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I've worked with FOSS and battled piracy myself, and I totally agree with CyGuy's comments. Pirates who steal stuff never intended to pay for it anyways, and if internet piracy didn't exist, people would still find ways to get copies of stuff for free. So since no sale would ever have occurred, it's not a lost sale. And yes, the agency model is likely to do tons more harm than good. Also, aside from the greedy, dishonest people who'd rather steal than pay for stuff, the other kind of piracy is what I think hurts more. This is people who *WILL* buy your stuff, and *WILL* pay for a copy, but have been forced to pirate your ebook because either A) it's good enough to read, but not good enough to be worth paying for, B) you did something stupid and locked it behind oppressive DRM, C) you priced your book above what most people consider reasonable for a book, or maybe just your book specifically, or D) you're a douche (like the MPAA/RIAA) and treat people like crap, so they fight back by getting their fix while preventing you from lining your pockets with their cash.
Either way, 90% of piracy doesn't need to occur. If distributors, writers, artists, companies, etc, etc, would all just get a clue, the people who would pay will pay, and those who won't will just go on doing what they've always done, and that's steal because they are dishonest douches.
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