Consequence free E-book piracy?...I don't think so...

Like lots of other people I love E-books mainly because I am able to get content I normally would not be able to get at half the price of a paperback book.

I found this article titled “Top 10 Reasons People Use To Justify Pirating Digital Contents (And Why They’re Wrong)” by Rob W. Hart provides a justification as to why people pirate E-books.

People are under the assumption they can take content from where ever and distribute it for free on the Internet because people should see or hear it. There are consequences for those whose content is pirated whether people are willing to admit it or not. The same reasons that are used to justify e-book piracy can be applied to pirating digital content of any kind.

The writer writes the number 10 reason to justify E-book piracy is “We're only hurting big business”.

“Say you steal a book published by Random House, a company owned by Rupert Murdoch. Yes, Murdoch has a lot of money, and I bet it's satisfying to take a few fractions of a penny out his pocket. But here's who you're really hurting, besides the author (which should be enough): The editors, the layout people, the marketing people, the cover designer... hell, even the maintenance staff in the building where the book was put together. Those are the people who are getting paid from the cost of the book. It takes a village. Murdoch isn't sweating the loss; the people who brought the book to market are”. 

Since this article was written two years ago many things have changed in the way we obtain digital products. For example, I have been getting free digital copies of some of the latest popular television series and movies when I buy DVDs. Today some episodes of the latest television series are being offered in digital format less than a week later after it is screened in the US and can be bought individually or as part of a whole series.

Individual television episodes and songs are really cheap in my country. They cost less than a 600 ml bottle of coke, a 200 gram block of chocolate or a public transport ticket into the city. Legal content is probably cheaper than the Internet data content usage used to download and watch illegal content.

In the article “Top 10 Reasons People Use To Justify Pirating Digital Content (And Why They’re Wrong)” Rob W. Hart provides readers with ten reasons why people engage in piracy. He obtained this quote from the Twitter page of Devin Faraci of Badass Digest “In our culture today people think they deserve their entertainment, not that it's a perk. An eBook is a luxury, not a right. If you can't afford it, too bad, but that's life”.

“Top 10 Reasons People Use To Justify Pirating Digital Content (And Why They’re Wrong)” by Rob W. Hart August 31 2012 (no copyright infringement intended).

1. If you're a writer, you should just be happy to write.
...”Expecting people to forgo payment because you wanted something and didn't want to pay for it? You're an asshole. And if you're an artist, you're an even bigger asshole, because you lack empathy for fellow artists. But, look, if you're utterly convinced that artists should just be happy to create, I'll make you a deal: I'll do my job for free, but you have to do yours for free. We'll circle back in a month and see how that went”. 
 
2. We already own the book/movie/show in another format.
If you have an eBook, you can't go to a bookstore and take the paperback version, claiming that you already own it anyway. I'm heartened to see that some publishers and movie studios are including digital copies with physical media--I'd pay a few extra bucks to get eBook versions of the physical books I buy--but until that's a common practice, this is the system we have. Buying something in one format doesn't give you the right to other formats.

3. We live in a different country so we don't get movies/books/shows until months later.
Distribution methods are not ideal--far behind the capabilities of technology. It's frustrating, and distributors should absolutely rethink how media is disseminated in our global cultural landscape. But it still doesn't give you the right to steal something. Again: Digital content is a luxury, not a right.

4. Everyone else is doing it.
There are a lot of examples of mainstream acceptance of pirating, but the most recent (and troubling) example comes from David Pogue, the technology writer from the New York Times. He wanted to get The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum for his son, but he discovered the eBook wasn't available because of a dispute between Ludlum’s estate and Bantam. Instead of downloading any one of a million other eBooks, Pogue downloaded a torrent and cut the publisher a check for $9.99. Except if the books aren’t available, the estate probably still has the rights, so the check should have gone to them. And he used the biggest and most respected paper in the world as a venue to justify a selfish, petty, and illegal act. Shameful.

5. What about libraries?
Libraries purchase the large majority of books in their collections through wholesale retailers like Ingram and Baker & Taylor. Money changes hands. Authors get paid. All this argument shows is you don't even care to check your facts.

6. We would pay for it if we just had access to it.
This is bullshit of the highest order. Some people would, sure, but you know what? Both season 1 and 2 of Game of Thrones are available on DVD, and through a variety of digital download services, and it's still pirated at a huge rate. If this was true, as soon as something was available for sale in another format, it wouldn't be pirated ever again. It's ridiculous for people to pretend they'd be noble, if only the circumstances were right. (As someone pointed out in the comments, season 2 of Game of Thrones is not available yet. Plenty of digital content gets pirated even though its for sale elsewhere, so the point remains).

7. Digital content is too expensive.
I will acknowledge that pricing on eBooks is not ideal, but pricing is a different conversation--you can't just take what you want, when you want, because you disagree with what's being charged. If you go to Target and they have a flatscreen television you like, but you can't afford it, can you just take it? No. Same rule applies.

8. The distribution method sucks.
Just because you don't like how something is distributed doesn't mean you can steal it. Game of Thrones is pirated at a huge rate, and sure, getting HBO shows can be tough--if you don't have cable and a subscription, you have to wait until the show is released on iTunes or Amazon Prime or on DVD. People like to say, Well, if they just offered HBOGo for $15 a month then I would pay for that. Except that doesn't work. HBO is an exclusive service for cable customers--if that service is no longer exclusive, cable companies might not carry it. HBO may be "leaving money on the table," but it's not.

9. Authors already have a plenty of money.
J.K. Rowling may not notice a loss in income, but what about the self-published author? What about the author who’s counting on a royalty check to cover the rent? Publishing a book isn’t a path to fame and fortune. There are plenty of mid-list authors, or authors whose books are out of print, who don't see a dime from their work. And it doesn't help them if their books are pirated, obviating any need to buy them. Enough money to justify losing the support of cable companies. Then they won't have enough money to make Game of Thrones.

10. We're only hurting big business.
Say you steal a book published by Random House, a company owned by Rupert Murdoch. Yes, Murdoch has a lot of money, and I bet it's satisfying to take a few fractions of a penny out his pocket. But here's who you're really hurting, besides the author (which should be enough): The editors, the layout people, the marketing people, the cover designer... hell, even the maintenance staff in the building where the book was put together. Those are the people who are getting paid from the cost of the book. It takes a village. Murdoch isn't sweating the loss; the people who brought the book to market are.