As usual for copyright/pirating threads, this one has deteriorated to meaningless noise. One final post before I abandon this.
Baen has been putting CDs of authors books in certain released hardback editions. Those CDs are available for free, with Baen's knowledge and permission at
The Fifth Imperium. Why do you suppose award winning, best selling authors (Lois McMaster Bujold, David Drake, Eric Flint, and John Ringo among others) can be convinced to give away their books for free? Could it be that Baen has shown these authors that sometimes giving away stuff for free ultimately means greater *sales*?
I'm not condoning pirating, but it appears that free books can mean more income for the authors.