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That's open to debate. What about software? I don't see any fundamental differences to ebooks.
I don't think it's a service. I can resell software, e.g., and I certainly can resell a physical book. If that's not the case for an ebook then, yes, that needs to be taken into consideration for the price of purchase.
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You can't purchase software via download, burn it on to a disc and sell it. Nor can you sell it to someone via email. You can resell a physical book, but you can not copy the text in that book, then run it off on a printing press and sell it. When you purchase an ebook, you do not get a physical item. You get a service, and that service is the communication of instructions to your own little version of an electronic printing press that writes the information on physical media that you own. That purchase includes limited rights that facilitate personal use.
If you feel that service is less valuable than a physical book, fine. Heck, I'm even inclined to agree in some cases. If I have a less expensive option in the form of a physical book I want (and I DO), I buy that. But the value of a service is largely measured by your desire for it, even more so than the demand value of material items. In fact unlike a paper book, your ebook literally does not even exist until you pay for the transaction (like any service), and when it does, its physical form is manufactured by you.
If you email that ebook to someone, you did not give them your ebook. You provided the same distribution service you contracted from a retailer, allowing that person to manufacture their own. The limited rights are similar to the limited rights you have with a paper book; the difference, and the concern of publishers, is that the means of re-manufacture are more easily available to you.
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Keeping backups is easier with digital files, yes. What's your point?
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The retailer will also not give you a "backup" of your lost book, charging only the cost difference between storing a physical book and electronic data, so the ease of backup is irrelevant. The point is the two purchases are dissimilar beyond material measurement.