Where Did I Put My Tiara

The life unglamorous . . .

My Photo
Name:
Location: Utah, United States

see biography at http://www.marjoriejones.com

Sunday, January 01, 2006

Ahoy, Maties... arrrgh...

Last week when I took my daughter to see The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, I was uber-excited to see a preview for Pirates of the Carribean, Part II.  YAY!  Jack Sparrow... errr... I mean CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow, is back!
 
The daughter and I have a movie date for July 7 and we can't wait.
 
But this post is about another kind of pirate... the not-so-sexy kind.
 
Ebooks are gaining in popularity every day.  New readers are logging on and filling their handhelds with more and more fabulous books, but as with any new technology, it's only a matter of time before someone gets their grubby hands in there and tarnishes the shine.
 
Ebooks are different than traditional books because they are a licensed computer file, like a computer program.  When a person buys an ebook from Amazon or a publisher, or the authors themselves, they are buying a license to read the book contained in the file.  While it's perfectly legal to sell, share, give away or trade a paperback or a hardcover book, it is 100 percent illegal to do any of these things with an ebook.
 
Now, I know, if you go to ebay you'll find ebooks starting at one cent.  I've seen auctions end with ebooks sales at 15 and 20 cents as the final winning bid.  The author, however, gets none of this.  And even if they did, it would amount to less than a dime!  Nope, these sellers have purchased an ebook and are reselling the file, over and over and over again, illegally. 
 
In fact, there are entire websites that have been set up that sell pirated copies of ebooks (and hard copy books that have been scanned into digital files).  This is even worse, however, when one considers you give your credit card numbers to criminals when you buy from these sites.  Seriously... if the website owners have no compunction about stealing from the publishing houses and the authors, do you think they have any qualms about stealing from you?  These are generally phising sites set up to do nothing more than steal your personal information.  Gads!
 
So the next time you're looking for a bargain on an electronic read, please consider the folks who earn their living writing books for your enjoyment.  Buy only from legit websites like Fictionwise or Ebookad, or buy from the publisher's website themselves.
 
Captain Jack is about the sexiest pirate there is... let's keep him at the top of the mast and relegate those other pirates to Davy Jones's Locker!
 
Hugs,
Marjorie