The Wrong Number

Slaves to the algorithm

One day in the near future — perhaps this has already happened — an innocent crime novelist researching bloody techniques for his latest fictional serial killer will find armed men banging on his door in the middle of the night, because he left a data trail that caused lights to flash red in some preventive-policing algorithm. Perhaps a few distressed writers is a price we are willing to pay to prevent more murders. But predictive crime prevention is an area that leads rapidly to a dystopian sci-fi vision like that of the film Minority Report (2002).

What happens then?

Research licenses?

And how do you get the license?

Who gets to decide if you can earn your living as a writer?

Unclear Developments In The French International Book Robbery

Anthologies Of Authors In Translation Pulled From ReLIRE

Without a statement from the committee behind ReLIRE, it’s hard to know if these works have been removed from the registry because they were errors, or if the authors, translator or publisher concerned has submitted an opt-out. As a commenter pointed out on Lionel Maurel’s blog, the lack of transparency concerning the contents of the registry makes it difficult to know the status of a book on the list, for example whether it has been opposed, confirmed, etc. So it isn’t obvious why these works have now been removed.

Isn’t it funny how that braying dickhead Scott Turow — who always reminds us he is President of the Authors Guild — doesn’t seem to know that this unprecedented robbery of writers is being attempted in France?

No. No, it’s not funny at all.

Previously here:

French Book Theft Targets American Writers Too
French Government To Steal Books
France’s Writers Sold Down The River
France’s Book Grab: Worse Than Google Books

French Book Theft Targets American Writers Too

Harlan Ellison, Ursula K. Le Guin Among Award-Winning Writers On French “Copyright Theft” List

Among the authors I found in the registry are Harlan Ellison, Ursula K. Le Guin, Samuel R. Delany, and R.A. Rafferty. You won’t find them by searching for their names in the author field, but the anthology in question shows up in a free text search using their names. Although ReLIRE doesn’t present the catalog details, apparently it does use them to present search results. Here is the catalog listing from the Bibliothèque National de France.

Now that some prominent American names are in the crosshairs, will this news finally get some goddammed traction?

Previously here:

French Government To Steal Books
France’s Writers Sold Down The River
France’s Book Grab: Worse Than Google Books

French Government To Steal Books

Legalized Copyright Theft Begins In France: Government Prepares To Dispossess Writers Using Public Funds

In France there is now a double standard for piracy: it’s illegal for individuals to copy material without permission and share it freely online, but for some works the state can make a digital copy without permission and allow its sale for commercial gain. This looks like the plundering of individual property for private gain, which deprives writers of the rewards of their own labors and deprives the public of open access to orphan works.

Boldfaced emphasis added by me.

Hugo, Baudelaire, Nerval, and the rest rage from their graves.

Previously here:

France’s Writers Sold Down The River
France’s Book Grab: Worse Than Google Books

Wake Up: Real Writers Are On Their Own

The Outrage of the Week is the revelation that Random House is out to screw people with their new self-publishing scheme.

Just Shut the Fuck Up. No, really.

For years I have screamed — screamed! — about how the Big 6/4 are out to screw writers.

Quote: Kristine Kathryn Rusch

The Business Rusch: The Death of Publishing

You’re a rotating group of widgets that might make the publisher some money.

That’s the truth.

And she also explains why the print bastards haven’t yet died — and nearly convinces me.

Orson Scott Card Can Believe What He Wants

DC Comics under fire for hiring anti-gay writer to pen Superman

So he has an opinion contrary to yours?

Guess what?

That’s his fucking right.

This is the only sane guy in the story:

Dale Lazarov, a gay comic writer, said it was counterproductive to attack Card’s appointment: “I’ve known Orson Scott Card is a raging homophobe since the early 90s. I refuse to buy or read his work. But asking that he be denied work because he is a raging homophobe is taking it too far. Asking for workplace discrimination for any reason is counterproductive for those who want to end discrimination on their own behalf.”

Card is entitled to what he believes. I’ll still buy his books if I want to. And when I buy his books, I’m buying his work. All I ask out of any writer is compelling work. What they do outside of their work is their own damn business.

Previously at Mike Cane 2008:

Orson Scott Card Rips J.K. Rowling

Previously here:

The Writer’s Bill Of Rights
Free Speech And Free Thought: All Or Nothing
Writer Orson Scott Card Posts An Amazon Review Of His Own Book!

Even More eBook Fraud

The Great Ellory Leather Sock Review Tosser Caper

Some people say faking reviews/buying reviews is no different to advertising and what’s the big deal? These people are fucking idiots.

Avoid The Moron “Writers” Who Killed LendInk

If you don’t know about the LendInk controversy, begin here: Open Question: LendInk and the Reality of eBook Lending

Is that clear? LendInk never hosted books. They hosted a legal list of books that were legally entitled to be lent by buyers and those books were hosted at both the Kindle Store and the Nook Store. They were all legally-acquired books that were legally available to lend — to family members, to friends, or even to strangers.

And now the backstory of this ridiculous shitstorm: What happened to LendInk? The owner responds.

Can you believe it? These are supposed to be writers. They are supposed to understand words. They are especially supposed to know the damn Terms of Service they agreed to at both the Kindle Store and the Nook Store.

I’ve been down this road before, here: Writers: You Can’t Have ALL The Money

That was nearly three years ago. But apparently the word hasn’t spread.

Well, you know what? Any writer who can’t understand the damned Terms of Service they agreed to probably can’t actually write.

And anyone who acts that stupidly doesn’t deserve any readers.

Now go look at this: LendInk taken down by asshole indie authors

That’s a list of all the morons and idiots and fear-filled amateurs passing themselves off as writers who brought down LendInk.

I don’t believe in boycotts. I’ve seen them damage free speech a lot of times. But as far as I’m concerned, that’s a list of “writers” all of you should skip. If they can’t be bothered to understand plain, simple English, the odds are they can’t write a fucking sentence that’s worth reading.

Go buy books by others. Not them.

Assorted Notes: Strangleholds And Elites

The Mac App Store’s future of irrelevance — Apple trying to morph the Mac into an iPad-like appliance could either be a huge mistake or a huge success. At the very least, it’s their biggest gamble. How many current Mac owners will put up with sandboxed apps, crippling or obliterating functionality they’ve depended on? Where will those Mac owners turn for an alternative?