesn't hurt anyone... It does. It hurts, first of all, REF economically in terms of royalty and commercial value of the product. Then it hurts the local publishing house who owns the right to publish REF's work in Holland. Thirdly it hurts the bottom line of resellers all of which which ultimately hurts the exchequers of various countries. Also, finally the reason you shouldn't be allowed is that what you've done breaks the law. Whether you like the situation or not, whether it makes sense or not, what you've done is to take part in an illegal practice and thats the simple reality.... Finally to me, it's abhorent behaviour. There are plenty of times when I've really wanted things (Lord of the Rings extended edition Blu-Ray spring to mind) but had to wait for the UK to get them after the US has them, such as film releases. I don't go out and download them off the net though with promises of "I'll buy them later". Paul From: Martijn Bouman <[email protected]> To: feistfans-l <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, 30 January 2012, 10:26 Subject: RE: Something about the release that bugs me. Dear Paul, First, its Martijn, not Martin, You probably didnt read my mail completly. In my mail i told that i still have the book on pre order for when its released. So, i will pay for the book, just not yet, as i cant get the book right now either. I have all his books already, some even 2 or 3 times as ive read them too many times fort hem to be consider books still ;) I am making a point. Its time people and companies start realizing that the way they are handling releases these days Is not the way to go anymore. Movie companies are doing the exact same things, and i believe its the exact opposit thing they should do, to stop the illegal downloading. Again, i will buy the book, dont you worry, i said it in my mail. I knew some people would be offended or maybe surprised by what i was saying, but you should also understand, that i love to read the books of Raymond just as much as any other fan. And i think in todays age, you shouldnt “punish” people because of what country they are from. I read the book in English, so there isnt any reason i should not be allowed to read the book on the release date. Van: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] Namens Paul Atkinson Verzonden: maandag 30 januari 2012 11:17 Aan: feistfans-l; [email protected] Onderwerp: Re: Something about the release that bugs me. Martin, I would say welcome to the list but... What you've done here wasn't the brightest thing to do. First, you've just admitted to the rights holder that you've illegally acquired a copy of his work, with the rest of us witness to that. Second, a lot of people on this list consider Ray a friend of sort and certainly someone whom we respect as a person and an author. We all support his work by offering our encouragement (and sometimes criticism) but most importantly we support him by buying his work so he can continue to write the epic tales we all enjoy. You've just trampled all over that! Thirdly, as a first time post it's really not the way to endear yourself to a group of people who love reading. I'll say no more. Paul From: Martijn Bouman <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Monday, 30 January 2012, 9:13 Subject: Something about the release that bugs me. Hello all, This is my first post tot his mailinglist, but today i just want to share a story about the new book A Crown Imperiled. First, let me say im from Holland. Having said that, i would lake to note that i read all books in English. I dont like Translations from Englis as lots of language specific things go lost in the translation. As many of you, i was looking Forward to the next book from Raymond. Today the book is out in the UK, for the kindle device. As i said, i read all books in English so i log into the Amazon Site to buy and download the book. This is where things go wrong. We are living in 2012. Far far into the digital age. Everything can be bought over the Internet, and world wide releases are as easy as clicking on a link. NOT for his book though. Someone, wether it be Raymond, the publisher or whoever else decided that since i am not from the UK, i am not allowed to buy this book right now. I have to wait....And wait..And wait some more. I would like you all to know, that i now downloaded the book from a torrent file. Go look it up on the internet, its already available. Will i buy the book when it gets realeased..Ofcourse, i want them all in hardcover too. Will i wait..Ofcourse not. We live in A digital age, and it shouldnt be prohibited for me to read that book. Releasing a book like this is like feeding the illegal downloads. Whoever decided that this is the way to release a digital book is keeping the illegal downloading alive. I just dont understand why companies or people dont understand this. So, there you have it. Right now im happily reading an illegal obtained copy for A Crown Imperiled. And the sole reason is That Raymond or HarperCollins or whoever else isnt allowing me to read it at the release date cause i am from another country. Thats like throwing us back into the middle ages. If companies want to stop the illegal downloading, i suggest they keep up with the time we live in today, and go for world wide releases. Regards, Martijn Bouman
