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Lets say there is a book I want to read that is not available as an ebook. This book is available in my library and I can borrow it for free and read it. I can also download an electronic copy. Would either action cause anyone any loss of revenue? I know downloading the electronic copy is not legal. But the real question is, who is getting hurt by this action of downloading this book or borrowing it from the library? Nobody. Nobody is getting any money from my doing either. Now if there was an official ebook available, then my downloading it would be causing a loss of revenue. But since there isn't, it doesn't cause any harm since if I didn't download it, I would borrow it from the library instead. Now this is all hypothetical. But it does give one pause to think when we think about what damages our actions have on others.
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