Website sells thousands of pirated e-books
Monday, April 22, 2013, 16:12 GMT+7
More than a few local authors are stunned to see their books pirated and sold on website http://thuvien247.net, which has offered almost 20,000 e-books so far.
All these books have been scanned and are sold as e-books for VND14,000 (US$0.7) each, without the approval of their authors, bringing the web owner considerable profits.
Dang Van Sang, principal of Ho Chi Minh City-based Anh Sang school, was shocked to learn from some of his colleagues that his book on finance is for sale on the website.
He purchased the book from the website and had VND15,000 (US$0.7) deducted from his account before receiving a link to download its PDF version.
Sang filed a complaint with the web management, who then apologized to him and removed his book from their list.
“This is a blatant copyright violation. No way can this breach be an error, as the some-hundred-page book was carefully scanned or typed,” Sang said.
Prof. Tran Ngoc Them, a culture authority, also lamented that his book titled ‘The basics of Vietnamese culture’, which is widely used as textbook for university students, is also sold on the web in a similar method.
The web management also apologized to Prof. Them and removed his book from their ‘library’.
Many books by university lecturers intended for internal use by their students are also available.
Up to 20,000 books of various categories, including textbooks and reference books, by more than 8,100 authors, as well as movie and music DVDs are also available for downloading on this site.
According to the web managers, customers can download the books by sending text messages or by registering and paying via bank accounts.
Its members can also upload their own books onto the site to gain free access to some other books.
The web management claimed that the website is merely a forum for book lovers to share books and they only charge nominal fees to sustain their operation.
According to the HCMC Department of Planning and Investment, Tai Nguyen Toan Cau Co., owned by Pham Hong Thai, is the legal representative.
No license number is posted on the website, which again violates Vietnamese laws on the operation of online forums.
