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Even with ebooks, the cost of production is extremely front-end-loaded, ie, the hundreds of hours of the writer's time in creating the book in the first place. If copyright at least protected that, it would be worthwhile.
Unfortunately, I agree with vxf's opinion of the moral bankruptcy of the system: Today, you can't even sell the public on the idea that writers need to eat; they just don't care. I do believe that the technology will catch up and make book pirating too risky to be worth doing, but it's going to be a long haul thanks to public resistance to being held to a legal system.
Ralph, I see your water analogy. Fortunately, people are slowly learning that bottled water is a marketer-hyped joke on them, as governments are cracking down on the containers and the companies selling bottled water. And as the economy tightens, people will cut out more unnecessary expenses, like bottled water. Eventually, except in isolated (bad water) areas, the bottled water craze will end... but it will take time to re-educate everyone, and apply sensible controls to the industry, to bring the craze to its end. (Or to sell them something new, like the latest concentrated color/flavor bottles to add to your water. And eventually, they'll sell everyone on sodas and juices that already have the colors and flavors added, and we're back to square one.)
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