Bootlegging ebooks

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

Are unpaid-for ebooks common at your school?

  • Yes (most students have them)

    Votes: 67 72.0%

  • No (most students don't have them)

    Votes: 8 8.6%

  • Sorta (maybe half the students use them)

    Votes: 14 15.1%

  • Don't know...

    Votes: 4 4.3%
  • Total voters
    93
medicalmatins

medicalmatins

Full Member
10+ Year Member
Joined
Nov 27, 2009
Messages
128
Reaction score
0
Members don't see this ad.
Apparently, it's not legal to possess ebooks without possessing the physical book. (So you can't pass down a flash drive full of ebooks to the M1s.) Also (see here), it's not legal to possess ebooks even if you have the physical book and didn't separately purchase the ebook, or scan the entire book yourself. Is this correct? Please show me where to find the law--no amount of internet searching let me find the relevant policies.

If I've got the right information, then medical students are either ignorant of the law or ignore it a lot. (Most of my classmates have multiple ebooks from previous classes, or share logins to question banks.) I tend to think that breaking the law is not moral, and this is a poor way to begin a life in medicine. Am I wrong?
 
medicalmatins said:
Apparently, it's not legal to possess ebooks without possessing the physical book. (So you can't pass down a flash drive full of ebooks to the M1s.) Also (see here), it's not legal to possess ebooks even if you have the physical book and didn't separately purchase the ebook, or scan the entire book yourself. Is this correct? Please show me where to find the law--no amount of internet searching let me find the relevant policies.

If I've got the right information, then medical students are either ignorant of the law or ignore it a lot. (Most of my classmates have multiple ebooks from previous classes, or share logins to question banks.) I tend to think that breaking the law is not moral, and this is a poor way to begin a life in medicine. Am I wrong?
Click to expand...

Fact: it is illegal
Fact: everyone, including medical students, share anyway
Fact: who cares. If you morally object to it, then don't do it
 
It is against the law. It's called stealing.

But don't try and tell your fellow classmates this or they'll get mad. They're good people. They're in med school.

also they will get caught if they share logins to qbanks because those companies monitor usage. So don't do that. Also theoretically someone could report another student for distrubting this stuff. Very illegal.
 
This was the same case back in undergrad, people will not magically change their ways just because they are medical school.
 
I have a seedbox in Canada.
 
medicalmatins said:
I must've had my eyes glued shut...
Click to expand...

Most often than not it tended to be Asian students, no offense it's cool. I just remember seeing them borrowing and sharing textbooks from one to another, some simply carried around stacks of scans or pdfs, haha.

I eventually got in on the fun, and have been doing my own archiving and sharing of stuff I either found online or simply shared notes, books, etc. If anything, in return it has helped me gain info for classes that I have yet to take since those people were more likely to do the same to me, so it's like a "I scratch your back, you scratch mine" sort of deal.

At the end of the day, whatever helps you get to where you want to, whether it be medical school or whatever job or school you want to get into.
 
officedepot said:
It is against the law. It's called stealing.

But don't try and tell your fellow classmates this or they'll get mad. They're good people. They're in med school.

also they will get caught if they share logins to qbanks because those companies monitor usage. So don't do that. Also theoretically someone could report another student for distrubting this stuff. Very illegal.
Click to expand...

11hunuo.gif
 
JOHNNYCAGE said:
medical students are above the law
Click to expand...

Hell, without us the law makers wouldn't be well enough to even write said laws. Good luck trying to write a law while you are having a heart attack.
 
medicalmatins said:
Apparently, it's not legal to possess ebooks without possessing the physical book. (So you can't pass down a flash drive full of ebooks to the M1s.) Also (see here), it's not legal to possess ebooks even if you have the physical book and didn't separately purchase the ebook, or scan the entire book yourself. Is this correct? Please show me where to find the law--no amount of internet searching let me find the relevant policies.

If I've got the right information, then medical students are either ignorant of the law or ignore it a lot. (Most of my classmates have multiple ebooks from previous classes, or share logins to question banks.) I tend to think that breaking the law is not moral, and this is a poor way to begin a life in medicine. Am I wrong?
Click to expand...

Fact 1 is False. You can absolutely own an e-book without having the actual book. E-books are sold by many retailers and you don't get the real book with it unless there is some kind of combo deal.

Fact 2 is True and False. Just because you own the actual book doesn't mean you can download the e-book from some warez site, however there are situation where you are allowed to scan the book for your personal use only.

Someone above said getting/copying a bunch of e-books from another student is stealing, but they are wrong. It's actually copyright infringement and that is a civil matter (lawsuit) NOT a criminal matter(misdemeanor/felony). I'm definitely not condoning this type of thing, but I wanted to correct this misinformation.
 
Thanks for the correction. You'd right--you can buy an ebook from a retailer and never have to buy a paper copy. And the point about civil vs. criminal is important.
 
medicalmatins said:
Apparently, it's not legal to possess ebooks without possessing the physical book. (So you can't pass down a flash drive full of ebooks to the M1s.) Also (see here), it's not legal to possess ebooks even if you have the physical book and didn't separately purchase the ebook, or scan the entire book yourself. Is this correct? Please show me where to find the law--no amount of internet searching let me find the relevant policies.

If I've got the right information, then medical students are either ignorant of the law or ignore it a lot. (Most of my classmates have multiple ebooks from previous classes, or share logins to question banks.) I tend to think that breaking the law is not moral, and this is a poor way to begin a life in medicine. Am I wrong?
Click to expand...

Came for a Big Lebowski quote and am leaving disappointed. 🙁
 
Concubine said:
Fact: it is illegal
Fact: everyone, including medical students, share anyway
Fact: who cares. If you morally object to it, then don't do it
Click to expand...

if you take a textbook to kinko's and ask them to photocopy it, they will tell you it's LEGAL to do this as long as it's for education purposes. adapt same idea, but don't go to kinko's b/c it's expensive. in essence, using a textbook without owning it is not actually illegal in every way.

electronic reproductions cross a line for some reason and are illegal. can anyone explain what line they cross?
 
It's too easy. That's why people don't like it.
 
vasca said:
Meh, technically downloading e-books you didn't buy is illegal but the law is technically not enforceable, even harder than enforcing people that bootleg mp3's. If some RIAA dude caught a med student on the street that was reading the 18th edition of the Harrison book of IM, unless it was a file with an encryption of the name of the person that bought it (only really workable with Itunes I presume), the file would pretty pretty damn hard to trace and prove it was stolen.

I own a lot of paper med books but unfortunately my $$$ isn't unlimited and my bookshelf isn't gigantormous either. The average med book costs between 50 and 100 dollars, not something I can buy everyday. And yes, I have a LOT of e-books in multiple languages. However, there's some books I'd much rather get in the real paper form such as the First Aid books. Most of the e-books I have are older editions anyways (and we all know how fast prior editions become obsolete in medicine). If I really urgently need the most relevant developments of whichever specialty I'll end up doing, I'd obviously buy the real book.
Click to expand...


They don't need to catch you on the street with it. They can hire the same IP lawyers that the RIAA hires to monitor bit torrent trackers and file john doe lawsuits. Then they will force people into a settlement for a couple grand or face court for much more. It's worked in thousands upon thousands of cases across the country. I don't agree with the tactics, but it's pretty scary to imagine being on the receiving end of those settlement letters.
 
richse said:
They don't need to catch you on the street with it. They can hire the same IP lawyers that the RIAA hires to monitor bit torrent trackers and file john doe lawsuits. Then they will force people into a settlement for a couple grand or face court for much more. It's worked in thousands upon thousands of cases across the country. I don't agree with the tactics, but it's pretty scary to imagine being on the receiving end of those settlement letters.
Click to expand...

A close friend of mine got served with a letter from the RIAA. Had to get a lawyer and settle out of court. Not fun.
 
Postal said:
A close friend of mine got served with a letter from the RIAA. Had to get a lawyer and settle out of court. Not fun.
Click to expand...
Seriously. Gosh, my plate is pretty full with biochem and anatomy, never mind getting a lawyer.

I'm impressed that only 3% of people say "Don't know" in the poll. We're pretty aware (or at least we think we are) of the shape of the situation at our various institutions.
 
You guys think they also check Facebook and Google Docs?
 
Rothbard said:
Yes, I'm afraid you are wrong.
Click to expand...
What makes a thing moral? I thought rules of legitimate authoritaty (i.e. government?) would count....

@Morsetlis: I've heard about fb checks, but how would they check your Google docs if they're private?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Dr. Anonymouss
  • Poll Poll
EBooks vs Hard Copies
Replies
16
Views
1K
ExplodingUlcers
ExplodingUlcers
D
Anyone use mostly ebooks?
Replies
10
Views
2K
Stingarov
S
D
iPad or other tablet for ebooks, note taking,etc?
Replies
18
Views
4K
Healthyheal
H
CodeRedDew
Conversion to eBook
Replies
2
Views
1K
GopherMD
GopherMD
A
Ebook reader/Tablet
Replies
7
Views
2K
codepink
C
Top