Firstly, don't pirate books. Please.
Now that's out of the way, I've just read this interesting article about a book file sharer, of all things, and there's an interview with one of the bigger sharers of files of the literary kind, and it's very interesting. Who knew people had to scan the books, then use OCR, THEN proofread the result, THEN upload it? That's nuts. I could never see the point in reading books online, illegal or not, because I like turning the pages and not having to read everything on a screen.

I read quite a lot of books but there's a problem for me:
a) I only read English books and no stores sell them around here
b) ordering books online is incredibly expensive due to the shipping weight
c) digital books are usually only available in the US
So there's little to no alternative for me at the moment. The few stores that do sell ebooks tend to ask more or as much as the actual book!!! I can buy almost any book I want in a good second hand condition for $3-4 if I wanted Dutch books yet they expect you to pay $15 for a digital copy which costs them ZERO money to create.
The digital era is really a huge rip off so far. They expect you to pay the same amount for bits & bytes without the fancy covers and manuals, without the nice cases, without the hardback cover, without the inlay, etc. I'd buy LOADS of ebooks if they dropped prices to €4-5 a piece. I'd much rather buy a second hand copy as it stands today.

I don't pirate books. But... mainly because I hate reading a book on a screen (computer screen, or any e-book reader).
I still prefer the real thing, the real paper, turning the pages, etc...
That and I like to read in bed, just before sleeping.

I forgot to say I own an ebook reader - they're great really and a lot better than most people imagine they are. But if they want ebooks to take off, they better drop the price. Some idiots have compared ebooks with the move from VHS to DVD but it's completely different: DVD was higher quality and cost more to produce. On the other hand, eBooks are free to copy and it's LESS convenient.

Having seen both professional and "amateur" ebooks, I can see little difference between them. They both seem to be half arsed rush jobs with no standardisation so I've sort of lost faith in the whole ebook thing for the moment. Remember the early days of DVD, silver discs that you could read a book through with black writing, shoddy grainy transfers and "interactive menus" as a special feature? I have no doubt that the quality will improve over time just as the quality of DVDs did but I'll be watching this one from the sidelines instead of being in the middle of it.
The only books I'd ever think of pirating (and still wouldn't do) are textbooks because whilst those things are definitely specialist information and a bit harder to assemble, they're also an example of blatant profiteering off people who can afford it the least
Ebook & Pbook publishing differ in drastically different ways, Pbooks have a long term cost and profit scheme covering creation, printing, distribution and sales whereas Ebooks have a higher one time setup fee with minor recurring distribution fees so there's no way they should cost as much. I'm not one of those dicks demanding they cost a dollar because they're only a few meg but they can't charge the same as a printed book UNLESS the money normally allocated to printing and distribution goes right to the author. Then I'd happily buy the ebook version knowing it's supporting the creator rather than the mechanism

I've scanned books I had been given (it is a huge issue when traveling by blackhawk and your are allowed a backpack ....) Never edited them nor traded/pirated them. I also end up never paying for books as tons of librarys donate thousands of books for those of us in Iraq.

You're legally allowed to have a digital copy of any book you physically own, even if it's at home so an ebook reader is a nice solution in your case if you do want something to read and don't have the space for real books.
I tend to mostly read free books lately anyway - I've still got tons of Lovecraft, Sherlock Holmes, etc. to read which are free to download.

Yes, but technically I do not own them, no one does, they are donated. So rather then have 500 books in my 8 by 5 room, I'll scan em so I can read on the go. Anyone can go up to the mwr or our library and take a dozen or more books, most people do not bother... kinda sad....

Try saying that to Google, then.
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I prefer the real books on paper, thanks. It's funny to see that I can't stand reading a pdf for 1 hour, but I've read the same text on paper until the end of it, for hour * 40. I've never used a Kindle though, I would like to try.
I can't afford all the books that I want, the same goes with games, movies, music; and probably that is the thinking of people who download it: I don't have money for all of this, but, I still want access to culture and knowledge.

When people say they don't have the money, isn't this what libraries where invented for? I love the library.

I much prefer paper books too, both for the readability/portability and also because if I leave it behind in a hotel room or drop it in the bathtub I'm not out that much money. Also I know for sure I'll still be able to read a book 50 years from now, if I'm still alive. I can't say that with any confidence about most digital formats except maybe plain ASCII text files (assuming I don't lose them in any of the 20+ computer upgrades that I will likely make during that time).
It would, however, be infinitely cool if electronic copies were also freely available, mainly for a "search" function. I can't count how many times I have been reading a book with dozens of names/places to keep track of and I reach page 400 and say, crap, who was "Agripinilla" again?

I wouldn't mind reading from an e-reader and I wouldn't miss either the smell or the turning of the pages.... but the comfort of laying down on your bed or sitting anywhere you please to read a book is what keeps me from reading stuff on my desktop computer, since i don't have a laptop. It's uncomfortable and cumbersome to sit there and read for hours on end.
Sitting there and gaming is another matter entirely.

Google's trying to do that.
http://books.google.com/

I'm sorry, but I can't be bothered to differentiate between the library and piracy.
EDIT: And I absolutely refuse to ignore the advantages the digital era brings because organizations do.

This is just another way for corporations to attempt to make money, sue the "literary pirates". Is there really a big difference between this an a library? No late fee?