[Steven Lyle Jordan]

I'm back. (And I've had a snack.)

Okay, I realize that it's very hard to quantify or put a price on what is essentially a collection of electrons. I honestly believe this is the crux of any argument about e-books, e-music, etc... the fact that it seems to be free and effortless to reproduce them, and that the product in a macroscopic sense, apparently does not exist.

However, in point of fact, it does have a physical form: Electrons. Electrons, in specific collections corralled by your hard drive, essentially make up the e-book, in the same way as a constantly changing collection of atoms makes up your body. Any quantum physicist would tell you that an e-book as a distinct entity is as real as your body. The courts will agree with that assessment, too.

Further, a book is considered an intellectual property, and there is a value to an intellectual property, whatever its medium. That value does not change, just because the medium has changed. A book still has the same value (plus whatever additional physical costs were involved in producing it), whether it be hardback, paperback, e-book or audiobook. Same thing goes for a movie, whether it's on film, on digital tape, or on a hard drive. It still has an inherent value, and--most importantly--it is still an intellectual property, and subject to the same regulations as any other intellectual property, whatever its medium.

This means that it is wrong, in any sense of the word or concept, to give away that intellectual property without the express permission of the creator. It also means that it is wrong, in the same word or concept, to duplicate or share it without said permission.

Legally, morally or ethically speaking, we would not expect that if we went to a movie in a theatre, we would therefore be entitled to a free DVD of that movie, or of its soundtrack, or even a poster of the hot chick in the lead. We know that we are expected, in an honest and ethical society, to pay for that other item, because it is in fact an item separate from the movie we saw in the theatre.

We also know that, if we buy a poster of the hot chick, then take a picture of that poster and try to sell our duplicate pictures, we can be hauled off to copyright court and forced to pay a fine for violation of copyright. There is no question that what we have done is wrong.

So: Is an e-book a distinct entity? Yes. Is it considered an intellectual property? Yes. Should it be free, because it has no physical form? No, because it does have a physical form... electrons... and it is treated by law as if it has a physical form.

Is a copy of an e-book the same as a copy of a printed book? Not in the eyes of the law, the property rights or the intellectual rights holder. It has physical form, therefore it is a distinct entity, and anyone who obtains it is expected to pay for it, and to respect its intellectual and property rights by not copying it and giving the copies away.

Does this make sense? Yes, in a society that exists by agreement, abides ethics and respects law and honesty. To those who do not respect law, honesty, ethics and agreement, this clearly makes no sense at all.

But the word "Anarchy" does.