Downloadable NIV

[fbg]

I tried to create a post with the NIV Bible as a DSP file,
but I received an error when I tried to attach it.
I even tried to zip the file and attach it, but it didn't work.
What should I do to make this work?

I have other Bibles as well, but I am trying to find more places to put these Bible translations so others can use them. They were hard to get.

FBG

[scott]

Greetings,

I will be doing some experiments to figure out why your attachment didn't work. I attached a song file some time ago and it worked with no problems. I am guessing it failed due to the size of the file.

It may sound surprising, but I am glad the attachment didn't work. If it did, I would have had to delete your post. The NIV is copyrighted, and I believe it would be illegal for me to host these files on my website. I am also trying to work with the Bible publishers to become a reseller of their translations. When approved, I will be selling the newer translations for a very modest charge to offset my costs. Unfortunately, I have had no success in getting the larger publishers to respond to my requests to be a reseller. Other people in my industry have told me that I need a larger customer base to be more worthwhile to them. Fortunately, my software offers other great features that will help until we get permission to sell translations.

Until then, we have gone to some effort to make the software work with Biblesoft's PC Study Bible. It will import passages from that program into a temporary table in the database that is automatically deleted within a few hours. The interface is almost identical to the regular Bible display, and we have been using it at my church for several months. This provides a legal way to show the passages from all the major translations.

So I have mixed feelings about what you are doing (especially based on your screenname). In a way I understand why someone would want the Bible to be free, since it is God's word, but I suspect that the Bible publishers probably spend at least a million dollars commissioning a new translation if not more. They should have the right to sell this work and be compensated, or there would be significantly less motivation to produce high quality translations.

If you are going to use a commercial translation in a DSP file, you should at least purchase a copy of a Bible program that has the translation so that the publisher receives their compensation. I am also not against you posting the links that you had emailed to me for downloading these files from the sites in Europe and Russia. It is legal for me to have those links on my site, but I will not host the files myself.

I hope this helps.
In Christ,
Scott Lynn

[scott]

Ok, I just reread my post, and I wanted to add this note.

When I do get permission to sell a translation, I do intend on selling a copy-protected version that cannot be duplicated or shared. And since I will be selling the translations for a modest fee (perhaps $10 each), I do plan on blocking anyone from loading a free version of the same translation through the text importer. I don't know how that will work, but I want to encourage legal and proper behavior where possible. I suspect that I will be checking for the abbreviation used as well as perhaps actually checking 5 to 10 verses to see if an imported text matches one of the official ones on the list.

Consider yourself warned and good luck!!!

Scott