Quote:
Originally Posted by sbroome
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For a lot of people, the internet has directly replaced libraries for a lot of the things they used to go there to do. Research, fact checking, casual reading, all that can be done without leaving home, or even getting dressed if you don't want to.
It shouldn't really come as any surprise that people would turn to the internet for their disposable entertainment media in the same way, for the same reasons. If there was a legal alternative people would use that instead of turning to pirate sites. But the publishers seem to be doing everything they can to stop libraries from lending ebooks, and what there is available is a very limited selection.
Sort out the reasons (or excuses, if you prefer) for piracy and it will stop being a problem. Not that it's much of a problem now. Writers, and by extension publishers, are already losing more money through second hand book shops than they will ever lose through piracy. When print books are restricted to limited edition hardbacks for collectors, even if just 10% of the people currently buying second hand paperbacks switch to buying ebooks that will represent a massive increase in profits.