|
I don't see how not lending ebooks is going to have a positive impact on piracy; in fact, I see the exact opposite occurring. Most people who go looking for ebooks at the library aren't interested in buying a book, they want to borrow one for free (like they already have been doing with paper books, music, movies) and they are willing to wait their turn by placing a hold and putting up with a 2 or 3 week loan period in which to read the ebook. If all the publishers pull out of libraries, then people won't find anything to read there and it's a very short plank to a computer search that will introduce them to the wonders of piracy. Each library was buying the ebooks they loaned out, a single pirate can supply everyone on the internet with a book as it gets copied over and over.
|