an open letter to the guy who put just a geek the audiobook on his website for people to steal

Hi there, guy-who-I-won't-link-to-for-obvious-reasons,

I'm Wil Wheaton. I wrote Just A Geek, and I created the audiobook you're helping people steal. You may not know this, but I 'm just one guy, without a publisher, so when you help people steal this copy of Just A Geek by making it available for download, you're basically stealing directly from me. You're not stealing from some big publisher with deep pockets who is trying to rip you off with overpriced stuff; you are stealing directly from me, an indie artist and publisher who counts on every sale to make a living. I have to tell you, guy-who-I-won't-link-to-for-obvious-reasons, what you're doing sucks. It sucks a lot.

I worked hard on this audiobook. I invested almost 50 hours into the production, spread out over several weeks. I priced it under the average market price for audiobooks of its length, and I deliberately did not put DRM on it, because I don't believe in treating my customers like they are criminals. I mean, let's face it, guy-who-I-won't-link-to-for-obvious-reasons, DRM only punishes honest customers, because people like you, who steal from people like me, always find a way around it.

I notice that you have a nice big banner at the top of your webpage, imploring the people who are visiting your site to click on the ads you've put there, so you can keep the site running. I also see that you have a link for people to donate money to you. That's, um, that's rather ironic, isn't it? You are stealing from me and other authors, and then asking your fellow thieves to click on ads and give you donations, so you can make money from our work. Maybe it's just me, but that strikes me as what we would call "a real dick move."

I realize that I can't stop you from doing what you're doing. Even if I went through the hassle of filing DMCA takedown notices and filing complaints with the various authorities who handle this sort of thing, you'd just open up a new site somewhere else, and start all over again. But listen, guy-who-I-won't-link-to-for-obvious-reasons, maybe you don't realize that you're actually taking money right out of my pocket, and maybe you don't realize that what you're doing is no different than walking into a store, putting an audiobook under your jacket, and walking out with it. You're stealing from me, guy-who-I-won't-link-to-for-obvious-reasons, and I hope you'll read this, and stop.

I'd really appreciate it if you'd take these links down, and replace them with links to the place where people can purchase it from me, support my work, and ensure that I continue to release audiobooks without DRM or other annoying restrictions.

Thanks for listening,

Wil Wheaton

248 thoughts on “an open letter to the guy who put just a geek the audiobook on his website for people to steal”

  1. The links already don’t work, to clear up a bit of confusion upstream.
    The guy still has links to the hosting site, hotfile.com, on his journal entry, but the links now give you “This file is either removed due to copyright claim or is deleted by the uploader.”
    A win already, but if they would disable his account completely that would obviously be better. Because all the other media are still there to be downloaded.

  3. Wil, you’re a wonderful guy and I’ve got a lotta respect for you, but I’m going to have to take issue with one particular remark.
    “maybe you don’t realize that what you’re doing is no different than walking into a store, putting an audiobook under your jacket, and walking out with it.”
    This is wrong on every level. Even though the major content producers (RIAA, MPAA, etc) insist on repeating it ad nauseum.
    1/ Terms.
    Theft is the transfer of property between legal entities without permission. You can’t have “copyright theft” unless they have taken away your rights.
    What this guy is doing is “infringing” … or trespassing if you feel inclined. It’s still illegal, but imo the use of the word theft in this case is simply manipulation of Joe Public that doesn’t know a bit from a byte.
    2/ Concept of loss
    If someone goes in to a shop and takes a CD, they have gained a physical object, the shop has lost one.
    The shop is then out of pocket 1 copy. It’s cost the shop money.
    If someone copies an audio file, the original still exists.
    You’ve lost a potential sale, but most people that pirate something either can’t buy something, wouldn’t have bought something, or want to see if something is worth their money.
    The third increases sales.
    3/ Reasons for happening.
    Some shoplifting happens because it’s something people would have bought but can’t. Food and medicine being the favourites. Move to luxury goods … expensive clothes, games, CDs, and a significant portion of that theft is being committed by people who are then selling it on for a profit.
    Pirates, on the other hand, are mostly people who are interested enough in your product to go to the effort of downloading it. Pirating for profit is the minority.
    4/ Legal view and Result of getting caught
    If you shoplift and get caught, you might get a caution … a small fine, say a couple of hundred bucks … a number of days in lockup if you’re a serial offender. Petty theft really isn’t punished that hard.
    If you download and get caught you get told to pay up a couple of hundred bucks to avoid being taken to court. Innocence isn’t considered in that step.
    If you get taken to court and loose, your fine could be a multiple of $10,000 per infraction.
    If you get caught offering content for download, you’re looking at a couple of years jail time, hundreds of thousands in damages.
    I could probably go on, but I’m hoping I’ve made my point.
    Imagine you own a shop selling scented candles. There are 4 groups of people:
    Buyers: They find something the like and buy it.
    Lookers: They look round, sniffing at everything in the shop, commenting how they like it, then they walk out without buying anything. 1 in 10 come back a week later they come back and spend $50. Half of those become loyal customers.
    Lifters: They find the objects with the best value to risk ratio and steal them.
    Window shoppers: They just pass by, stopping occasionally to look in your window and say “That looks interesting” before continuing.
    Maybe I’m biased, but I’m sure you can guess which of the 4 I am using to represent pirates.
    But since this guy is hurting the person in the food chain that needs supporting, the artist, and since your reaction is so classy…
    Site “audiobook-vault” is hosted at 217.23.1.32
    IP owned by “WorldStream”, contact [email protected]
    Upstream provider “kabelfoon.nl”, contact [email protected]
    DNS provided by hardc0re.org, contact [email protected]
    DNS IP owned by above companies.
    Mail an abuse complaint to [email protected] and CC it to the other addresses mentioned above.
    Failing that, contact their transit providers … you might not be able to stop them, but you can at least cause them a little work.
    Not that I’d advocate mob justice, but there is power in numbers 😉

  4. “free software ‘tard”?
    Have you any idea where we’re be right now -without- people releasing things as free software?
    You certainly wouldn’t have posted that comment, cause PHP, MySQL, Apache, Squid, and GNU/Linux are all free software.
    Do you use Firefox? Free software.
    Remember Netscape?
    Oh you use google … they’re giving you most of their services for free.
    You’re on the internet … HTTP, FTP, TCP/IP … Sound like free stuff to me.
    People selling software are selling the right to use a product of their craftmenship, their time and their ideas. All power to them.
    There are people who do the above for the enjoyment they get out of it, and furthering the common good. All power to them.
    And then there are the people who give people the right to use their products for free, and yet still make a living doing things like commercial support, hosting and running their products for people, and custom modifications. These people should rule the world.
    Maybe you should clear that smoke from your head before you try speaking 😉

  5. The interwebs are all a buzz with your post. My contribution on TechDirt. Sorry, I may have fed a troll:
    “Because insulting your fans is the best way to keep them, of course.”
    First off, his fans would not download it. That is one of the more important messages of the blog post. Wil Wheaton maintains an active blog, writes several columns, and produces podcasts for his fans. Not only free, but under a Creative Commons share-alike license. He gives a ton of content for free. What he does to make a living, and feed his family, is create premium content for his fans to purchase. And he does it DRM free as he does not feel his consumers should be treated like criminals or that they should lose content that they purchased because after 5 years an authentication server goes splut or that file format is no longer supported on the latest gadget those kids are buying these days.
    He is for the rights of consumers and he is for his rights as a content creator. He also has rights as a producer, director, distributor, etc. This is done by him pretty much exclusively. So when he says that if you download it you are stealing from him he’s a lot closer than most other artists.
    Now for the great part that I think he missed out on but works in his favor. Downloads do not equal sales. Chances are if you were going to download it from a shady site you were not going to purchase it. Its a dick move for sure, but it won’t affect his bottom line. Instead he wrote about it and got a discussion going.
    Memories of the Future comes out next week and he has several hawesome podcasts already on the site about it available for free, this time straight from the author

  6. Personally I think you are making a big mistake, Mr. Wheaton, and one that in the long run will cost you more sales than it preserves. For every person who can pervert and distort the concept of property the way you and the comments on this page have, there are a dozens who understand that property consists not in anything that cannot be physically taken from another person. If one were to steal your actual book (the physical thing) then that would be stealing and she would be a criminal. I am sorry that you feel you deserve to be compensated for all the brains who process your “stolen” words, but other authors can and do survive and thrive without such whining. I doubt, but do hope, that you will take a slightly less reactionary approach to this issue, and consider that being nice to people who want to read your book, but don’t know yet if they want to buy it from you, might actually benefit you more than calling them criminals. Copyright enforcement is thuggery.
    Here’s a related thought from Thomas Jefferson, which is far more nuanced and relevant that my own:
    “He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. That ideas should freely spread from one to another over the globe, for the moral and mutual instruction of man, and improvement of his condition, seems to have been peculiarly and benevolently designed by nature, when she made them, like fire, expansible over all space, without lessening their density in any point, and like the air in which we breathe, move, and have our physical being, incapable of confinement or exclusive appropriation. Inventions then cannot, in nature, be a subject of property. Society may give an exclusive right to the profits arising from them, as an encouragement to men to pursue ideas which may produce utility, but this may or may not be done, according to the will and convenience of the society, without claim or complaint from anybody.”

  7. Trouble is, nobody’s much interested in buying a pig in a poke.
    This is the same problem that we’ve had since the creation of libraries. The same problem we’ve had since the invention of the audio cassette. The internet has simply magnified that problem a thousand-fold. But it IS the same problem, and castigating the library patrons has never helped before, so there’s no reason to think it will this time, either.
    Yes, it IS a problem. But casting aspersions on folks who want to try before they buy isn’t going to solve the problem. And you’ll note that Mr. Wheaton (Sorry, not sure how to address him on his own blog) isn’t doing that- he’s just addressing the fellow who is deliberately distributing his work.
    The bottom line is, ‘try before you buy’ is a smart human behaviour. The same mentality that ensures you try on your pants and shoes before you purchase them, and take that car for a test drive… You visit a property before you rent or purchase it. Smart, successful people examine a thing and evaluate it before they put down their money on it. We will not EVER get rid of this behaviour. Or if we do, it’ll be moments before we all shuffle ourselves off by drinking drain cleaner or something.
    Instead, we need to train a new conscience into people. Train them that non-physical goods are also valuable and worth money. And to pay the creator of the works whenever, and however they can, so that the creator can reap the rewards of their effort.
    Ms. Simmons’ tacit admission of piracy, coupled with her wish to repay the creators of those works- this is PROGRESS. It should be nurtured, not scorned.

  8. I had the same problem last night when I ordered. Instead of being re-directed back to the 10Quick Steps site, I got a validation error message. All I had to do to resolve the situation was to just send David an email, with my PayPal transaction ID and a brief explanation of the problem, and he sorted me out with a YouSendIt link the following morning. Not sure if that is a viable solution to the server problems his site is experiencing anymore, now that the demand has increased considerably since last night when I ordered.
    The problem’s already probably sorted out by this point. I’ll probably scroll down a few pages and see this issue already addressed by somebody else’s comments :).
    Anyway, just want to say thanks to David for sorting out my ordering situation so swiftly. Excellent customer service.

  9. I wrote to AdBrite about them advertising on sites that are hosting illegal content and got this back:
    Hello,
    Thank you for contacting AdBrite. While AdBrite provides advertising and publishing solutions to many sites, we do not generate or control any content on our client’s site.
    In order to process a complaint of copyright infringement, we need the copyright owner to provide the information below. If you are the copyright owner please be sure to provide a complete response, including the statements of “good faith belief” and “penalty of perjury” in 5 and 6. You can provide the information in a response to this email.
    Required information:
    1. A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright that has been allegedly infringed;
    2. Identification of works or materials being infringed;
    3. Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing including information regarding the location of the infringing materials that the copyright owner seeks to have removed, with sufficient detail so that AdBrite is capable of finding and verifying its existence;
    4. Contact information about the notifier including address, telephone number and, if available, e-mail address. This information will be provided to the publisher upon request to facilitate dispute resolution;
    5. A statement that the notifier has a good faith belief that the material is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and
    6. A statement made under penalty of perjury that the information provided is accurate and the notifying party is authorized to make the complaint on behalf of the copyright owner.
    Best Regards,
    Will C.
    Trust & Safety
    I’m like, seriously? The whole site is one copyrighted work after another. Things that are not free. The whole point of the site is to allow people to illegally download audio books. WTF.

  12. From that Jefferson quote:
    “Society may give an exclusive right to the profits arising from them, as an encouragement to men to pursue ideas which may produce utility, but this may or may not be done, according to the will and convenience of the society, without claim or complaint from anybody.”
    Yes, and our society has so granted Wil those exclusive rights to profit from his work where he chooses, and put in place many mechanisms to make any claim or complaint when people try for personal profit to deny him his rights – so, what WAS your point exactly?

  14. Guy-who-you-won’t-link-to-for-obvious-reasons is wrong and should stop, but I think you’re a bit overboard here. He isn’t stealing from you. If there are people downloading the files from his site, they are doing so for free, and are very unlikely to have otherwise purchased them from you. What guy-who-you-won’t-link-to-for-obvious-reasons does is very unlike “walking into a store, putting an audiobook under your jacket, and walking out with it.” You’re familiar with the copyright debate, so I’m rather surprised that you make this argument.
    “Please understand, I hold you in the highest respect,” but stealing the physical audiobook deprives the store of a possible sale, while downloading an unauthorized copy of the files likely deprives you of no sale, and could, possibly, lead to higher sales (no, I’m not saying it will, I’m simply saying it could).
    Regardless, he’s wrong, and you’re right that he shouldn’t take such liberties with your work.
    Thanks,
    Chuck

  17. What’s with all the hair splitting and nerd-analysis of the definitions of stealing, piracy, intellectual property, copyright, blah blah blah..
    I know we all just love being Internet Expert, but let’s reduce it down to the simplest terms…
    Idiot A decided he won’t comprehend the difference between free as in speech and free as in beer, and allows for the distribution of works created by others and intended to be sold for a price.
    The irony is – he wants to be paid for his troubles.
    And in response, we have people splitting hairs about what is theft and what is not, and one really bright candle who sees this service as a library (where you BORROW and RETURN) even.
    Come on, wrong is wrong is wrong, whatever name you want to file it under. It’s still wrong.
    I welcome anyone who thinks it’s not wrong to spend long hours creating something, put it up for sale, and then find it distributed elsewhere without your consent. Will you still think it’s not wrong when it happens to you? Yeah, so spare me.

  18. We need more Class-Act-Like-Wil’s out there.
    The good news is that most people who read your blog understand how you make your living and will support your work, even given a “free” stolen option.
    The silver lining to this ugly cloud is perhaps someone who downloads this pirated copy will appreciate it, and purchase your material in the future. Some of the rest never buy anything, so forget them. And for those that fall into the genuine fan, but stealing from you anyway, well… what can you say? Hopefully it was a mistake on their part as well, and they will rectify it upon reading your open letter.
    Keep up the good work.

  19. The cowardly douchenozzle has scrubbed all the negative comments from the thread for the book.
    I hope s/he realizes s/he has pissed off the wrong group of people.

  21. I would buy the audiobook, but $35 is too much. If the price is ever lowered, let us know. I’d be willing to pay $10. You deserve to be paid for your work. I’m only letting you know what I’m willing to pay for it. $10 is a pretty easy amount to spend. $35 is not, especially if I might not like it.

  22. No, and posting a silly web comic as a reply only serves to further show your ignorance.
    But since you asked,
    I am the one who will resist attempts to control the flow of information.
    I am the one who says no to price gouging of digital media.
    I am the one who refuses to support those who share the viewpoint of the MPAA/RIAA and other corporate lobbying groups who wish to impose draconian measures on a digital age.
    I am the one who will set my ones and zeros to whatever I damn well please, using whatever tools are available to me.
    And most importantly, I am one, but I am not alone.

  24. Remember, the guy-who-Wil-won’t-link-to-for-obvious-reasons has been doing his best to make money off of other’s people’s work. That is very different than just offering free downloads. That websites cost money doesn’t fly, as websites are optional, unlike food or water.
    And the whole thing about comparing theft to borrowing from libraries made me cringe. Public money funds libraries, just like parks and schools and roads and on and on. Libraries are not making money by ripping off artists. They are not profit driven.
    We love Wil for his honesty and integrity, as well as his talent. I can’t wait until October 13 so that I can purchase Memories of the Future!

  25. Damn, but that is a dickish thing to do. Wil, I hadn’t intended to buy the audiobook (because I prefer paper books myself) but I am now on my way to purchase it. I just transferred to a new bank, and your book is the first purchase I’m making with the new account. Thanks for giving me something good to christen it with.

  27. The attitude on techdirt seems to swing back and forth, but a lot is questioning your geek cred for ‘freaking out’. I had to post something over there…
    The moment of Wheatonesque clarity for me was a video from some con happening somewhere. Wil was up before an audience, slinging some geek cred in an effort to sell his latest book, with the promise of a reading of three chapters. He was funny, he was entertaining, fun was had by all. As we finally approach the reading he points to the audience and mentions all the people wielding video cameras.
    He states loudly and clearly that this material is released under creative commons share and share alike. Yeah, I dugg that.
    With enough digging, a person, or carefully constructed spider, could probably assemble most of his published work through his blogs, his podcasts, and video of appearances. The books and audio books he sells are for the benefit of his fans and paying for the collected material gives the fans something that is not cobbled together from disparate sources. Additionally, these collected works are published and distributed via a very different model, it isn’t filtered through a huge faceless publisher that uses it’s artists as cheap content providers, it is effectively from the artist himself. An artist that does have bills to pay.
    With enough time a person could share a playlist of Wil Wheaton videos that covers a lot of what this audiobook is about. This person however is asking for advertising revenue and paypal donations. It’s easy to claim that they are only for hosting costs, but I have my doubts. I seriously doubt that anything more than what covers hosting is returned. Isn’t this just the same as the faceless publisher that absorbs the majority of the profits derived from the artists work?

  28. Ugh, sorry Wil I’m broke this month, but I will buy this when I have money because you were cool enough to handle this without lawyers.
    Guy who shall remain nameless, you are a dick and don’t deserve Wil taking the high road.

  29. Yeah, it’s Generation Y which is also known as “millennials”, they’re a bit self centered. At my former place of employment, we did a lot of marketing research on Gen Y.. and mostly what it says it “Entitled”.
    It’s shit behaviour that you think you can just steal something and ignore the consequences of who you affect by it.

  30. Thanks for the info. I’d not come across Magnatune before or Jive Ass Sleepers either. Pleased to say, I like them both!
    And Creative Commons I’ve always liked – Sharing = good. Stealing = bad.

  32. OK, I’m a little late to the game (it’s been a h@!! of a week), but I’d really be interested in joining the effort to get rid of this unnamed person. I agree that it would seem that Google and PayPal both would be willing to do something about the issue … so my question becomes, how do we get their attention? Usually, a campaign will send snail mail or some other unique method. If we, the followers/supporters/fans/friends of Wil Wheaton want to get their attention in regards to their complicity to a crime (as I believe they are & it is), how do we do it? Deluge them with email? Send bulk quantities of hard copies of the webpage depicting the thievery?
    I’m open to suggestions. And I now have some time on my hands to do something about it. Wil is a cool guy, and he certainly doesn’t deserve this s#!%.
    I’m with you, Wil. I hope Karma bites him/her/it in the you-know-what.

  33. This has probably already been posted, but this annoys me. Downloading copyrighted material is wrong, and it’s a tort, but it’s not stealing.
    It’s very easy to see that they are not the same. If someone who would never have bought a copy of your audio book downloads it you have lost nothing. If someone who would have never bought a copy of your novel stole one, someone has suffered a loss. Maybe it’s a store whose stocking it, or an insurance company, or maybe it’s Mr Wheaton, but someone has definitely suffered a loss.
    Maybe you think this is a subtle and unimportant, but I happen to think this is a very important distinction. The assumption that every downloaded file is a lost sale is where people come up with those “piracy loses X industry Y dollars a year”. This facts are one of the big points they use to try to convince people that we need laws to protect copyright holders. Laws that invariably erode personal freedoms.

  34. Hey, thanks for reminding me, after I got my Kindle I was going through the “all the books I wanted to read but never got around to it” list. I just moved Just A Geek to the top of the list and bought it.

  36. Web hosting is actually very cheap, dirt cheap in fact. Generally, the price of a book or CD can get you two months of hosting, of course depending on the cost of the media or the provider. A domain is cheap, cheaper than the cost of a book for a full year of registration. Bandwidth is what is expensive, but of course that is the exploit you are proposing.

  37. Well I vote you take a proactive approach and protect your IP. I respect your integrity, but Wil if you let people walk on you they will. It’s not you being a dick, it’s you standing up against the dicks (that sounds so bad). Good luck and I hope you find a resolution that works for you.

  38. Hi Wil! As many others have stated, I’d like to purchase some of your material, partly because I’ve been meaning to for a while anyway, and partly just to thumb my nose at the jerk who’s ripping you off. However, I’ve got a quick question: I just recently bought an Amazon Kindle, and I’m in love with (visually) reading on this thing. Is there a good way for me to buy your content that would play nice with the Kindle? Thanks!

  39. I know exactly how you feel. I’ve been out of work for…well, let’s just say a long while.
    I put up some of my artwork on Etsy, started to make some sales…then found someone was downloading my preview images and selling them on eBay as prints using MY NAME.
    Yeah, he wasn’t only stealing directly from me, he was selling blown up low-rez jpgs as ‘high quality prints’ while pretending to be me, which didn’t do much for my rep.

  40. After a search it looks like I’ve found the website mentioned, and one of the comments from someone named ‘Picard’ (how deliciously hilarious given the Star Trek link) is – “Wow thanks! I wanted to buy this but 35$ was beyond my budget for an audiobook.”. I’m sure Wil would like to see Picard in his ready room,over that. So,there you go. If people can get something for free,they will (and especially so in economically dire times).
    Downloading has now become quite socially acceptable for many many people even in the western world where this was once a huge taboo, and especially now at a time when people who previously may have condemnded downloading with fervour, are up to it more than they’d admit, going by the figures. Either web users are lying, or the figures are cooked.
    Going by the condemnations on this topic, either commenters on this topic are a rare Oasis of honesty in a sea of downloading, or we’re not hearing – “the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help me god” from them.
    We could say that putting material on the Global internet and expecting morals to enter the picture, may be way too trusting. It’s quite a sad state of affairs, but once something is put on the web then it really is gambling and if the uploader is indeed in somewhere like Malaysia then appeals to morality will go in one ear and out the other as Malaysia is one of the hubs of the CD/DVD copying business.
    Apart from those who make money selling it (if the guy/girl has a donation button,then they are one of them) there is hardly anyone in all of Asia that actually purchases a CD or DVD of western material, because 90% of the time they could never afford to. Copys are the ‘norm’ over there. Morality does tend to be a luxury of folks rich enough to be able to apply it (and point it out) liberally. We may not understand when someone wrenches the watch off the wrist of a western tourist in Peru, but it makes perfect sense to the Street Urchin who did it, seeing us as fair game for being fleeced.
    Even if there is technology which could locate the owner of the original Audio Book purchase that has made its way onto the web as a free download, it’s still hard to use this as as a full proof way of finding the culprit because it may have come from a stolen laptop or other means.
    I’m not sure what can be done about this now. Even if the uploader is tracked down, the chances are that the audio book has already been multiplied and made its way onto the hard drives (or upload blogs) of many people. Sad, but true.

  41. Update: I was hoping to report that the google ads were gone, but I forgot that our webfilter at work blocks them.** (and i’m in the IT dept :p)
    It’s been reported that the linked files have been taken down. it looks like he may have re-uploaded them or something because the links worked this time. The download started and I cancelled it because it refuse to steal (yes I said steal) from Wil.
    (HEY! That sounds like a great T-Shirt.
          ____         ____
        /        `—–‘        \
      /                           \
    /__| Don’t steal |__\
         |   From Wil   |
         |                    |
         |__________|
    * and that may be the first time I’ve tried to use ASCII ART in a parenthetical***.)
    Wil, feel free to use the T-Shirt idea. Maybe you can donate the proceeds to Fund World Authors of Pirated Material Everywhere. (FWAP ME)
    ** incidentally, our webfilter also blocks the file hosting site… reason:… Porn.
    *** and it’s probably the last time I try to do ASCII art.

  42. How about downloading stuff from that site, deleting it, then downloading it again, deleting, over and over to drive up the evil doer’s bandwidth costs? Good or bad idea?

  43. That sucks big donkey ears…haha…well, had to make you laugh, but, i am gonna buy a copy of your audio book even though i have the hardback version, its awesome to hear you tell the stories, adds a little more! As I always say, what comes around goes around…it will come back on them!

  44. Hey Wil? You should do yourself a favor and read the book “Free” by Chris Anderson. Better yet, download the audiobook from iTunes. And guess how much you’ll pay for it?
    Free is the new way to go, my friend, particularly when it comes to digital goods. The marginal profit you might make from selling an additional JAG audiobook is likely dwarfed by the brand and affection you build by giving away the digital version for free.
    Seriously, go and download “Free” right now for free, and listen to it from the first bit to the last. You will change your mind about how you price your wares and yourself.

  45. Thank you for this. I hadn’t come back here in a few days, when I last saw this it had only the first two comments doing that. Now I see that the “pirate” douchebags (and I am not even against piracy, in particular respects anyway) have come out of the woodwork to bitch about/at Wil, because he clearly must be anti-pirate for not wanting people to take his work that he put so much effort into, and deprive him and his family of their right to profit from it. It is really freaking aggravating to see that shit, about one of the most upstanding people I have ever come across. You summed it up quite nicely. *sighs*

  46. I’m not Wil (heh) but in case you haven’t found your answer, yes, there are .pdfs of his books, and I know that Amazon even had one of them, if not more. There should be links somewhere on the site, though.

  48. I don’t understand the backlash against Wil on that site. We can all put ourselves in his place and most of us would react the same way. People have argued that Wil does give out some free material off the new book in podcast form (and question how it’s different). Well, Wil actually decided how much he wants to give for free. And supporting the Creative Commons is nice and all, but like everyone else, he has bills to pay and a family to support. (BTW, that reminds me that I still need to buy a copy of The Happiest Days of Our Lives — I already have Just a Geek in book form and have read it several times)

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In order to survive, I disassociated for much of my childhood, but I clearly remember the books. That's where I found comfort, companionship, inspiration and validation. It's where the imagination that powers everything I do creatively in my life today was born. And it all started in that library, with that librarian. She was one of the first people I can remember asking me, "What do you like? What's important to you? What do you want to know more about? How can I help you find it?"

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