Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
That's true, and if only it were that simple and straightforward there wouldn't be a problem. But what about the copy in your "Library" at whatever bookstore you bought it from. Can you delete that? Many bookstores don't provide a mechanism for doing so.
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That's their problem. If I sell my house but the bank refuses to take away my copies of the keys, that doesn't mean I'm guilty of breaking & entering by keeping them. It's illegal for me to re-download a book once I've given it away; it's not illegal for me to have the *ability* to download it again. (Storing a book next to a photocopy machine is not a violation of copyright. Having access to a collection of files it's illegal to download is not a crime.)
And since many digital libraries now insist you must download your book quickly or lose access to it, obviously those libraries are not intended to be a permanent repository.
Digital books haven't removed the need for a physical medium; they've just changed the nature of that medium. If I buy an ebook, download it to a flash card, I could loan or sell or give away that card. (And, potentially, a whole bunch of other data.)