Z-library founders arrested in Argentina

Post by gibspaulding » Thu, Nov 17, 2022, 5:18 PM UTC

attilaberczik wrote: post #212

phpisatrash wrote: post #167

Me and my colleagues will be affected by the end of Z library and co related projects. Here in Brazil and for sure in most second and third world countries, people don't have money to spend in books. You can argue that people can go to the library, but in most cases it's even expensive to take a bus or taxi even a Uber. I'm a law student at an university in brazil. Law books are really expensive. Even though my unive…

Use Library Genesis. It's also free and there is no download limit, and you have access to approximately the same books. https://libgen.is/

Post by andai » Thu, Nov 17, 2022, 5:24 PM UTC

dotnet00 wrote: post #222

akudha wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was looking for a book a while ago, it was something like $150 in the U.S. Out of curiosity, I looked up the price in other countries. It was 150 times the exchange rate. 150$ for a book is a lot of money even in the U.S. How do publishers expect other countries to pay the equivalent of 150$ (in local currency)? In many places $150 might be half the monthly salary or worse. I understand publishers and authors need…

The situation gets worse when considering the near racketeering many publishers engage in. I had a couple of professors who assigned us their own $100 textbooks, which of course had a new edition every year and while they wouldn't rely on it much in class, they'd make sure to include at least one question in the exams about something only mentioned in the textbook (without stating that that would happen). This kind o…

Post by andai » Thu, Nov 17, 2022, 5:30 PM UTC

0xR1CK wrote: post #19

elashri wrote: post #2

> As alleged, the defendants profited illegally off work they stole How did they profit? If they even admitted that > Defendants Operated Z-Library, Which Offered Free Download of Copyrighted Works This is a complete nonsense

They accepted payment to get around quotas (and probably ran ads). Even if it was a tiny percentage of people who engaged with them this way, or even if they profited at all, they took money in exchange for accessing an illicit resource. That is likely the main reason the teeth have come out to bite. If anything though this might push that resource to the hands of people who can maintaining the massive library volunt…

Post by wang_li » Thu, Nov 17, 2022, 5:35 PM UTC

connorgutman wrote: post #202

aliqot wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every person in the world doesnt use a single library with a single copy. Every local library purchases one or more. How many did Zlib purchase? How many Zlibs are there?

That's a logical race to the bottom that makes me think you have never checked out a book from a US library. If you were to calculate how much an author makes from their book being in libraries it's miniscule. For starters most library books are donated secondhand and not purchased new by libraries. Secondly, most libraries only have a single copy of a given book unless it is a major title (It's not uncommon for wait…

Post by sombragris » Thu, Nov 17, 2022, 5:47 PM UTC

reactspa wrote: post #292

generationP wrote: post #288

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but it is hard to tell whether LG will stay up for long either. Their non-commercial nature makes it harder to hit them with heavy damages, arguably, but the underlying threat is the same, and there is no reason to think they are somehow protected from the same dynamic. Download anything you need and then some. And spread your own writings widely and freely.

I need a clarification please: was Z-Library a commercial service?