I've never read a Harry Potter book so I don't have any way to judge for certain the authenticity of what I just read over at one of those bit torrent sites, but it does appear that the new Harry Potter book is out on the web and has been accessed by thousands of people already. It appears that someone has photocopied the entire thing, two pages at a time, and has made it available for illegal downloading. The site that had it up originally has taken it down but it was too late to keep it from spreading to other sites that specialize in that kind of thing.
I was able to read a chapter-by-chapter summary of the book and look at a few sample pages, some with pictures, without having to illegally download a thing.
I'll never understand what people get out of spoiling something for so many people. I post this here as a warning to those who might spot these links somewhere and be tempted to look at them. They look like the real thing to me. If you don't want to have the whole experience ruined for you, stay away from these sites.
I checked one of the "leaked copy" URLS earlier today and it certainly looked like the real thing.
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree with you that the wretches who shriek out spoilers (in real life or in cyberspace) are the worst sort. It's possible Dante reserved a special section in Purgatory for them.
I'll never understand why people have to spoil things, either. Maybe the thrill of knowing something before everyone else. But they should just keep it to themselves!
ReplyDeleteSure looks real to me, Jill. If the other 700+ pages look like those samples then I don't doubt it's the real thing, in fact.
ReplyDeleteI'm just not sure what motivates that kind of person...that's the mystery.
Gentle Reader, they remind me of little kids who get more of a charge out of destroying things than enjoying them. I suppose maybe their maturity level doesn't keep up with their physical growth.
ReplyDeleteThe entire Harry Potter hype somewhat [simultaneously] sickens me and at the same time, excites me. Excites me because kids read.
ReplyDeleteBut sickens me because I wish they were reading something ELSE!
I plan to post on the Potter phenomenon, soon.
Well, Friday. The series is definitely the most prolifically-purchased thing out there, of all time. No doubt about that.
I have much the same reaction to the whole thing, Cip. I think it was one of those "perfect storms" that come around every generation or so. It probably doesn't merit those sales figures, but I'm not sure that many books would.
ReplyDeleteThe HP Hacker seems like a bog standard religious nutter (christian variety) to me, if the mssage on his site is anything to go by.
ReplyDelete> Yes, we did it.
> We did it by following the precious words of the great Pope Benedict XVI when he still was Cardinal Josepth Ratzinger.
> He explained why Harry Potter bring the youngs of our earth to Neo Paganism faith.
>
> So we make this spoiler to make reading of the upcoming book useless and boring.
>
> The attack strategy was the easiest one.
> The usual milw0rm downloaded exploit delivered by some employee of Bloomsbury Publishing, the company that's behind the Harry crap.
>
> It's amazing to see how much people inside the company have copies and drafts of this book.
> Curiosity killed the cat.
>
> Who kill curiosity?
>
>
> To protect you and your families
>
> God bless you
>
> Gabriel
Then he signs off with a link to a web site which is devoted to "challenging Islam"
- don't open link below if you don't want to read an alleged spoiler:
http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2007/Jun/0381.html
Wow, what a strange (and disturbing) guy this must be. People who take it upon themselves to "help" me decide what I need to be reading are asking for trouble. I hope they catch this guy and that Rowling's lawyers make him pay for what he did. He deserves it.
ReplyDelete