July 26, 2007

Ninguna Sorpresa: Spanish Version Of The Latest Harry Potter Book Hits The Internet

Duncan Riley

19 comments »

A fan translated, Spanish language version of the latest Harry Potter book has hit the internet.

Harry Potter and the Deathy Hallows made headlines early this month when the English language version found its way onto Bit Torrent prior to its official launch.

The unofficial Spanish language version can be obtained and/ or read in several ways: a blog by the name of Spanish Hallows on Blogger has each chapter translated and posted, and downloads are available on Bit Torrent and several file hosting sites.

The official Spanish language version of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is not due to be released until later this year.

All up it’s not really surprising; the model of controlled releases in the age of the internet and obsessed fans has failed once again.

Sphere It

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En TechCrunch se habla del último Libro de Harry Potter traducido al Español

July 26th, 2007 at 5:44 pm

Harry Potter and Controlled Releases

August 9th, 2007 at 3:29 pm

Comments

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Ed

July 26th, 2007 at 4:12 pm

Si! Al fin! A leer en español….but seriously, a book written in English english, I personally wouldn’t read it in spanish, you just loose so much, and it’s not that normal to say Harry, el profesor Dumbledore blah blah blah….just never stuck with me
RBA

July 26th, 2007 at 4:36 pm

Ed, for some reason, I think that this translation will be read by people who feel much more comfortable reading in Spanish than in English, and trust me when I say there are millions of people that fall under that category

For people who don’t have a problem reading in English or who feel more comfortable doing so, obviously it doesn’t make much sense to read a translated work.
Derick

July 26th, 2007 at 4:37 pm

That’s true, besides this is just a unofficial translation by a fan, it would be different if the official Spanish version was out there as happened with the English one. That guy was surely busy this week though.
WTF

July 26th, 2007 at 4:46 pm

Personally, I’m waiting for the Klingon translation because I’m an uber-dork that never gets laid. Flashing my iPhone on Bart when I sit next to pretty girls doesn’t even work…alas…
JM

July 26th, 2007 at 5:38 pm

Duncan,

Not going to put up a post criticizing your writing? Go work in traditional media and get out of the blog world. Sorry, this post is lame. Why not readers voice their opinions
Duncan Riley

July 26th, 2007 at 5:53 pm

JM
I have no idea what you’re on about but if you dont like the post so be it. Harry Potter is big news and people are using Web 2.0 tools to circumvent the will of big publishing companies; from an industry perspective I find that interesting. Can’t win them all I guess.
JM

July 26th, 2007 at 6:21 pm

Duncan,

The post that didn’t make it here, was about how you articles seem to be the only one’s that have very little to do with Tech, VC and start ups. This is an on going theme. And it loook like you blocked my email address??

Yes, Harry Potter is but news, it being put on the internet in Spanish or on bit torrent really has nothing to do with WEB 2.0. The ONLY thing that is close is that yes these pirated copies of the book ARE on the internet. So I guess if Techcrunch is merely about things that happen on the internet, then yes you are right. I apologize. However, you can see be the very few comments, most readers agree with me. Why is this a post on techcrunch??
Thomas

July 26th, 2007 at 6:33 pm

DAMN….
DAMN….
DAMN….

Duncan used to be popular back in March. Now, some fans disliked Duncan and his annoying posts. Come on, guys give Duncan a chance.

I’m 100% sure he will find next rocky(Rags to richest) entrepreneur. I’m sure he will write about it.

Many pennyless entrepreneurs are afraid to become the next rising star. Here’s why… They can’t fucking beat Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, Digg, Facebook. Maybe Mike or Duncan will encourage pennyless startup to fight like fighter.

For example, Business 2.0 teaches enterpreneurs to fight stronger. they provide good sources like How to get IPO, etc…
RG

July 26th, 2007 at 6:40 pm

Totally useless news!

Aren’t they bloody suing your ass as u reported a few weeks back!
I sure hope they do, so techcrunch can hire someone else!
David Mackey

July 26th, 2007 at 6:51 pm

A shame. But I have to agree - the ability to prevent books, music, or movies in protected releases is probably a lost cause. But what alternative should artists take?
Duncan Riley

July 26th, 2007 at 6:52 pm

JM
perhaps we need a different language version of TechCrunch; English is obviously not working for you, my last 8 posts (ie roughly last 30 hours worth) included news related to 5 startups, a post about Microsoft, a post about Mozilla then this post. As I’ve already said, it’s related to Web 2.0 tools and if you don’t like it so be it, but if you’re going to make accusations at least get your sums right.
Rich Pearson

July 26th, 2007 at 7:04 pm

David - there are a few tools emerging that allow artists, authors–anyone who creates content to understand how and where their content is being re-used.

I work for one of them (Attributor) and you can see the re-use stats of the 1st 10 chapters of the English version here: http://attributor.com/blog

The punchline is that we found over 2,800 sites re-using the 1st 10 chapters; for kicks, we’ll do the same for the 1st 10 chapters of the Spanish version and post the results early next week.
Silbo

July 26th, 2007 at 7:20 pm

I love Harry Potter ! http://www.vdoob.com/english
anantara

July 26th, 2007 at 7:52 pm

Legality apart, from the point of view of plain how technology changes the landscape I see no difference between this event (the illegal distribution of a Harry Potter copy and even its Spanish translation) and what the gutenberg.org project does.

Technology should be seen as an agent that reshapes the landscape - be it production or distribution. In that sense this news is very much about Web 2.0 technologies, tools and trends as much as the Gutenberg project, Creative Commons and the books of authors like Lessig (which are available free) were about the technologies, tools and trends of Web 1.0 or the early internet.

What perhaps is causing the argument is the legality/illegality of the issue. The way I look at it is that “Techcrunch is about a discussion of a KNIFE being invented/innovated and the repercussions of the same - the consequences of which can be to your liking/disliking, legal/illegal, ethical/unethical or moral/immoral but that does not mean that the KNIFE itself should not be discussed”

Thanks Duncan for the posts. It is very much a part of the Web 2.0 trend.
Santiago

July 27th, 2007 at 2:56 pm

it’s just a matter of hours before the printed Spanish-language fan-translated bootleg version is being offered in the streets of Mexico, Bogota, Buenos Aires and Santiago for the equivalent of a couple of bucks. Sad thing is, people don’t care, they just buy the darn thing no questions asked.

Yes, it is a lost cause.
Theo

July 31st, 2007 at 10:40 pm

Come on, get a life! This spanish/amateur/fan translation will not hurt Mrs. Rowlings nor any of the publishing companies involved in any of the official versions of Harry Potter. What about the bootleg DVDs movies, sold by 5 bucks apiece in Anywhere, USA? Or the millions of bootleg CDs sold all over the world (most of them in the streets of Mexico, Buenos Aires, Santiago). In the long run, not hurting anybody’s business.
RenegadeLatino

August 4th, 2007 at 10:53 pm

Thank you Duncan. I agree in your posting of this on TechCrunch and appreciate your doing so. You have my full support. Please keep your great work coming.