ravishingravi Posted September 27, 2010 Posted September 27, 2010 Author's threat to block tweeple, after his tweet on piracy leads to argument, backfires Author Chetan Bhagat rubbed his followers on Twitter the wrong way last evening, after his tweet lamenting piracy of his books led to an argument with two other tweeters, whom he later threatened to block. A few hours after the argument, one Nikhil Narayanan started the #chetanblocks hashtag group, which received an overwhelming response. People started tweeting from 6 pm and this went on till the wee hours of the morning, making it the trendiest topic for the day. Most tweeters were anti-Bhagat with some ridiculing his comments to block followers, but the author did find support in a few. How it started... @Chetan_Bhagat posted a tweet at 4 pm saying, 'Almost anyone who is reading my pirated books can afford the original. It hurts me a lot personally. Just sharing." He added, "Piracy kills publishers, esp domestic literature. Gives incentive writers to move westwards. Don't do it if you care for Indian creativity. At a broader level, a society that doesn't respect intellectual property never excels at innovation. See what kind of India u want". To this a tweeter @flyyoufools commented: "Tying everything to India's progress today, aren't we?" And the debate took an ugly turn. Bhagat tweeted, "Well it is tied to progress. Close ur eyes to it if u want to." Flyyoufools tweeted back, "In a bad mood today, aren't we? Let me guess: Royalty check came in? This enraged Bhagat who wrote, 'buddy, one more smart one and u r blocked. ok? This didn't to go down well with other tweeters. Tweeter Jojo Philip popped in with 'Don't blame the consumer. If he/she gets the product at a fifth of its cost, they have every right to pick it up'. Now, Bhagat was on the edge and he said, 'If i can access your bank account, i have the right to steal from it? Pat came the reply from Jojiphilip, 'Piracy happens only when there is huge gap between d market cost & buying it otherwise. Greedy publishers plz note There is a nexus between cops, illegal printers & publishers who r responsible for piracy. Attack d system, not the consumer." Block no 2 And the argument continued with Bhagat tweeting, 'nobody is greedy. if u cant afford it, dont buy it. do u steal cars if u cant afford them? Jojiphilip was in no mood to accept defeat. He wrote, 'No, i don't steal cars, but if someone was offering me one for Rs 1000, i wud buy it. Blame the guy who is offering me this. as a consumer i have done no wrong. I have paid the guy on the street corner my hard earned Rs 100 & i did not steal it from him.' Bhagat seemed to be losing his cool. And gave one more threat to block the prompt tweeter. The author posted, 'U have. ask a lawyer. And one more defense of illegal stuff and will block u. ok? Following this, the portal was flooded with thousands of others with the author finding no support. The debate was still raging when the paper went to press. http://www.mid-day.com/news/2009/dec/081209-Chetan-Bhagat-Twitter-Nikhil-Narayanan.htm
saneindian Posted September 27, 2010 Posted September 27, 2010 THis guy has a habbit of running into audiences. Have seen him get into verbal volleys at promotion events when he was launching his last book. Loses his cool if someone from the audience cross questions him on his views. And he has now shown the same trait on twitter as well!
EnterTheVoid Posted September 27, 2010 Posted September 27, 2010 I have no issues using pirated material in general. The other day, I needed to get some important coding done on Microsoft Visual Studio --- The feature in not available in the free (express edition), I needed the Full version, which is only available on the laboratory computers. They wouldn't lend me a license for use on my personal laptop. Buying VS professional is out of the question. So downloaded the torrent of pirate bay. I know it amounts to theft, stealing etc etc but I don't care.
Gunner_Mania Posted September 27, 2010 Posted September 27, 2010 The news in the OP is dated Dec 2009. What is the point of this thread :dontknow:
achilles Posted September 27, 2010 Posted September 27, 2010 ^ I think Ravi wants us to discuss the merits and demerits of piracy.
punjabi_khota Posted September 27, 2010 Posted September 27, 2010 Although I am not sure about supporting pirated books, ...ullu ka patha hai Chetan Bhagat
ravishingravi Posted September 28, 2010 Author Posted September 28, 2010 ^ I think Ravi wants us to discuss the merits and demerits of piracy. Yup, both Bhagat and piracy. I should have been more clear in OP. I am still on the fence when it comes to piracy. A part of me wants to disband the idea of "intellectual property" rights and allow all people the access to the material at the prices which they can afford. But it is also a fact that the author loses revenue for all the hard work he puts into his work which cannot be the right thing in a free society. I also was interested in knowing the views of folks on this spat that Bhagat had. I am no fan of twitter, but I don't understand how if someone manages to be on this public space and makes a comment, can be averse to the response of those who disagree with him.
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