[ficbot]

A recent Teleread debate on 'piracy' had me curious about people's opinions on a scenario I find myself in. For what it's worth, I spend over $1000 a year on books and read over 100 of them, and consider myself a good book customer. I do not download from the darknet. So with that disclaimer out of the way, here is my scenario. I curious for opinions on whether you think it is fair or wrong.

I acquire a Kobo, legally. I have a Kobo account, buy Kobo books and have the Kobo app on my iPod and iPad. I do use these apps to read Kobo books I purchase.

I decide to give the Kobo to my mother. I bring her over, show her how to load the books (it is not hard) and hope she enjoys it. I load some DRmd (i.e. they will expire) library books onto it which I signed out, in her presence, with my card. She's happy.

She decides she wants a few books but for whatever reason is reluctant to buy them herself. I buy the books for her with my Kobo account, borrow the physical Kobo which is still technically registered to this account, and download the books onto it. Then I give the Kobo back to her.

The grey area is that I could technically use one of my other devices to read these books myself, simultaneous with my mother reading them on the Kobo, which is sharing. But the Kobo is still technically registered to me, the books I downloaded onto it were legally purchased by me, and Kobo does allow (and in fact encourages) one to have the app on more than one device anyway. And further, the Kobo device is, like a paper book, a physical object and while my mother has it, I do not. To me, it feels just like loaning her a paper copy.

It's kind of a moot question since I don't particularly care for any of the books she has so far asked for and won't ever read them, and the other stuff I have given her has been library books which expire after an interval. But the debater in me is curious---are Mom and I evil, dreaded pirates for this, or are we engaging in fair, legitimate use?