pothos.org

I only found out about Wowio the other day – a web site which allows you to legally download books for FREE. Most are still in print and under copyright; and some are very recent publications. Suspicious at first (it's my nature) I found out that the site has contracts with both publishers and advertisers. The publishers provide certain books for downloading at a nominal fee, and the advertisers pay fees to the site for the privilege of adding three pages of advertising at the very beginning of each book. See here for more detailed information.

The only (very small) hitch is that Wowio wants proof that you are who you say you are when you register on the site. If your email address is not "anonymous" then it will be sufficient proof alone. If it is anonymous then you must either scan a driver's license or enter credit card information. I did the latter. Basically it is the same procedure as when purchasing any item online, but in this case the charge is a single cent. Once done, you are ready to go and can download up to three books a day with a maximum of thirty books a month. I imagine that download speeds will vary depending on your connection, but of the six books I've downloaded to date not one took more than a minute or so – and one 200+ page book took a single second!

There's a particular reason I'm sharing this information on Pothos even though there are not that many books concerned with ancient Greece and only one to date on Alexander. That single Alexander book is, incredibly, Waldemar Heckel's THE MARSHALS OF ALEXANDER'S EMPIRE! It's easy enough to find on the site – input Alexander into the search box and it will be the first book on the next page. Now, how many members are like me and have wanted this book for the longest time but have found the purchase price to be prohibitive? Well, here’s the link to Wowio’s main page. Go … have fun ... get your Heckel.

Best regards,

Umm, I just received a PM from one of our members who informs me that unfortunately if you do not live in the United States you cannot sign up for Wowio. It must be because publishing rights vary from country to country. Anyway, I am so sorry that all of you who live in other countries will not be able to take advantage of the downloads. Also, I'm afraid that the site has very strict regulations about duplicating or sharing the downloaded files - with what looks like a very real threat of prosecution for anyone who breaks the rules.

Best regards,

Greetings Amyntoros,

"Umm, I just received a PM from one of our members who informs me that unfortunately if you do not live in the United States you cannot sign up for Wowio."

Ah.. that was going to be my first question..

Thank you for posting this.

Regards,
Sikander

I'm afaraid that it is incumbent upon you Amyntoros to download "Marshalls" for those OS not able to access this marvellous exhibition of American free speech.

I possess a copy already - unfortunately paid for - so you need not bother to send me one. There are others though:

From Plataea to Potidea

From the End of the Peloponnesian War to the Battle of Ipsus

Eumenes of Cardia: A Greek Among Macedonians

Can you manage it.....puhleeeeese???

Paralus wrote:I'm afaraid that it is incumbent upon you Amyntoros to download "Marshalls" for those OS not able to access this marvellous exhibition of American free speech.

I possess a copy already - unfortunately paid for - so you need not bother to send me one. There are others though:

From Plataea to Potidea

From the End of the Peloponnesian War to the Battle of Ipsus

Eumenes of Cardia: A Greek Among Macedonians

Can you manage it.....puhleeeeese???

Ah, my dear Paralus, if it were only that simple. Or even legal. Here is relevant information from the Wowio website:

You may download or copy the Content, as authorized on this site and only for your own personal use, provided that you maintain all copyright and other notices contained in such Content. Except as expressly permitted by the copyright laws, no copying, storage, redistribution or publication of any Content is permitted without the express written consent of WOWIO or the owners of such Content or their authorized representatives, if other than WOWIO.

You may not modify, publish, transmit, transfer or sell, reproduce, create derivative works from, distribute, perform, display, or in any way exploit any of the Content, in whole or in part, except as expressly permitted in these Terms. Content consisting of downloadable software may not be reverse engineered unless specifically authorized by the owner of the software's patent and/or copyright.

In other words, I can't send anyone computer files of any downloaded books - you don't want to make a criminal of me, do you? Once again I must say "sorry" to all our members who do not live in the US. (However, if it makes you feel better - the books you listed are not available from Wowio anyway. I want that Eumenes of Cardia book myself but the expense is just too much.)

Best regards,

Say it ain't so!!

I'll simply have to buy Eumenes.

Paralus wrote:Say it ain't so!!

I'll simply have to buy Eumenes.

At $147, I don't think I'll be buying it for a while! Strewth!

ATB

marcus wrote:At $147, I don't think I'll be buying it for a while! Strewth!

$147 indeed. Strike me bloody pink!

I wonder if the site merely tracks whether you are a US citizen with a legal US residence... or if you are downloading it from the US specifically as well.

I currently reside in Aviano, Italy (when not deployed, sigh), so it might be that I'll have a good deal of downloading to do when I get home after this tour.

It tracks your IP adress, so you MUST be in USA to download books

Wow, thanks amyntoros for the great site I've already had a quick look but it will take a couple to find everything i want. I'm new here and this has made joining worth while.