Our greatest fans: we'll see you in court

The last Harry Potter book arrived at stores with every bit of fanfare and excitement that was expected. Amazon pre-sold more than 1.3 million copies which is unheard of for the release of a new book.

I often promote the power and promise behind the web and the millions of people who use it passionately every day, so I was not surprised when I heard that a bilingual fan had created a Spanish translation within days of the book's release. Others underwent similar efforts for other languages. Rather than admire a level of devotion and dedication to a product that is so strong that people are willing to spend untold hours translating it so their friends can access to it, the book's publisher has opted to sue the 16 year old student who did an unauthorized French translation. When are big corporations going to learn that suing your fans is not conducive to your relationship with them? Surely every Harry Potter fan who reads those translations will buy the book anyway, if not to read the official translation, then to have the book to add to their collection. It was something that spread the excitement far beyond the English speaking world at no cost or harm to the publisher. I hope they realize their mistake , apologize and drop the case.