Dangers of eBook Piracy

 

 EBooks: they're the newest market for publishing, but like all electronic files, they're vulnerable to illegal file-sharing, modern-day piracy. The problem with digital property is that it isn't a physical possession: file-sharers aren't walking into a store, slipping a book under their coat and sneaking out, they're just clicking a button to upload or download a computer file. The guilt isn't felt and neither is the risk of getting caught. A pirate is alone in front of their computer screen - what consequences will he or she face?
   It is common to think that if something is intangible, it should be free (Think, for instance, how annoying it is when gas stations charge for air!) and eBooks, being unseen computer files, are susceptible to that mentality. Illegal downloading of eBooks is a growing problem - and if it's happening to some of the most popular contemporary authors who are signed with big-name publishers, it can happen to you.
   Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series reached the top 10 most pirated eBooks of 2009 on BitTorrent.com, according to FreakBits. Despite being protected with DRM, the Twilight series was downloaded between 100,000 and 250,000 times from that website last year.
   Stephen King delayed the release of the eBook version of his latest novel, Under the Dome, to try to prevent theft and to avoid detracting from his print book sales.
   J.K. Rowling purposefully does not publish any of her Harry Potter series as eBooks because she doesn't want to make her work vulnerable to piracy and copyright infringement.
   But with the technology that is available today, resistance to copyright violations seems futile. Rowling's Harry Potter books are among the most file-shared books on the internet, and within days of the release of King's Under the Dome, it had been shared over 100,000 times online. Both Rowling and King joined Meyer among the top 25 most pirated eBooks of 2009. Even if a book isn't released digitally, as soon as someone who purchases a printed copy scans it, the book can easily be downloaded and shared throughout the web.

   A survey on book-buying behavior conducted in late 2009 by Verso Digital Advertising, a leading book advertiser, questioned 5,640 participants on their usage of file-sharing websites such as RapidShare or Megaupload to download pirated eBooks. Over 28% of eReader owners admitted to illegally downloading one or more eBooks during the year. Markedly, males engaged in this activity more often than females, with over 45% of male eReader owners between 18 and 34 years old admitting to eBook piracy.

 
 There is little to be done, technically, to prevent illegal file sharing online. For eBooks, even DRM isn't impossible to strip away, and printed books are susceptible to the scanner or the dedicated pirate who transcribes it via word processor. As the popularity of eBooks grows, the future hope for avoiding piracy seems bleak.
   Bookhitch.com author Chris Eboch thinks that authors and publishers can take matters into their own hands to combat piracy.
   "I also think lower prices would help offset piracy, much as iTunes $.99 per song option helped reduce music piracy," Eboch suggests. "If people have a cheap, easy and legal way to get the books (or music or movies) that they want, then they're less likely to resort to piracy."
   According to the Verso Advertising survey, 41.1% of eReader owners are willing to pay $12.99 or below for an eBook, while 18% said they would be willing to pay up to $24.99 for one. Over a third of eReader owners responded that they were unsure about how much they were willing to pay, which is a testament to the fact that eBooks and eReaders are still evolving, and that prices are not stable yet.



   In a similar survey conducted by CNET, not limited to eReader owners but open to the general public, an overwhelming 74.5% of the population said they would be willing to pay $9.99 or lower for an eBook, with only 2.6% saying they would be willing to spend $14.99 or more.
   Because eBooks cost less to produce, these lower prices are a viable option - one with additional benefits.
   "People are more likely to take chances on new authors, and to make impulse buys, if the books are only a couple of dollars," explains Eboch.
   But lowering eBook prices is also problematic. Authors and publishers still need to generate revenue from the books to cover their costs, and if prices drop to increase business, they may not rise again.
   To learn more about DRM and how your eBook can be protected from copyright infringement, check out this month's interview with digital media expert Bill Rosenblatt.