Saturday, July 21, 2007

Things I Don't Get (II): Complaints of Harry Potter leaks

I, like millions and millions of people, am eager for the last Harry Potter book, to know what "finally happens" (though, unlike those millions and millions, I'll have to wait even longer - I have no access to it here in Brazil, as translations come out a few months later and there are no English copies). I also understand that, apparently, among the several "leaks" of the book before its release, one of them is in fact the true leak of the book (though it's a moot point now, as the book has been released).

However, I don't get the outrage over the leak among the massive, devoted readership. Obviously, author J.K. Rowling and Scholastic may be upset about the leak (though it's not like their sales are going to suffer), but why are all these people so eager for the physical release of the book to see how it ends so up in arms about the book being on the internets early? I just don't get this complaining about the internet leak of this book. If you don't want to know how it ends, then the solution is simple: don't look it up online. It's literally that easy. Something appearing on the internet is a passive event. Looking it up is the active event. It's not like its appearance on the internet suddenly enlightened everybody with a mass epiphany of how Harry Potter ends. It's on the internet, and if you want to know, look it up. If you don't, then don't look it up. Period.