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I'm paying for the content, not the medium. One of my favorite authors came to me through a book I never paid for.
About 30 years ago, a friend told me about this great new fantasy book he just read and lent me his copy to read. I was hooked on the story and have purchased every book this author has written. Many of them I have purchased multiple times in multiple formats. I started purchasing the paperbacks because I was a kid. I'll read favorite stories over and over again, so as the paperbacks wore out, I'd replace them. Then I started purchasing the new releases in hard cover and if possible, I'd replace paperbacks with hard cover. Then I started listening to audiobooks and I've bought audible copies of almost all the books that I have physical copies of. Then I started reading on my various pda's. I will purchase future books as e-books, but I've downloaded all existing versions from various p2p sites.
I've downloaded the illegal copies and I'm donating my existing paperbacks and hard covers to the library with all my other books.
The author has gotten plenty of royalties from me and will continue to get royalties from future ebooks and future audiobooks. My hope is that someone will give their kid, who just finished Harry Potter, one of the books I donated and that kid will start buying the books too.
If the author wants to sue me for the pirated versions, he can have at it.
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