[Cpt. Tim]

Theres books in my life that i've bought multiple times, bought hardcover, bought paperback, gave away, bought again, bought used, gave away.

I figure that the money has gone to the writers pocket and the book goes to my brain. At that point i'm not going to cry over having a pirated text for my own usage. It would be much like a cd i have getting scratched and me making a copy of that disk from a friend. Legal? no. But ethically i've given the money. How the information i now own exists doesn't matter to me, it matters that the information is acessable to me.

Now if theres an offical ebook out there of it, stealing it is wrong. more work was done on that than was done in the paperback. someone paid for the liscense. someone formatted and made the ebook.

In general i try to refrain from finding internet texts of books i've already bought. For one it stunts the growth of the ebook industry, and two, they usually suck in quality. but sometimes i can't wait. Once the ebook industry gets to the level of quality itunes has set, then i'll be happy to once again pay for those books if the price is right.

DRM is another story. I've already bought a handful of books from sony. what happens when i want to buy an ebook reader? I'm screwed out of those purchases, unless i break the law. There really needs to be an industry standard because the thought that i will be shit out of luck with a new reader is stopping me from purchasing anything further from the connect store.

I think ultimately you have to do right by yourself. Me, i think if the author and publishers get the money for the product then its fine. (buying the hardcover and stealing the paperback isn't a good analogy because you're stealing product. physical material.) Theres no ebook police out there thats as ferocious as the RIAA. If you give the creators, and producers money, i don't think anyone should shed dears over it. I pay for media in multiple formats all the time. sometimes i get battlestar episodes on Itunes, and then i later buy the dvd box sets.
Sometimes i torrent a movie because i can't wait between when it leaves theater and when i'm able to buy dvds. Sure i guess it supports a culture of piracy thats springing, up. But i find that the powers that be have fueled it with damaged goods. Do right by yourself. because no one else is looking to call you on it.