Originally Posted by kane

So what about a DVD. If I go rent or buy a DVD this afternoon and invite a group of friends over tonight to watch it should I charge them all an admission fee and then send that money to the MPAA because otherwise we all get to consume the video, but we only paid for one copy of it?

The main difference between lending books to a friend and sharing files on the internet is that when I share a book (or CD or DVD) with a friend, there is still only one copy of it and only one of us can use it at any given time. When I share it online I am making copies of it that I am distributing to others so others get to use it and I still have my copy.

I can understand your argument. If I never loaned a book to anyone there is a chance that those people might go out and buy that book on their own, but there is just as good a chance that they wouldn't have.

Another question. How do you feel about the sale of used books? If I buy a book, read it then sell it on Ebay or Amazon or even sell it to a local book store is that piracy?