[Katsunami]

Hm?

What good deed is there in giving something away that is free already, either by it being in the public domain, given away for free (freebee books), or being (nearly) free to borrow?

Spoiler:

In Dutch, this is called "Iemand een sigaar uit eigen doos geven" (the literal translation being "Giving someone a sigar out of his own box"). It basically means that you are either 'giving' someone something he already has, or you're giving something in such a way that receiving the benefit will require the receiver to give an equal amount to the giver (often without knowing), therefore gaining nothing. (Think about receiving a €10 deduction on local waste taxes, which is publicly announced by a big campain, while the local government silently increases road taxes and sewage taxes by €5, resulting in a net change of €0.)

If they'd want to provide free e-reading opportunities for poorer people, they should be giving away hardware, not e-books. IMHO...