With E-Readers Comes Wider Piracy of Books

Nine years ago, Mr. Ellison sued Internet service providers for failing to stop a user from posting four of his stories to an online newsgroup. Since settling that suit, he has pursued more than 240 people who have posted his work to the Internet without permission. “If you put your hand in my pocket, you’ll drag back six inches of bloody stump,” he said.

via With E-Readers Comes Wider Piracy of Books – NYTimes.com:

Whenever I hear Harlan Ellison’s name I see Hunter Thompson’s image. What’s up with that?

The title of the article when you read it is Print Books Are Target of Pirates on the Web.

The title of the web page is With E-Readers Comes Wider Piracy of Books

In either case, I have a problem with the headline implications. People who shell out the money for an e-reader are unlikely to be “avoiding the cost” of buying electronic editions.

Petty theft? Probably. Piracy (for a profit)? Unlikely.

What really annoys me is the blurb from the email news from the NY Times

E-reader technology is making it easier to obtain and distribute copyrighted material on the Web for free.