How readers experience books has changed drastically over the last 25 years. Not so long ago, copyrighted, protected content was primarily read by users in the form of physical material such as print books up to the turn of the century. However, today a large number of purely digital content is consumed via the electronic domain. And given the shift in how content is being consumed, it is likely that books would move online almost entirely sometime in this decade. Unfortunately, ahead of this curve, unauthorized book distribution, also known as online piracy, has also followed the same path. Just as physical carriers or print books are pirated, so are ebooks – and with digital content, it is a lot quicker and cheaper to duplicate and distribute. Various channels coexist today that enable the unauthorized downloading and stealing of your creative work without your knowledge. Anyone worldwide can acquire and consume ebooks without having to pay money for them through these illegal channels. While having access to the many benefits that digital technology has to offer (cost-effective, simple to distribute, easier routes to market), authors and publishers continue to languish due to poor sales. Unauthorized downloads rip authors off and…
Continue reading