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I really wish that publishers would allow me to obtain a digital copy of text that I purchase in paper form. Say I drop by my local bookstore and pick up the latest bestseller. I feel that I also deserve to have a digital copy of the text that I just bought.
Now say I am not entitled to that digital text. What happens if I scan the book I just bought for personal use? I would now own both a paper book and a digital book. Now (hang with me here) say I download the same book from somewhere. Owning the digital text shouldn't be the issue. It's the downloading that's the illegal part. What if my friend illegally downloads a book and gives it to me? Would this be illegal for me to be in possesion of said text?
Lots of issues to consider. All is not clear in the mp3 world right now either. Illegal music downloading still happens all the time but Apple and others are still able to turn a profit. I think publishers should take the same approach. Provide cheap digital downloads (non-DRM) that will allow people to enjoy their books wherever they are. Many people don't even read ebooks anyways so the publishing industry will never suffer (if that's the right word) like the music industry did. Frankly speaking the vast majority of people simply enjoy reading actual books. The touch, the smell, and the yellow pages have an appeal to folks that digital text cannot reproduce. Music is music on the other hand whether you downloaded it illegally or are listening to it from a legal CD.
In short I hope the publishing industry realizes that they cannot stop piracy. Heavens, the movie industry and the music industry can't even stop it. It poses much less of a threat to their profits than pirated music and movies do to their respective industries. Publishers: Allow your books to be purchased as straight-up HTML, non-DRM protected, and cheaper than the paperback/hardback counterparts. You will show both book lovers and technology lovers that you understand the current state of reading in our society.
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