[innocenat]

I am not sure how that would work. "Artificial Intelligence a Modern Approach" 1st Edition is no longer available. Should it be allowed to be freely shared when 4th edition is still on sale? The changes aren't that minor, either.

[derstander]

If the changes aren’t that minor, then people would certainly gain extra value from buying the 4th edition instead of freely getting the 1st.

If the changes were minor, then maybe it would stop, say, a textbook company from releasing a zillion versions of the same book with minor changes or the question ordering switched in order to extract money out of the next class of students instead of simply allowing them to buy the previous edition used. ;)

[smoldesu]

> Should it be allowed to be freely shared when 4th edition is still on sale?

I think so, even though the context around it might be more confusing/less modern or relevant.

For books and research, you can argue a lot of trivialities. For games and art, I think it's a necessary preservation requirement. For example, the other day I wanted to play Armored Core 4/4A. Digital copies can't be bought now that the servers are dead, and secondhand physical copies run well over $400. Your only convenient option for experiencing AC4/4A is emulation or piracy, which is absurd (but also the inconvenient truth).

Unless we'd rather these old and seemingly irrelevant works fall off the face of the earth, legalizing their preservation and archival should be urgent.

[skeaker]

A new edition from an author indicates that they believe there is enough new information to justify selling you a whole separate book. If that is the case they should agree that the 1st edition is fair game since it won't have the same information. If they protest, well... Was the 4th edition ever necessary to begin with if the 1st edition is just as good? In cases like that I still support this idea because editions like this absolutely are used to gouge students at times, and this would stop that dead in its tracks.