This is why I pirate...

[HavocXphere]

Kalahari ebooks often go for 1k+. Its insane.

As for the book in question: I bet the author makes more money from the book than from actually implementing his advice.

 

[DJNgoma]

EPIC FAIL

+1, add a facepalm.

<snip>

As for the book in question: I bet the author makes more money from the book than from actually implementing his advice.

+1, me too. A "How to get rich quick book" at a bomb of a price, reminds me of the "I am rich" app that used to be on the Apple App Store.

 

[diabolus]

On a similar note, i tried to buy a certain music album in MP3 format ....tried on Amazon.com --> "Sorry Geographical Restriction, USA only" , then i tried Amazon.co.uk ---" Sorry Geographical Restriction, UK Only" . (Note i have accounts and credit cards all set up on both sites, and bought items from both in the past)

So wtf? I was on the brink of legally paying for it, they screwed me, music industry can go to hell.....i got the full album for free 5 minutes later via Google. Why are the stupid idiots making it so hard to buy things legally?

That is why i pirate. It's easier, faster more convenient and without restrictions. One day the corporates might figure this out....maybe.

EDIT: On a side note, this is the album in question [not exactly something you'll find at Musica] : http://www.amazon.com/Invincible/dp/B003MOHX8S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1281204231&sr=8-1

(Chances are good you will recognize the music, it's that epic ;-) )

 

[PeterCH]

On a similar note, i tried to buy a certain music album in MP3 format ....tried on Amazon.com --> "Sorry Geographical Restriction, USA only" , then i tried Amazon.co.uk ---" Sorry Geographical Restriction, UK Only" . (Note i have accounts and credit cards all set up on both sites, and bought items from both in the past)

So wtf? I was on the brink of legally paying for it, they screwed me, music industry can go to hell.....i got the full album for free 5 minutes later via Google. Why are the stupid idiots making it so hard to buy things legally?

That is why i pirate. It's easier, faster more convenient and without restrictions. One day the corporates might figure this out....maybe.

EDIT: On a side note, this is the album in question [not exactly something you'll find at Musica] : http://www.amazon.com/Invincible/dp/B003MOHX8S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1281204231&sr=8-1

(Chances are good you will recognize the music, it's that epic ;-) )

Buy it at Amazon or CDUniverse or Ebay - they can't sell you a digital download but they can ship you the CD. Amazon won't ship games though, np because Play-Asia and CD Universe will.

 

[diabolus]

Buy it at Amazon or CDUniverse or Ebay - they can't sell you a digital download but they can ship you the CD. Amazon won't ship games though, np because Play-Asia and CD Universe will.

What do you mean and wait weeks for a physical disc, or do they unlock the download ? huh? I'm long past buying CDs, i'm even further past -importing- CDs. That's even MORE inconvenient than buying the MP3s from a DRM-infested shop...

 

[DarkDenim]

Read the first chapter and decided the author deserves his asking price. Paid R356 (incl. shipping) for a (brand new) hard cover version on Amazon Market Place

Kalahari can go to hell with that insane pricing!

 

[DarkDenim]

On a similar note, i tried to buy a certain music album in MP3 format ....tried on Amazon.com --> "Sorry Geographical Restriction, USA only" , then i tried Amazon.co.uk ---" Sorry Geographical Restriction, UK Only" . (Note i have accounts and credit cards all set up on both sites, and bought items from both in the past)

So wtf? I was on the brink of legally paying for it, they screwed me, music industry can go to hell.....i got the full album for free 5 minutes later via Google. Why are the stupid idiots making it so hard to buy things legally?

That is why i pirate. It's easier, faster more convenient and without restrictions. One day the corporates might figure this out....maybe.

EDIT: On a side note, this is the album in question [not exactly something you'll find at Musica] : http://www.amazon.com/Invincible/dp/B003MOHX8S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1281204231&sr=8-1

(Chances are good you will recognize the music, it's that epic ;-) )

Buy Amazon gift cards here.

 

[diabolus]

Buy Amazon gift cards here.

It's not a credit card thing, they block you long before you can even pay. I will need to mask my IP and probably change my shipping adress too. So gift cards won't make a diff. Regardless, even if that worked....notice the hoop-jumping going on here....helllooo. So i want to buy a few MP3s from Amazon and i need to either buy the CD/Disc and get it shipped [with all the shipping costs added] or pull stunts with my IP and Identity....really....i get the hint , if they don't want my money, they're not getting it.

All i'm asking for is for the ability to click on "buy album" -> "checkout" -> "pay" -> "download started..." . That's all. Is that so difficult? All these dodgy piracy places can do it with even fewer steps...who is fooling who here?

 

[PeterCH]

What do you mean and wait weeks for a physical disc, or do they unlock the download ? huh? I'm long past buying CDs, i'm even further past -importing- CDs. That's even MORE inconvenient than buying the MP3s from a DRM-infested shop...

Having a physical CD means you have a backup, you probably have the highest quality commercially available (short of DAT or DVD-A) and you get to put it on your bookshelf or show it off. Keep the receipt and in case of loss, you can download the music again from torrent this time.

 

[Anony-mousse]

Having a physical CD means you have a backup, you probably have the highest quality commercially available (short of DAT or DVD-A) and you get to put it on your bookshelf or show it off. Keep the receipt and in case of loss, you can download the music again from torrent this time.

Isn't that usually the other way around?

Having a physical CD means you have a backup, you probably have the highest quality commercially available (short of DAT or DVD-A) and you get to put it on your bookshelf or show it off. Keep the receipt and in case of loss, you can download the music again from torrent this time.

lossless on usenet

Having a physical CD means you have a backup, you probably have the highest quality commercially available (short of DAT or DVD-A) and you get to put it on your bookshelf or show it off. Keep the receipt and in case of loss, you can download the music again from torrent this time.

I tried that but my visitors are not that impressed by cd or dvd covers

Having a physical CD means you have a backup, you probably have the highest quality commercially available (short of DAT or DVD-A) and you get to put it on your bookshelf or show it off. Keep the receipt and in case of loss, you can download the music again from torrent this time.

So why go through all the trouble in the first place?

 

[AfricanTech]

Y'see, the 40-60 year olds running these companies still don't get this interwebz thingy - and they're really frustrated at how much paper costs - (you know, 'cos their secretaries still print out all their emails for them..). And they really, really, really cannot fathom why the consumer out there wouldn't want to jump through endless hoops to obtain their products....

 

[diabolus]

Having a physical CD means you have a backup, you probably have the highest quality commercially available (short of DAT or DVD-A) and you get to put it on your bookshelf or show it off. Keep the receipt and in case of loss, you can download the music again from torrent this time.

I hope you're being sarcastic, this is exactly what is wrong with the music industry. Meantime back in the real world, things have changed, we buy per song now , we don't even own a CD-player anymore and the actual disc is never going to be used anyway [plus now i need to RIP it -anyway-, another inconvenience] . As for the "keep the receipt in case of loss" , are you kidding me? So you're saying i should buy the CD and then download the songs from the same dodgy pirate outfits anyway ? Why is Sony/MGM/EMI not providing me with a backup download service instead ?

 

[DJNgoma]

I hope you're being sarcastic, this is exactly what is wrong with the music industry. Meantime back in the real world, things have changed, we buy per song now , we don't even own a CD-player anymore and the actual disc is never going to be used anyway [plus now i need to RIP it -anyway-, another inconvenience] . As for the "keep the receipt in case of loss" , are you kidding me? So you're saying i should buy the CD and then download the songs from the same dodgy pirate outfits anyway ? Why is Sony/MGM/EMI not providing me with a backup download service instead ?

So even if music stores like Nokia's Music Store, Traxsource and AFROdesiaMP3 are available you will ignore what they already provide which is the ability to purchase songs in SA legally and supporting the atrist/band of your choice? The blame should be pointed more to corporate America (and probably some stubbornness on SA's part as well). I would say they are the ones imposing the restrictions on South Africa. In terms of physical media vs digital media, it's each to their own but digital is more convenient, easier to walk around plus more sense with the moving of the future. Just convert your tracks to FLAC be gone with your 8-tracks and what not.

 

[diabolus]

So even if music stores like Nokia's Music Store, Traxsource and AFROdesiaMP3 are available you will ignore what they already provide which is the ability to purchase songs in SA legally and supporting the atrist/band of your choice? The blame should be pointed more to corporate America (and probably some stubbornness on SA's part as well). I would say they are the ones imposing the restrictions on South Africa. In terms of physical media vs digital media, it's each to their own but digital is more convenient, easier to walk around plus more sense with the moving of the future. Just convert your tracks to FLAC be gone with your 8-tracks and what not.

I am using legal online stores for MP3s , but they don't always have all the content, yet this content is available but being blocked to South Africans. WHy do you think i tried Amazon in the first place? If i was going to pirate i wouldn't have even tried purchasing. And no, this is not "Corporate America", this is "Corporate South Africa" to blame, they are suppose to ensure the content is distributed here , and if they're not willing to do so they need to open it up at place like Amazon. Basically it's companies like SterKinekor and Numetro who is being sloppy and not providing an Amazon-equivalent type of service , but they're eager to complain if external companies do it FOR THEM and sell their content to us [bypassing them] . They want their cut, but they're not willing to actually ADD VALUE .

The same applies to ebooks. THe whole SA corporates/distributors are a bunch of slackers taking their cuts without doing anything, yet when the "source" of the content provides a real and easy service to Americans, we're stuck with overpriced and shoddy service for the same content.

 

[PeterCH]

I hope you're being sarcastic, this is exactly what is wrong with the music industry. Meantime back in the real world, things have changed, we buy per song now , we don't even own a CD-player anymore and the actual disc is never going to be used anyway [plus now i need to RIP it -anyway-, another inconvenience] . As for the "keep the receipt in case of loss" , are you kidding me? So you're saying i should buy the CD and then download the songs from the same dodgy pirate outfits anyway ? Why is Sony/MGM/EMI not providing me with a backup download service instead ?

The reality is that most online music stores are region specific while most international music retailers which ship out physical media are NOT. You can purchase a song but what happens if they online shop goes out of business? What happens if you lose your password or change your email account?
What happens if the song is THEN deleted or your HDD crashes? Well you've lost it.

If you have a CD or DVD at least unless your house burns down (and you can make a backup anyway) you are safe and you have the best quality available so you can rip your song for a tiny device and for a big iPod connected to an expensive HT system.

I'm not telling you anything BTW but I am saying that until we can buy worldwide licenses for songs and movies, this thing sucks. Ideally you should be able to buy a license per household to use SONG XYZ and then be able to rip a friends' CD or download the song from a torrent site and it would all be licit.

 

[DJNgoma]

I am using legal online stores for MP3s , but they don't always have all the content, yet this content is available but being blocked to South Africans. WHy do you think i tried Amazon in the first place? If i was going to pirate i wouldn't have even tried purchasing. And no, this is not "Corporate America", this is "Corporate South Africa" to blame, they are suppose to ensure the content is distributed here , and if they're not willing to do so they need to open it up at place like Amazon. Basically it's companies like SterKinekor and Numetro who is being sloppy and not providing an Amazon-equivalent type of service , but they're eager to complain if external companies do it FOR THEM and sell their content to us [bypassing them] . They want their cut, but they're not willing to actually ADD VALUE .

The same applies to ebooks. THe whole SA corporates/distributors are a bunch of slackers taking their cuts without doing anything, yet when the "source" of the content provides a real and easy service to Americans, we're stuck with overpriced and shoddy service for the same content.

It's on Amazon's side of things, how can SA be blamed for digital media be restricted by the US themselves. Same thing in terms of restrictions can be seen with VEVO, Hulu, Google as well. In terms of the companies like Ster-Kinekor and Nu Metro, if they can't see the market for it it just won't make sense in their books(that's my thinking on it though). What external companies are we talking about and what would they be selling?

In terms of the eBooks, afaik you can purchase straight from the likes of Amazon and Barnes & Noble. I don't see why you have to only go through SA for eBooks if there are international alternatives, can't see the point of reinventing the world in that instance.

 

[Anony-mousse]

and suddenly I feel an intense urge to download some new songs...

 

[Jladan]

Piracy

/Rant

While i do understand the reasoning behind pirating when companies make it hard or impossible to get a hold of things legally, I do not understand not paying the appropriate price for an e-book. The thing with ebooks is most time with MINIMAL effort you can get a hold of the original publishers and get it downloaded cheaper than on Amazon etc. By the sound of things the original poster is probably going to use the skills / information contained in the pirated book to improve his skills and make money, which undoubtedly he would like to be paid top dollar for....

I guess what pisses me off is the logic that flows along the lines of "Respect and pay me for my uber skills and abilities which I have gained through stealing someone elses thought and skills because I thought R500 odd bucks was too much to pay". This happens alot in the local IT industry, where you see smaller IT companies using pirated software / dev tools to develop solutions for customers but then get highly incensed when these customers are late with payment... Go figure

My 2c use it don't use it... Just don't abuse the value chain and expect others to respect your place it when you want to make a living someday

//Rant

 

[[)roi(]]

I say where you have alternatives; avoid the local stores that are ripping us off.

In this example: R533.95 locally vs $33.50 (Amazon) or +- R279. Clearly the original author and publisher is not to blame.

SA vendors like Kalahari .net clearly think they can get away with screwing the SA consumer.

Where you have legal alternatives, explore them and hopefully we can put vendors like Kalahari.net out of business; ideally without punishing the author. Where the are no options I leave it up to you and your own conscience to determine the best course (except I would still ask you to try you best to avoid any local vendors that are clearly ripping us off)