[DiapDealer]

I understand what you're asking about perfectly well. I just don't agree with a premise that states "because pirates sideload ... then the majority of sideloaded content out there MUST be pirated."

To me, that's an unsubstantiated leap (ten known pirating test-subjects aside). It assumes one of two scenarios--either of which would be hard to verify: 1) that the majority of readers who are sideloading are pirates. Or 2) that a small number of hoarding pirates are sideloading more illegal content than a larger number of legal sideloaders combined. I don't believe either scenario is very likely, myself.

I guessing the smallish number of ebook futzers and tweakers and legal free/PD sideloaders and personal document emailers (such as ourselves here at MobileRead), and the tiny number of "I'm-dowloading-thousands-of-illicit-ebooks-and-putting-them-all-on-my-device/sdcard" pirates probably cancel each other out at the very worst.

It just seems to me that your mind was already made up before you created your poll. You seem to believe your ten-person sampling to be representive of sideloading readers the world over, and will accept no scenario that challenges it. If you seek to narrowly define the left-hand side of the equation as those buy (for money) from a retailer and then sideload, then what's the point really? Who cares if pirates sideload more than the tiny number of sideloaders you've decided should be counted in your poll? Just because you're only interested in the "piracy aspect" doesn't mean you should get to cherry-pick who goes in the "non-pirate" category you're comparing to.

I will concede that there's probably more sideloaded illicit material on the sdcards of pirates than there are books that were purchased (for money) from a retailer and then sideloaded. I just fail to see the relevance of such a comparison. Pirates pirate more than buyers sideload?... OK.