[Bungleau]

One's perspective on this changes when you shift from consumer of such items to producer of them.

Case in point: I've written a technical manual for users of a particular software. The manual sells for $70, published by my employer. My arrangement with my employer lets us split the revenue after expenses. On a full book sale, I get around $28. On a discounted sale, I get something less. The best month of sales I ever did was 19 books... you can do the math.

Two years ago, I was at a customer site. The customer had purchased my book, and they had also purchased some software that I sell. I was meeting with them to go over implementation and training on the software.

On the desk of the person I was meeting with was a copy of my book... photocopied and placed into a binder. Clearly an illegal copy, clearly in violation of just about everything, and clearly in plain sight. The customer also represented an additional $30,000 in revenue, compared to $70 for the book.

*edit* Forgot to mention that when he noticed the book was visible, he did his best to cover it up. It was apparent to me that he knew it shouldn't have been there. */edit*
Put yourself in that situation. How would you feel? What would you do? Is it right? Is it okay?

[ 12-23-2004, 10:48 AM: Message edited by: Bungleau ]