He translated the entire book in just a few days? Man, that kid must have been burning the candle at both ends.

That’s dedication!

lol they should’ve just taken it off the net, given him a fine and hired him to do it properly xD

What? That is so stupid, instead of arresting him they should give him a job translating the book. While those french translators are taking until October, he got it done in a matter of days.

Well, I would probably DIE if my language version hadn’t been out yet. I don’t blame him one bit! However, he probably should have kept the translation to himself.

now dats bloody well absurd,he just wants 2share wit his fello fans.all they had 2do was reprimand,he didnt do dis 4money.I feel sorry 4d publishers but it`s their fault,d translated copies should`ve bin out by now,n they say teens r lousy,dis sucks.I demand these Muggles be tortured by the Ministry of Magic 4 maltreatin a Harry Potter fan

While I do hope all the kid gets is a stern warning, or even whatever the French equivalent to “community service”, I do however really think what the kid did was wrong. Impatience isn’t an excuse, regardless if it’s for profit or not, for pirating the book and putting it out there.

Well, on one hand I guess it’s illegal to do that, but on the other hand, what about those poor people who can’t read english,and have to wait until October to get the book? I mean, I’m sure by then someone’ll have ruined it for them. I want to know why it’s taking 3 months for the official translation to come out. Why can’t it come out at the same time as the English version?

What I don’t understand is why they can’t seem to release them all at once?? I mean surely they knew something like this would happen?

Well, I am going to give this kid the benefit of the doubt and say that he was most likely not seeking profit from this venture. Perhaps it is because I am an anime fan, but I think that the arrest and overzealous prosecution of cases like this are rediculous. It is reminisient of the american controversy concerning a trend called “fan-subing.” American fans of Japanese anime series are often forced to wait years upon years for a series to finish being subtitled into english, if it is ever subtitled at all. Indeed, some of the best anime is obscure and therefore unlikely to ever be released in America. Therefore, friendly people who speak both Japanese and english will translate and subtitle the series, releasing it for free via CD-R, DVD-R, and, most commonly in recent years, the web. This seems to be the same thing to me. A kid who took time to help out other French-speaking people around the world who can’t speak english read the book without having to wait until october. Can you imagine trying to remain spoiler free until october, knowing the book is out? A translation like this won’t hurt sales significantly. Most fans will still want to read the real version and have the real book. This is just something to get it to them, however dirty.

-Fish

This kid shouldn’t be punished at all. Copyright laws are there to prevent profit loss. However, there’s no shortage of profit on Harry.

France should already have a copy. Instead of spending money on lawyers to prosecute fans, publishers should spend money on translators. Then everyone would be happy.

In my opinion, this kid represents Harry Potter. He shirks the rules, finds the truth, and makes the world a better place.

wow,a sixteen year old boy could translate an entire novel in several days? He must either be really smart or have too much time on his hands. You would think if that was possible a prffessional translater could do so in several hours and this wouldn’t even happen.

Um, I translated half of OotP for my friend, should I be punished too?

Why don’t you try to understand the boy? Spoilers were almost everywhere before the premiere, and literally everywhere after the premiere; and people have to wait for translation for months while using internet and going out and meeting english-speaking people.

Did he spoil? No, because he posted excellent translation of the whole book and prevented some from being spoiled from other sources. Did he try to make money? NO, he did for others. Did he reduce profits of the French publisher? Well, did YOU decide to not buy the book after reading the photographed copy online?

And the person who photographed the book and posted the epilogue is fine and happy, huh?

I don’t know why one country gets the translation in October and the other (like here in Holland) in November… I’m glad I read the book in English, a pity that the fans who can’t speak or understand English will have to wait so long for the translation.

I was thinking the same thing. If this kid could do it in a couple of days and make is look semi-professional, why is it coming out in October? They should hire this kid. I agree that the guy that scanned the pages of the English verion was way worse.

And French readers are lucky, with the translated book that is going to be published in October; Italian readers have to wait until January 2008, and only because an earlier release of the Harry Potter book would ruin other publishers’ sales during the pre-Christmas shopping period. And, unlike many other publishers, Salani, that owns the rights for Harry Potter in Italy, refuses to publish the paperback editions for GoF, OOP and HBP, even if it’s been years since they’ve been first release d (the first three books got the paperback editions, but they actually cost as much as the hardback ones before their release – so, no real change). Of course fan translations are illegal, but having to deal with such publishers (I’m not speaking about the French one here – I don’t know anything about it), I support them thoroughly.