Harry Potter and the Internet pirates - Haaretz

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Thu., September 06, 2007 Elul 23, 5767

Israel Time: 21:22 (EST+7)

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Harry Potter and the Internet pirates

By Ronit Roccas

The telephone rang a few hours before the scheduled interview with Tomer Perel and Dan Levy, two of the administrators of the Harry Potter Web site www.hportal.co.il. A suspicious masculine voice twice ascertained that he had indeed reached me, and finally, when he calmed down a little, he said: "I'm Tomer's father. I just wanted to know who he was meeting today. You set it up via e-mail and I was a little worried. Anyone could say they're a reporter from Haaretz."

Wait a minute, how old is Tomer?

"He is 14," his father responded.

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Of course, only a young person would set up a site that deals almost exclusively with the Harry Potter series, but I hadn't expected him to be quite so young. It must be the generation gap that led me to miss the fact that today it's possible to be only 14 years old and set up a site that offers a pirated Hebrew translation, which is understandable albeit being a bit sloppy and tortuous, of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," the seventh and final book in the series that has broken all records.

Later on, in a meeting over hot chocolate at a Beit Shemesh cafe - as close as possible to the Perel family home on Moshav Nehusha and the Levy home in Jerusalem - Perel explained that seven boys and one girl are translating the book for the site. "Tamir and Yuval are the oldest, they're already 15," said Perel. He and Levy don't translate themselves; they are responsible for administration and programming. "I also go over the translations and correct mistakes," added Perel.

And how do the translators get the job?

Perel: "These are folks who volunteer to translate. They get two pages of the English book from us, and if the translation is good, they're accepted."

And why would they work so hard on their vacation?

"Because it's fun, and they get money in return."

Money - from you?

"Okay, it's not real money, only virtual."

Levy: "With that money, they can see their name shining on the site."

'All the spoilers'

Sixteen translated chapters were posted on the site by the weekend, and about two chapters are translated every week. Perel promises that the entire book will be done by the holidays - a lot earlier than the official translation by Gili Bar-Hillel, which is being published by Aliyat Hagag Books and Yedioth Books and is due out in time for Hanukkah.

For these teens, as for many other readers, the translator's name is well-known, and they are even interested in her lifestyle. This recognition is a marginal, but unusual, manifestation of the Harry Potter phenomenon in Israel. "Why does she need half a year to translate the book, I don't understand," said Perel angrily. "We're going to finish far ahead of her, and this is her job. She gets paid for it. If we translate a chapter in one day, she can do it, too."

But you're aware that the quality of the translations differs.

Levy: "Those small mistakes, who pays attention to them? People who read our translations aren't aware of them. Our readers aren't Hebrew professors. The ones reading it aren't older than 14 or 15, because anyone older already knows English."

Bar-Hillel is aware of the attitude toward her, and it makes her a little angry. "They're a bit insolent sometimes," she said. "They're so satisfied with themselves, with the fact that they are managing to translate the book, that they have to make negative comments. I see that they write about me, 'It's taking her so long. Gili Bar-Hillel Phlegm.'"

Phlegm?!

"Yes, it's a derogatory name for one of the characters in the book."

Despite the insult, Bar-Hillel also finds positive aspects of the piracy activities in which these teens, and other unofficial translators, are engaged. "I'm not getting into the legality of the matter, but all in all it's amazing," she said. "A group of young people sitting and translating a book. It's an experience that I'm sure they're learning from. I personally am gaining an audience that understands how complicated translation is."

And what's your opinion on these translations?

"They fall into every translation trap there is. There are so many problems with the translations. But that's part of the fanaticism surrounding Harry Potter - the people who read the pirated translations don't have the patience to wait for the official translation. They have two options: reading it in English without understanding a lot, because they generally don't know English that well, or reading a bad translation in Hebrew. Because they're really dying to know what happens, they lose out no matter what. But they don't manage to restrain themselves."

Perel and Levy are a good example of the series' hard-core fans who could not wait another moment without knowing what happens in the last book. Perel said he has read each book in the series at least 30 times. Levy is a little less diligent: He's only read each book about 20 times.

And do you also read other books?

Perel: "I read 'Dragonlance.'"

Levy: "Until a year ago, I read a few other books. Now I can't find interesting books."

So just Harry Potter.

"Yes, just Harry Potter."

And the pirated translation doesn't ruin the reading experience for you?

Perel: "It's more fun to read a book that you hold in your hand than on the screen, I admit. You can print it out - but I don't do that, I'm stingy."

Levy: "I think that we're actually enhancing the experience. You read a chapter and in the midst of suspense, suddenly, you don't have any more to read, and you have to wait until the translation of the next chapter comes out."

And how do people react?

Perel: "Most thank us. They understand the plot very well."

Levy: "I can't read the book in English, and I couldn't wait any longer. I read all the spoilers. Now, with the translation, I'm always nudging Tomer, when will another chapter come out, when will another chapter come out? As long as I understand what's going on, it's good for me."

Omer Broida, 11, is keeping a close watch on the translation that goes up on the site, and he agrees with Perel and Levy. "I feel that the translation is pretty reliable," he said. "There was a pirated translation for the sixth book, too, but it was bad. In that translation, every once in a while there would be a word in English and in parentheses it would say 'I didn't know how to translate.' The translation is much better here, they really put a lot of effort into it."

And what will you do when the official translation comes out - will you buy it?

"Sure, I'll buy it and read it over and over and over again."

Harmless entertainment

Perel and Levy's Web site, which is run by other young people as well - all of whom met through other Israeli sites dealing with the wizard with the lightning scar on his forehead - has only been operating for about three weeks. Still, it has about 2,000 registered users; registration is necessary to read the translations and the posts that go up on the various forums.

Why can't people see the site content without registering, and why do they need a password to read each chapter?

Perel: "We use passwords so no one can copy from us. If someone copies, we'll hack into their site. We'll ruin their name."

Levy: "Don't exaggerate. We blocked the possibility of copying from us. But if someone wants to destroy what we have done, it's still not so hard to do."

Perel and Levy appear to be unaware of the contradiction between their zealous protection of their rights to the material and their complete disregard for the publishers' rights. In France, a 16-year-old boy was recently detained for questioning after he posted a pirated translation of the latest book. He, too, like the Israeli teens, found it hard to wait for the official translation. The anticipation was intensified by the impressive public-relations campaign for the book and the many advertisements in the media, which ruin the surprise and spoil the reading experience.

It's clear that the pirated translation in France, as in Israel, won't remotely affect the publishers' profits, since the readers tend to be total Harry Potter addicts, none of whom will choose to pass up the purchase of the official translation. Nonetheless, Aliyat Hagag Books and Yedioth Books consider the pirated translations a grave matter, liable to ruin all the fun.

"Aliyat Hagag Books and Yedioth Books have the exclusive rights to publication in any form of the Harry Potter books in Hebrew. Any publication in Hebrew that does not come from us constitutes a violation of the law and will be treated accordingly," the publishers said in a statement.

It appears that the publishing companies have a hard time getting used to the changes wrought by the Internet, and are therefore not treating the amateur translation as what it really is: a harmless and even educational form of entertainment. After all, when else would you find a group of boys and girls translating and editing during their summer vacation?

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