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The library system has been able to successfully coexist with the publishing industry for hundreds of years. Despite it's existence the publishing industry has been able to pull in billions of dollars of annual revenue and hundreds of millions of annual profits, this is not a destitute industry and it's not a balance that was broken.
The library Overdrive lending system was designed to exactly mimic the lending of paper books except the publishers have decided to band together and either completely withhold ebooks or charge 4 to 6 times the equivalent paper book costs. They've openly admitted that their goal is to cripple the library system or to use their language "introduce friction". It's disingenuous to suggest that the libraries can just stop buying from them, the publishers would be thrilled. Oh sure they'd put on a face that they're losing revenue but they would be laughing.
When prices suddenly jump by 400 to 600 percent it's a clear indication of a free market failure. It's not surprising because the library system is not a free market system, it's a government service funded (mostly) by taxpayers. I not only believe it's appropriate for the government to step in, I believe it's their responsibility to. They can't keep pretending the free market system will fix it.
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