[deviant]

Originally Posted by sanders

Then either the store is too lazy to do so, or the book is out of print. Any book still in print which has an ISBN, can be ordered by the store.

That might be the case in developed Western countries but it's foolish to say it applies to the whole world. Also, how would the reader be compensated for waiting?

I don't think the publishing industry is a rip-off. Brick-and-mortar book stores have amazing liberties (which date from the great depression) taking over half of the cover price of books, and not even taking much risk at that (since they can usually ship back unsold copies to publishers for a full refund - even if these copies are damaged and can not be sold anymore). Publishing is not a Get Rich Quick industry.

It would be strange if you called yourself a ripoff What I'm trying to point out is that they don't serve a purpose that cannot be easily substituted by the author himself. I don't mind if the ebook has no cover page. Editing and proofreading doesn't need two specialists to do, it's not rocket engineering. Most readers can set their own typography if need be (and I assume the author is capable of using paragraphs and chapters).

As far as payment goes, a PayPal account is good enough, so there's no need to do contact Credit Card companies. The web aspect, as you said, can be learned. Furthermore, most search engines rank pages by content - so what's more likely to reach the top page - a site with torrents of all kinds or the specific book website of the authors?

Still though - if you think you are being ripped off, in my view you should simply say "thanks but no thanks" and not take things into your own hands. If an exquisite restaurant thinks it can get away with asking $100 for an entree, you should simply not eat there if you don't think that's worth it. Of course, this gets us back into the "copying is not stealing" argument. Just out of curiosity - do you sneak into movie theaters and/or hitch free rides on trains?

I don't agree with your view of "just walking away". You forget that piracy also has an effect on the market regardless of whether you want it or not. Unlike before, there is now a third option - get a pirated copy.

As far as sneaking into theaters goes no, no I don't. Thankfully the city was nice enough to issue all students free cinema theater tickets. I'm happy to say that now I go to the theater once or twice a month unlike before when I went there only if there was a really big hit. And what's more, I tend to purchase popcorn and thus boost the theater's revenue somewhat.

As far as trains go, I haven't been on one since I was a kid. Nowadays I usually use buses or planes.

So what does the publishing industry do? They feel there is no good DRM, so they'd rather not venture into ebooks at all.

Believe me: if there was a solid DRM which both publishers and consumers would both be happy with, publishers would jump into it feet first. Their biggest pain in the neck is currently the book stores with their outrageous margins. I'm sure they'd love to cut them out.

They can venture into it or not - their call. Regardless of their choice there will be an ebook copy on the internet if there is a demand for it, the only question is whether they'll earn any money off of it.