Quote:
Originally Posted by Elfwreck
I'm trying really hard not to react to this with snide comments about income levels and the privileges of wealth.
Book-sharing is an essential part of my local literary community. At my income level, and my friends', if we were limited to reading what we bought new full-price, we'd give up on reading altogether.
That's only indirectly related to discovering authors whose early works are no longer in print through sharing or secondhand purchases; several of my friends keep loaning libraries of books that aren't currently available in bookstores.
The idea that every purchased book will be read by one person, and then destroyed when that person is done with it, is ridiculous, whether that book is paper or electronic. *That* is the destruction of "book culture" that Kaufman should be ranting about, not the format.
Until publishers acknowledge the importance of secondhand books--whether that's shared or sold--and establish a legal, simple way to allow people to transfer control or ownership of their ebooks, ebook "piracy" will continue to thrive.
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Well said....I agree completely....