At this point I am close to recommending to people to simply break the DRM and actually own the book they purchased as I am not completely sure what the publishing companies are doing is totally legal.

I know they think it is, but at least here in America, there has been some precedent law indicating that a person is entitled to make copies of their files in order to safeguard them from harm.

In the case of ebooks the breaking of DRM would safeguard them from becoming outdated by allowing to you change the format as needed over time.

Sorta shady gray area law there, but when citizens can’t get any other relief then we have to make a stand and create our own relief.

And it really does not matter if companies pull back from the ebook. So many pirates now have cheap automated ebook copiers and scanners that virtually any book will be in ebook format on the net rather quickly. Companies can either work with the consumer or the consumer will work with those who work with them. Even if they are pirates. Myself I have no need to pirate ebooks as I already have enough free ebooks to last me for years and I keep adding dozens to my collection every month.

I do see the writing on the wall and there are literally millions of people who grew up in the digital age that will not think twice about pirating an ebook much like they have music and video.

Thanks for the ethics comment but I’m letting you know my ethics are sorta the revolutionary kind of ethics. We the people need a remedy and if publishers do not work with us, we will create that remedy ourselves.

@elvenrunelord – I am not saying eBooks are a failing model. I am saying that the way publishers choose to license (not sell), lock-down, and limit eBooks is a failing model. It’s not sustainable in the long term. I agree that eBooks (and all forms of digital content) are the future. Whether the model is licensing or purchasing, and what limitations are and are not in place, is what I now challenge. eBooks can be a success without DRM. Music and movies can also. I am personally boycotting HarperCollins too, and I congratulate you on your decision to stand by your ethics.

“That is an arbitrary number created by a flailing company trying to prop up a failing digital content business model.”

The way that sentence sounds to me, you are saying that the entire concept of ebooks as a content business is a failing model.

Maybe I took what you wrote the wrong way, but to clarify my opinion, I believe that ebooks will eventually be the only way consumers will be willing to purchase books. Once they understand how much cleaner their air will be along with the secondary impact of cost reduction in wood based products, I believe that consumers will move to ebooks in mass.

While not a failing model, I do see small groups of very powerful and rich people loosing their power and authority in this wholly democratized method of book publishing that is occurring.

Just a decade ago, the majority of the writers who have published good books on Smashwords and other independent content sites would have never had a change of being read, or making any income off of their content.

The doorkeepers of the publishing industry are feeling threated and by locking their content behind closed doors they are only hastening what is happening naturally from the bottom up…..people are abandoning traditional publishers at an alarming rate while reading more content from providers that offer the content for free or for a much smaller fee than any traditional paper publishing company can.

Its a wild ride and in the end, it matters little what the AMA says. Much like government telling unions they can’t collectively bargain. They act as though they have the right to tell us who to do business with and through and they most certainly do not. General strike can prove that point quickly and overwhelmingly.

That is why I chose to boycott HarperCollins. I’ll never buy one of their books again, even if the y change their policy. Corporations have to learn there are consequences for their actions and the nonrecoverable loss of customers is the result that occurred when they implemented this policy. I also will never borrow one of their books from a library as well. As far I am concerned HarperCollins is non persona grata in my book.

Also, the cost of producing and maintaining an eBook is infinitesimal compared to a print title. For print books, you have to consider printing, shipping, processing, labeling, storing in a building requiring rent/heat/etc., shelving, checking out, re-shelving, re-checking out, re-shelving, re-checking out, etc. For eBooks, you’ve got digital storage costs, the costs of the circulation platform software, and that’s it. Over 10 years (or simply a few months and 26 check-outs if HarperCollins gets its way) the costs are not comparable at all. Print costs a thousand times more to create and circulate.