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Very Hot Topic (More than 25 Replies) Mega Database Price Outrage (Read 31012 times)
chk
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Re: Mega Database Price Outrage
Reply #35 - 12/23/09 at 08:48:15
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Antillian wrote on 12/22/09 at 14:26:42:
Well Chessbase used to have a free online database.


That probably explains why I visited the site today, only to find that "service is unavailable"..

Anyone knows if this is only temporary? I use a lot this database when I'm at work (it's one of the few useful chess sources I am allowed to access)  Sad
  

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MNb
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Re: Mega Database Price Outrage
Reply #34 - 12/23/09 at 01:25:56
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GMTonyKosten wrote on 12/22/09 at 13:10:12:
If you want the article then pay for it, if not there is absolutely no way one can justify stealing it.


Generally speaking yes, but if I want to pay for something that is not for sale anymore I don't have many scruples to get it illegally.
  

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nimzo5
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Re: Mega Database Price Outrage
Reply #33 - 12/22/09 at 20:13:32
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I subscribe to openingmaster. The games are not annotated but I get all the CC games etc. I had an old megabase and twic updates and I found that openingmaster is more complete.
Their site leaves something to be desired but I have had zero issues with their databases etc.
  

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Net Warrior
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Re: Mega Database Price Outrage
Reply #32 - 12/22/09 at 17:03:14
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GMTonyKosten wrote on 12/22/09 at 12:13:03:
Net Warrior wrote on 12/21/09 at 21:25:33:
I'm pretty cluesless about databases.  I recently bought Fritz 10 and I wonder if it has a feed reader.  Does anyone know if it has a feed reader and how I would recognize it, or where I could get one?   Sad Embarrassed

Can't you read feeds with any browser these days? In Internet Explorer there is an orange icon that 'lights up' whenever there is a feed to read.


Ah, thanks a million
  

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Stigma
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Re: Mega Database Price Outrage
Reply #31 - 12/22/09 at 15:08:55
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Antillian wrote on 12/22/09 at 14:52:11:
Fear of piracy is the reason that most chess book publishers will not follow Everyman Chess' model of releasing ebooks. The whole book publishing model is archaic and needlessly redundant when you think about it. Writers spend hours putting games into Chessbase. Publishers then spend hours converting the  chessbase files into hard paper. Buyers then spend hours entering the games on the hard paper back into chessbase as they study them and analyse them. Isn't this madness?


I think everybody does this to some extent (If not, what would be the point of a program like Bookup/COW?!) but still the copyright warning in many books mentions "storing [any part of this publication] in a retrieval system" as illegal without prior permission! Even productive author John Watson admitted in one of his book reviews to spending countless hours manually inputing book lines into Chessbase.

So this particular aspect of copyright law is pretty much a joke.
  

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Antillian
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Re: Mega Database Price Outrage
Reply #30 - 12/22/09 at 14:52:11
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Fear of piracy is the reason that most chess book publishers will not follow Everyman Chess' model of releasing ebooks. The whole book publishing model is archaic and needlessly redundant when you think about it. Writers spend hours putting games into Chessbase. Publishers then spend hours converting the  chessbase files into hard paper. Buyers then spend hours entering the games on the hard paper back into chessbase as they study them and analyse them. Isn't this madness?

I don't approve of piracy. I don't use torrent and I don't share my digital chess materials with others who have not bought them. However, I will not judge anyone else harshly since when I was a kid, my only chess books were ones I photocopied.

Stigma wrote on 12/22/09 at 14:36:25:
Copy protection won't stop the most determined and knowledgeable thiefs, but it should deter at least some would-be filesharers.


Yes, enforcement is only one part of the picture. Sellers have to find creative ways to make people more likely to buy their product instead of stealing it. For example, once upon a time, I had to wait months to see a new US movie on the big screen. You can be sure that long before that, pirated copies were available on video. The US movie industry moved in the direction of simultaneous world wide releases largely to combat piracy. Now I can go see Avator right now in my local cinema whereas a few years ago, it would probably have not been released until March next year! So i am less likely to rent that pirated copy.

I think Chessbase recognises this. For instance, the downloadable Chessbase Light Premium now has almost all of the feature of the full verson of Chessbase full edition. Less incentive for piracy. They have to look for other creative ways with their other products to make buyers more likely to buy them than to steal them.

GMTonyKosten wrote on 12/22/09 at 13:10:12:
I wonder if they have been forced to up the price because so many people thieve it? So the honest people have to pay more because of the dishonest ones? Sad


Not necessarily. There is a controversial  argument that piracy had a positive effect on legal sales in the music industry for instance.
  

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Stigma
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Re: Mega Database Price Outrage
Reply #29 - 12/22/09 at 14:36:25
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I have an impression that attitudes toward copyright are (even) more relaxed in Eastern Europe.

Maybe for that reason Convekta has used copy protection on many of its products, and really I think Chessbase should consider the same. It's easy to take a moral stand and simply admonish people to follow the law, but what can you actually do about it when many practice "sharing" among friends and on the internet?

Copy protection won't stop the most determined and knowledgeable thiefs, but it should deter at least some would-be filesharers.
  

Improvement begins at the edge of your comfort zone. -Jonathan Rowson
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Antillian
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Re: Mega Database Price Outrage
Reply #28 - 12/22/09 at 14:26:42
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Well Chessbase used to have a free online database. New In Chess still has one. However, online databases have severe limitations. Most people will want a database that they can fully access and manipulate offline.
  

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TalJechin
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Re: Mega Database Price Outrage
Reply #27 - 12/22/09 at 13:30:54
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Wouldn't it be a good idea for chessbase (or its competitors) to offer a subscription service for an online database updated daily or at least weekly  which you would access thru the net, and not need to download, except for games in the search results?

There would be no need for producing plastic cases with cds/dvds, transport of those and users would not need to continually spend time on updating their own copy of the database. Thus saving time, effort, the environment and it would be quite difficult to steal or torrent...

And maybe this idea of adding service as a part of the deal could also be used in other areas? For example, online chessbooks that are constantly updated! Smiley
  
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GMTonyKosten
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Re: Mega Database Price Outrage
Reply #26 - 12/22/09 at 13:13:27
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This just reminded me of something that happened to me a couple of years ago after the Metz tournament finished. A Ukrainian GM started talking to me and told me how much he liked my Najdorf book, but then added that 'of course he hadn't bought it, he'd downloaded it for free'!! It was as though buying it was somehow stupid! Roll Eyes
  
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GMTonyKosten
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Re: Mega Database Price Outrage
Reply #25 - 12/22/09 at 13:10:12
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TN wrote on 12/21/09 at 05:49:53:

Better still, even people without friends can now get Mega Database. The day Mega Database 2010 was released, it was available for free at BigTorrent.

Why spend so much on a product that is widely available for free? I suspect more and more people will stop buying Mega 2010 and switch to free downloads, which wouldn't be great news for ChessBase.

I don't really understand this attitude, ChessBase have to employ someone and pay him money to produce MegaBase. Surely they should be entitled to charge the price they feel is necessary to cover their costs and allow them a small profit? If you want the article then pay for it, if not there is absolutely no way one can justify stealing it.
I wonder if they have been forced to up the price because so many people thieve it? So the honest people have to pay more because of the dishonest ones? Sad
  
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GMTonyKosten
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Re: Mega Database Price Outrage
Reply #24 - 12/22/09 at 12:13:03
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Net Warrior wrote on 12/21/09 at 21:25:33:
I'm pretty cluesless about databases.  I recently bought Fritz 10 and I wonder if it has a feed reader.  Does anyone know if it has a feed reader and how I would recognize it, or where I could get one?   Sad Embarrassed

Can't you read feeds with any browser these days? In Internet Explorer there is an orange icon that 'lights up' whenever there is a feed to read.
  
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Re: Mega Database Price Outrage
Reply #23 - 12/21/09 at 21:25:33
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Jupp53 wrote on 12/21/09 at 09:43:21:
Meanwhile there is tons of free high quality material in the web. Go to the main chess web pages and blogs with a feed reader and you'll have after a month more good material than an amateur can study in the same time.

.


I'm pretty cluesless about databases.  I recently bought Fritz 10 and I wonder if it has a feed reader.  Does anyone know if it has a feed reader and how I would recognize it, or where I could get one?   Sad Embarrassed
  

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Jupp53
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Re: Mega Database Price Outrage
Reply #22 - 12/21/09 at 09:43:21
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Why download illegal stuff if there's enough legal material for training in the web? When going through the links of Lars Balzer you can get a cleaned up (duplicate free) database with more than 8 mio games.

Meanwhile there is tons of free high quality material in the web. Go to the main chess web pages and blogs with a feed reader and you'll have after a month more good material than an amateur can study in the same time.

And if megabase costs too much, buy some of the chesspublishing.com data you need.  Wink You really get a lot of well commented games for study.
  

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Re: Mega Database Price Outrage
Reply #21 - 12/21/09 at 05:49:53
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radarKW wrote on 12/20/09 at 23:36:45:
TN wrote on 12/16/09 at 11:46:22:
If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.

The best option is to have a friend who has purchased the latest Mega Database, and download it from him. ChessBase don't seem to overly care about this. Then you receive the high-quality product without the exorbatent costs.


THIEF


Better still, even people without friends can now get Mega Database. The day Mega Database 2010 was released, it was available for free at BigTorrent.

Why spend so much on a product that is widely available for free? I suspect more and more people will stop buying Mega 2010 and switch to free downloads, which wouldn't be great news for ChessBase.
  

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