[Danny Fekete]

Ah, tasty old chestnut. Hi, Frikk.

For doot and jocularity, let's posit a value system where "good" is equated with the proliferation of information. The purpose of content creation under this system is to increase the sum information content in brains throughout the universe, so if I produce content with 1 information unit that impacts five readers and then stops transmitting, I've increased the information content of the universe by 5 units.

Under this system, the following seems fair:
- Cost of information (price of a book, say) reduces the likelihood of it being absorbed by another brain, and thereby restrains the increase of information content in the universe
- Revenue produced by distributing information (ideally) increases the viability and future impact of a book distribution channel (such as a publisher) or a content creator, and thereby seeds the future increase of information content in the universe

In this system, the vending of content is a compromise or optimisation of these two variables, so "second-hand books" and a system like TextbookTorrents represent a balance where distribution is prioritised largely or completely over sustainability. If you agree with the initial assumption that "greatest good" lies in generating the greatest possible proliferation of content, then the doing of good lies in optimising these variables. The complexities that affect them include distribution of wealth, kinds of incentives for content creators and distributors (academic prestige, for example, may be more important to a content creator than revenue for time and effort expended), among other variables.

This is an approximation of my moral framework as it pertains to things like TextbookTorrents and second-hand book vending. My calculations haven't been very sophisticated or rigorous, in terms of where I stand on the optimisation question, but I'm currently operating under an assumption that free distribution of digital content can be sustained by non-monetary incentive systems (or at least, systems where direct financial remuneration is unnecessary: content creation could be encouraged and sustained by government-based artistic stipends and university salaries which reward impact but also foster new authors).