Quote:
Originally Posted by Elfwreck
For the same pricing structure that works for pbooks to be reasonable for ebooks, we need to be able to transfer ownership of the ebooks at will. Need to be able to legally sell them or give them away.
Until we've got that ability, ebooks, regardless of their nifty digital features, are inherently less valuable than pbooks, because they're one-owner purchases. Part of many people's willingness to pay for pbooks hinges on their ability to give it to someone else when they're done.
I might pay $25 for a new hardcover book, which I can share with as many friends as I like, allow my kids to take to school, and if I tire of it, can sell it or give it away. I'm not paying $15 for personal-ownership-only of a few thousand words.
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I could agree with your argument about being able to sell or loan out the ebook on one simple condition. That there is a system in place that ensures that only one ebook reader at a time has that ebook available to be used. This would also require that no one would be able to make a copy of the file. It is strictly transferred from one reader to another. So when you loan it out, you can't access it. When you sell it, it is gone from you forever.
Any other method of allowing you to "loan or sell" the file really is nothing more than demanding the right to be able to infringe on others copyrighted works.