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Ownership isn't overall an absolute condition As far as I can see. because you 'own' t always mean you can do as you like with it. something doesn't.
I own a condo, but if I am negligent enough or objectionable enough the condo council can force me to sell.
People in Canada have had rental properties confiscated in recent years because they rented to a tenant who carried on an illegal business on the premises.
And how can you own an intellectual property if even the creator only has a limited right which can be changed?
Speaking only for myself I am pretty happy with eBooks and the way they are being handled. Not saying it is perfect but except in the event of a catastrophic disaster where all of my local and remote backups were destroyed along with the venders I bought my books from going out of business and the library revoking my card and all the paper bookstores closing etc. Probably I could still find something to read and as it is now, the convenience and lower overall cost makes it a worthwhile tradeoff.
I doubt very much if I would have given the ownership issue any thought at all if not for mobile read threads like this one. I've bought thousands of books in my life and while price was sometimes a factor, I never once considered resale factor or trading/lending factor when buying a book. If I wanted a book and could afford it I bought it. Sometimes I traded books but wasn't upset when I couldn't. I've donated far more than I traded because it seemed wrong to throw them out.
Of course that is just me in that I rarely sell used items I no longer need. I prefer to give them to a family member or someone who cannot afford them if they are not really expensive. I once sold a dishwasher to someone for less than they offered me dammit. But for a $20 item that might net me $10 if I struck a hard bargain (yeah right) I don't want to answer enquiries, listen to someone insult my merchandise so I will lower my price etc.
Plus it is pretty apparent that no matter how legal or foolproof it becomes there is no significant money to be made. Once legitimately published there is never going to be a shortage of copies of a book so rarity won't count and fast readers will be hitting the marketplace within hours of publication. The only people to make money IMO are the extremely fast readers and those who will profit from the process of title transfer.
I can read a book pretty fast, but many are faster, and for me, the race to read it fast would mean I would lose most of the enjoyment of reading. Reading it fast because I can't stop reading is one thing, but beating the clock would make my head hurt I think.
@ApK
This is not directed at you really, just your post started me thinking and I couldn't stop.
Helen
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