sunnysideup wrote:Double post lead to confusing and extra bandwidth on the server. Since the owner pays for this site and we support him/her with premium/platinum accounts, not double posting helps to keep down on bandwidth and server overload. And it is just one of the rules they have in place. For someone that does not know how or where to search seeing several different post with the same book/author could cause confusion. Not everyone is able to understand or see the difference in a post (ePub, mobi, scanned, retail). It is easier to change format via Cailbre or ask the original uploader to change format than having 3 different formats posting separately
So yes, I can understand server space and cost being an issue but at the same time we are talking about different versions of items. Does the Movies section of this site allow no "duplicate" posts of DVD or Blueray when a theater Rec version is already posted? I would imagine not.
Often the retail Amazon version is not the same as the B&N retail version. While yes you can convert the .AZW from Amazon to .epub you are still only getting the Amazon version, just converted. That means no one will ever get to see the B&N version on this site and it may have a completely different layout and formatting not to mention extra features and sections. All this is being missed out on because of the sites strict rules.
As for users not understanding the differences in multiple versions, firstly maybe they should not be pirating eBooks for their eReaders if they do not understand the terms and secondly clear tags on each post that list the store the retail version comes from would infinitely clear up the first problem. More so than the method used now of only tagging .epub, .azw3, .mobi, or .pdf. Because frankly if you are worried a user cant figure out multiple listings with clear tags (such as what store or pre-retail ARC or scan) why is it you currently expect them to understand .azw, .epub and .pdf?