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Adding to Steve's comments, young people (of all ages) see little wrong with taking an ebook since they can also get the hardcover book free from the library. Around here the libraries also loan out CDs, DVDs, and a host of other things. This sets up the paradox that it is OK to read the book for free from the library but it is not OK to read the free electronic file.
I think it goes beyond the concept that it is a bunch of electrons; for many it has become a game of collecting and showing off. I looked at the darknet in the newsgroups that a fellow member pointed out to me when one person (or at least one user name) was posting ebooks from the MobileRead download area. There were people posting hundreds and thousands of ebooks almost in a "show me yours and I'll show you mine" type of competition. (One user name posted over 5,000 ebooks within a week.)
Yeah, books are pirated; its just that the pirates don't read them.
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