WOW!! I didn't know that I was starting a HUGE discussion here! Basically, I have paid for a couple of "E-books" from Amazon, and I have found a TON more on the net, INCLUDING F. Paul Wilson's books. People have scanned them, and put them onto the "Opera", "Mininova" or other venues for downloading, along with a bunch of other E-books that they apparently had in their collections. As great as I think this is, saving me from spending DAYS scanning these books into my computer, I don't UPLOAD my stuff! I have transferred most of my paperbacks and hardbacks into my computer, and then donated the whole lot to my local public library! Having a ton of paper is hard when you move every 5 or so years. Add to that a collection of over 1200 records, and CD's, DVD's and like material! I have several authors that I keep copies of their stuff, and F. Paul is one of them. I buy the hard cover, and put it on the shelve! I then get a paperback copy of that same book, which I use only for reading! Since I started scanning the books, I have these for reading, so I can get rid of the paperbacks which usually are pretty beat up from a second hand/used book store, and I can either trade them into the book stores, or donate them to the library!
The bottom line is that the difference between giving away a book that you have bought, and uploading a scanned copy of that book is a clear violation of the copyright laws! The book was printed with the knowledge and permission of the author, the E-book was NOT! Technically, just possessing an E-book that is not authorized by the author would be copyright infringement, like possessing, or giving away a DVD movie that was videotaped with a camcorder in the movie theatre! It's illegal, and you can be held liable for it! And if you think that there is NO way that someone can find out that YOU are doing something like this, think again! Big Brother is alive and healthy here in the good old U. S. of A!!!
And that's all I have to say about that!
Lexator