Quote:
Originally Posted by jasonkchapman
So the proper comparison would be squatting. Let's say someone who doesn't want to be bothered getting his own place to live simply picks the locks (without doing any damage) and camps out in someone's home while they're away. As long as he doesn't do any damage or incur any additional charges for the owner, everything is cool, because the squatter is just using space that the homeowner wouldn't have had use of anyway.
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How would this be a proper comparison at all? He is living in a place, using facilities, and that costs money. Electric and gas cost money. He is invading privacy, and that has resulted in damages being awarded in many court cases. If he doesn't clean up after himself, he is costing money. The squatter is indeed causing a loss.
The question is, are we going to treat e-books like physical objects (like a hardcover book), or like a digital object (similar to a software program). If you treat ebooks like a physical object, which they are not, I think it is only reasonable that you award consumers the same rights that they would have if they buy a physical book- no DRM, right to resell, etc. Why should the consumer get the shaft if we are treating an e-book as a physical object?
If ebook consumers are shafted with bad pricing and worse laws, the ebook market will not grow. Period.