Why should abstract cost matter?  You think the authors are saying, &quot;Oh good, at least they&#x27;re paying the local utility companies to keep their copy of my book air-conditioned!&quot; ?<p>In both cases, a single copy is paid for and shared with potentially tens of thousands of users.  Now, you may have had the cost and physical inefficencies in mind as a rate-limiter on the unpaid (to the IP holder) consumption of media, but Falkvinge called that a quantitative, not qualitative, difference that doesn&#x27;t matter.  Honestly I&#x27;m not sure I agree [1] -- but who gets to define &quot;how many&quot; or &quot;how cheap&quot; is too far?  I&#x27;m pretty sure the IP lobby would kill all libraries, lending, and re-selling if they could.  Is that fair?<p>[1] It&#x27;s perhaps too much like saying that deploying automated networked license plate scanners in every inch of a city is OK, because it&#x27;s &quot;just like a cop standing on the public street corner observing which cars are driving by&quot;, and I would definitely be against the scanners.