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I would make an ethical distriction between downloading an eBook where one is available commercially, and downloading one in a situation where one is not commercially available.
Where an eBook can be commercially bought, I would personally always buy it, even in cases where I've already bought the paperback. I don't personally feel that buying the paperback gives me any "rights" to that book in electronic form.
In cases, however, where there IS no commercial eBook available, and I've bought the book in paper form (in some cases a number of times), I personally don't feel any ethical qualms about downloading an eBook, although I'm certainly not kidding myself that it's legal for me to do so. In this category I'd put such books as Harry Potter, LOTR, etc. Having bought at least half a dozen versions of LOTR over the decades, from cheap paperbacks to $200+ fancy illustrated hardbacks I figure that Mr. Tolkein's estate has had more than its money's worth out of me.
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