ALL THE KNOWLEDGE FIT TO PRINT
One of the books on my summer reading list, has been "The Know-It-All", by A.J. Jacobs, a really funny and informative book about the author reading the Encyclopedia Britannica from A to Z.
I almost spilled by iced tea reading the following on page 79, where the author is reviewing the history of the Encyclopedia Britannica, starting to talk about the first edition published in 1768 in Edinburgh, Scotland, part of Great Britain:
"The first edition became a moderate hit, selling about three thousand copies, according to the "The Great EB".
Soon after, pirated editions were printed in America, available to the colonists for $6. Among those who bought a set were George Washington and Thomas Jefferson."
Wow! This goes way beyond chopping down a cherry tree!
Maybe we should cut them some slack...after all, the modern notion of copyright had just originated in 1710 with the British Statute of Anne, so this stuff was fairly new.
Also, we were just a would-be developing country back then, "importing" high-cost copyright-protected content from the Super-power of the day.
It's a whole different perspective when you're tempted by a $2 pirated copy of Microsoft Office in Thailand or a "Spiderman-2" DVD in Shanghai on the next trip there.
Do you think Chinese President Jintao could bring this up at cocktail-hour, when his dinner at Bill Gates' home is re-scheduled later this month?
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