[SteveEisenberg]

The public library ebook model is flawed for the way I read.

First of all, I tend to be reading a couple books at once. Fourteen days is often, even usually, not long enough for me. Now, when it comes to a physical library book, the initial period where I live is 21 days. And if I stay away from recent bestsellers, I am pretty much guaranteed of the ability to renew. Also, not that I use it a lot, I have the option of paying a 30 cents a day fine until I finish the book.

Combine that with the minimal selection of public library eBooks compared with what is physically in the library, and I don't see the great advantage of having access to public library encrypted eBooks.

As for the morality of decrypting, if you really play by the rules, there isn't the slightest problem. However, how many people are going to delete that eBook on the 14th day when they are 90 percent through a novel? I certainly wouldn't.

The minimal selection of library eBooks is not just an issue of how much money the library budgets for the eBooks. It also has to do with the libraries being forced to lease eBooks rather than buy them.

For library eBooks to work four things have to happen:

First, someone needs to invent book encryption that is awesomely difficult to break. Without that, publishers have to factor in illicit copying when they set the library price, and are likely to stick with the collection-building-unfriendly book leasing model.

Second, libraries need to be given the legal right to buy books at normal publicly available prices and then lend out those books to one patron at a time regardless of whether the book is physical or an eBook.

Third, there needs to be an eBook overdue fine system. At my library, fines make up a significant portion of operating revenue.

And last, yes, the Kindle needs to be able to read securely encrypted eBooks.