I was reading this article on the NY Times about book pirating. Seems like there is an increase of people posting digital books on the web for free—sort of like Napster did with MP3′s. I didn’t realize that this be could be an issue since books are such a different format from music. But technology is making it easier:
Now, with publishers producing more digital editions, it is potentially easier for hackers to copy files. And the growing popularity of electronic reading devices like the Kindle from Amazon or the Reader from Sony make it easier to read in digital form. Many of the unauthorized editions are uploaded as PDFs, which can be easily e-mailed to a Kindle or the Sony device.
Some authors like Ursula K. Le Guin are pissed with good reason, while authors like Stephen King don’t think it’s worth the effort to track down the pirates. Then, you have other authors like Cory Doctorow who don’t seem to mind or even cater to free digital access. Her offered his latest young adult novel Little Brother as a free electronic version on the same day it was published in hardcover.
Hmm…I don’t know. I remember when all that Napster stuff went down and the music industry went all Supreme Court because it was hurting sales. Not sure if this could possibly go the same way.
Personally, I do still like to actually hold a book in my hands. So I’m not sure if I would be interested in a pirate digital book. I have lots of friends who adore their Kindles and so if digital books are the wave of the future—then more hackers may start posting these online editions for free.
But I can see how authors would get pissed that they’re not getting paid for their work and the copyright infringement isn’t cool either.
You can check out the NY Times article here.
