[GhostHawk]

There were lots of posts earlier in this thread about society and its role in determining what is acceptable, ethical, etc.

What I didn't see posted from either side, is what is happening right now.

Society is deciding if going to the darknet for ebooks is ok or not.
There are obviously 2 very heated camps for this issue.

It doesn't in my opinion at least, fall into the same category as rape, slavery, murder etc. It falls more into the category of cheat on your taxes, speed, rolling through stop signs, etc.

Is there anyone out there who really thinks they have never broken the speed limit?
Speed limits are enforced mostly because it is a way to add people's dollars to city budgets.

Ebook Piracy on the other hand is slightly different. Exactly which way society will go on this issue is being decided even as we all madly post away in this thread. Only time will tell which camp is going to win in the end.

But all of you who are so set against it because it is "wrong" need to remember that in almost every case those who turn to it go there because they had no other choice.

Bit like driving the wrong way down a one way street because road construction keeps you from getting where you want to go any other way.

If Publishers would quit fighting ebooks, and start doing it the right way, people wouldn't get forced into doing it the wrong way.

And if you want to call that a rationalization, thats fine, I've gote mine, you've got yours, and I suspect never the twain will meet. We are all addicts here of one degree or another, and we are all addicted to the same thing, books. Some seem to be unhappy because some of us are not "paying" for our addiction. Instead of looking at it that way look at it the other way. Clear out the middle men, cut out the waste in publishing, trim away the fat, bring the price of paper books down.

Release ebooks at the same time as Hardcover, sell it for halfway between hardcover and Pback price until the paperback rolls. At that point it should drop to less than the paperback price.

After a reasonable period of time it should drop again, and again, and again. Until you have back list books that were introduced 5 years ago selling for a dollar or less.

So eventually how much you pay for a book will be determined by how badly you want to read it now. Or how long you are willing to wait for it to come down in price to where you can afford it.

In short, give us what we want. Or we will go elsewhere for it.
That is true across the board, be it fast food, entertainment, clothing, everything.
Give us what we want at a price we can afford, or we'll go elsewhere.