or...Torrents and PDFs Downloaded Illegally vs. LSAT Books Purchased Legally
In this blog post, I go over the pros and cons of illegally downloading LSAT PrepTest PDFs and torrents vs. purchasing LSAT PrepTests legally.
Recently, a student asked me if there was any reason not to download PDFs or torrents of LSAT PrepTests.
The short answer - while it seem a bit cheaper to download and print them, it's better to buy legitimate hard copies of your exams for 3 major reasons:
1. You'll be able to resell them when you're done.
2. You'll save a lot of time, effort, and money that would've been spent printing them.
3. Due to copyright law, it's illegal to download PrepTests.
Money:
PDFs and Torrents
-You pay less ($0) for your LSAT books initially, but there's still the cost of ink and paper. That really adds up, and you'll have a tough time reselling printouts after you take the LSAT.
LSAT Books
-Sure, it might run a few hundred dollars or so, but ou can easily resell your LSAT books when you're done with them (especially if you write in pencil, which you should anyway). While you do have to lay out the money for the books initially, you can make most of it back when you resell them.
PDFs and Torrents: 0.5
LSAT Books: 0.5
Time and Effort:
PDFs and Torrents
-You may have to learn how to use fancy computer programs. Then, you have to go to the trouble to find all those files and wait for everything to download. After that's done, you have to print everything out. Depending upon how many exams you use, that could easily become thousands of pages.
(The average PrepTest is approximately 45 pages. 45 pages x 30 exams is 1350 pages. If you complete more than 30 exams, or if you print multiple copies, you're using a LOT of ink and paper.)
LSAT Books
Everything is perfectly pre-packaged for you. You just order your LSAT books and they magically appear at your doorstep soon after.
PDFs and Torrents: 0
LSAT Books: 1
Legality:
PDFs and Torrents
-Illegal. LSAC materials are copyrighted, which means it's illegal to transmit unauthorized digital copies of them. LSAC is very protective of their intellectual property, and they don't like it when people download or distribute copies of PrepTests without paying for them.
LSAT Books
-Legal. LSAC publishes dozens of previously administered exams that you can purchase and later resell to recoup much of the initial cost.
PDFs and Torrents: 0
LSAT Books: 1
Verdict:
PDFs and Torrents: 0.5
LSAT Books: 2.5
***
P.S. LSAC has made an LSAT PrepTest available for free download on its website (the June 2007 LSAT - PDF).
Photo by libraryman
I would really like to know how the LSAC justifies maintaining accessibility to low-income students while doing this. As a part of my fee waiver, I got prep materials... great! One book. Three tests. Three tests are not sufficient for adequate preparation. As the older tests are less relevant, and the new ones are $8 a pop, the question for low-income test takers becomes, "Do I prepare inadequately, or do I prepare using illegally-obtained materials?"
ReplyDeleteI paid for what I could but definitely could not afford all the more recent tests. I am now at a competitive disadvantage because I am ethical, and the LSAC put me directly into this position. I would really like to know how they explain that.
I agree with what you are saying - I am currently studying for the LSAT - However, I have found 10 unused prep tests for under $5 - Be resourceful and look around - Don't prepare inadequately - Good luck
DeleteShould You Lsat Preptests Via Pdfs And Torrents? >>>>> Download Now
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Should You Lsat Preptests Via Pdfs And Torrents? >>>>> Download LINK
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Should You Lsat Preptests Via Pdfs And Torrents? >>>>> Download Full
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Are you really complaining about getting free test materials? Get a life loser!
ReplyDeleteI'm what one could call a compulsive pirate. I haven't purchased a music CD since 1998 when I first downloaded Napster and haven't purchased a DVD movie since 2004 when I discovered the wide and wonderful world of torrenting. In fact, every piece of software on the computer I'm running at the moment is pirated or open source (including my copy of Windows 7) with so little "effort" to do so that it barely deserves the title.
ReplyDeleteI have to say that I'm shocked and appalled that I did not think to torrent LSAT prep materials rather than spend the money I've been spending so far. In fact, I ran across your article by chance, but you've now inspired me to begin my torrenting spree. I have the following retorts to your stated reasons for purchasing LSAT prep materials:
1. "You'll be able to resell them when you're done"
How is that a bonus? Am I going to derive pleasure from buying the book and selling it for less than I originally purchased it for? Do you have Down Syndrome?
2. "You'll save a lot of time, effort, and money that would've been spent printing them"
I found TONS of material damn near instantly on the first go, certainly less time that I would have spent shopping around for books or driving to a store. The effort was comparable to the effort one would expend taking toilet paper off a toilet paper roll. As for the money, I could purchase a new laser printer with all the money I've spent on LSAT prep books.
3. "it's illegal to download PrepTests"
Grow a pair of balls.
Can't stop laughing at #2
DeleteCriminals and unethical people tend to have the greatest success in life. Bill Gates - conned tons of companies and now sits on a goldmine. Kobe Bryant - cheated on his wife and maybe more 5 rings and counting. Bill Clinton - great president, awful father and husband, loved by most of America, James Brown shot his wife, now remembered for the legend that he was. I'm going to go beat the crap out of my girlfriend now and hotwire my neigbors Porsche, drive down to the bookstore then shoplift some Powerscore books.
ReplyDeletelook at this absolute clown, talking about "greatest success in life" then turning around and mentioning Kobe who died in a freak accident at age 40.
DeleteAnonymous--I doubt you comprehend what Quis is saying. Yes s/he gets a book free, however it is not enough to study for the LSAT. LSAC waiver is stringent, you have to be under the poverty line to receive it. People that are under the poverty line cannot afford the expensive ($40 for a book) when they are worried about eating for the week.
ReplyDeleteS/he is not a "loser" as you claim, but a person that is asking a legitimate question. You might have $200 to spend on 5 books or $1000+ to prep for the LSAT with a prep company, but I doubt people under the poverty line have money to do so. Even CLEO charges $500 for their prep with Kaplan.
LSAC prides itself stating that it is fair to low income students but in reality they are not. Preparing for the LSAT is expensive and LSAC should help low income students with more materials. Just because you are poor does not mean you do not want to prepare.
>Anonymous said...
>>Are you really complaining about getting free >>>test materials? Get a life loser!
James, you may well be an idiot for admitting to piracy while logged in to your Google/Blogger account. I hope that RIAA/MPAA/LSAC/Microsoft go through the extra effort to track you down. Great to see future lawyers with no respect for the law or property of others. Bonus points for your grace and tact in asking the blog author whether he has Down Syndrome.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to reading the article about how your attorney tried to use your "compulsion" for piracy as a defense.
James' profile: http://www.blogger.com/profile/10444599431331517268
Let's all play nice, folks.
ReplyDeleteIt's been a while since anyone asked me whether I have Down Syndrome. Thanks for the concern, but I'm perfectly fine, save unhealthy obsessions with the LSAT and running :)
Is James going to be backtraced by the cyber police?
ReplyDeleteI bought my own materials and didn't think to find the illegal PDFs. Don't underestimate the usefulness of having the physical book during the timed practice tests - the actual bubbling, page-turning and seeing and holding the test booklet in front of you are beneficial prep elements, I would argue.
With that said, I see no incentive for the LSAT taker to purchase over $100 of LSAT prep material when the near equivalent can be found illegally with one google search.
Let's not forget that in addition to the LSAT practice tests, a myriad of other supplemental LSAT preparation material also can be found illegally, materials that can add several more hundreds of dollars crammed into the LSAT taker's budget. Time and money placed into printing out the illegal PDFs are marginal costs when you consider how much the real things cost. Resale value of the purchased test booklets provide no more benefit to the LSAT taker than before he or she bought those booklets. And the consequences of illegal downloading is, at the moment, somewhat flimsy. There's not a strong basis against the arguments for illegal LSAT PDF downloading, especially if that basis is a moral judgment akin to "it being unethical." The LSAT racket is unethical, is it not? That's for another blog post.
The best point this article made is that it's illegally. The others were paper thin. It's not hard to learn how to use software to download torrents and printing costs are cheap if you buy supplies in bulk and refill your cartridges yourself. It takes less time then either going out and buying the books or ordering them and waiting for them to arrives.
ReplyDeleteSo don't do it if you respect copyright law. You want to be a lawyer, right?
Read between the lines, fools. Do you really think Steve gives a shit whether you download them or not?
ReplyDeleteAs a regular blog reader, I feel like I have a pretty good sense of his personality. My guess is that he purposely wrote this post just to give people the idea to download the exams.
He couldn't exactly come out and advocate in favor of illegal downloads, so this was his way of suggesting it without actually suggesting it.
You list printing copies as a reason not to use downloads- don't print them. I studied for six solid weeks using approximately 60 downloaded exams, taking at least one each day, timing myself each time. I improved my score the second time I took the LSAT to a 168 after scoring a 157 only a few months earlier with little preparation. Do whatever you feel comfortable with. For me, purchasing 60 tests was not an option. Believe me, I purchased plenty of study materials... so it's not like I cheated Kaplan and PowerScore out of all their money. The illegalities, etc, are valid points... but at some point you have to decide what is best for you.
ReplyDeleteThis is the stupidest post Ive ever read in my life. Save the morality for church if the materials can be obtained via torrent. Do it and keep it to yourself and do well. The premiums aren't justified and technology will put print out of business regardless--this is just one example of it.
ReplyDeleteThose with the external means to purchase LSAT printed books or electronic copies--hey why not, give back to the economy if you can. However, the pricing and business model of printed goods are inherently flawed, especially when it comes to matters of distribution such as this.
Goodbye 8$ LSAT books, hello expedience and affordability.
Also, anything pertaining to a high cost printout argument is ridiculous. Use a laser printer, its goddamn 2011--please. You can print 2,500-5,000+ pgs, depending on printer efficiency with 1 cartridge, and it will cost only a new printer cartridge (anywhere from 39-100$) when you have exhausted the first. I rec a brother M printer if you know anyone that has one. Using/obtaining the laser printer is another story--become resourceful you witty LSAT purveyors.
Good luck all.
The arguments in this blog post are laughable. Ok, we get it, you sell PrepTest PDFs. I'm not MORE likely to buy them from you after reading this odd and unconvincing little argument against downloading/torrenting. I'm less likely, because it's insulting that you don't even acknowledge or disclose your interest in the matter.
ReplyDeleteLuckily, torrenting isn't illegal in the country I live in!
In fact, the arguments in this article are the same arguments that show up in the logical reasoning sections. The flawed arguments with assumptions.
ReplyDeleteI am proud to say I have pirated PrepTests 1-65.
ReplyDeleteNot one of those 3 listed reasons are convincing and just sound like a politically correct opinion a person like Steve feels he should uphold.
Printed all 65 tests in a day.
$520 approximately saved, minus cost of ink consumed. I also refill my own ink, so I save over 60%.
So yeah, I recommend everyone download them all.
Also I would like to point out that people should not lash out at Steve, this blog was clearly a wink and a nod to students to save money and download the tests.
ReplyDeleteHe can't be held accountable!
Everyone wins. Thanks Steve you rule.
Can anybody give me a torrent link
ReplyDelete