On Amazon.com, Dan Brown's blockbuster novel "The Lost Symbol" sold more digital copies for the Kindle e-reader in its first few days than hardback editions. Within days, it had been downloaded from file-sharing sites such as Rapidshare and BitTorrent for free more than 100,000 times. In interview with CNN Ana Maria Allessi, publisher for Harper Media at HarperCollins told that

"we have to be vigilant in our punishment ... but much more attractive is to simply make the technology better, legally."

E-book technology offers so many positives for both the author and the consumer that any revenue lost to piracy may just be a necessary evil, she said.

"Consumers who invest in one of these dedicated e-book readers tend to load it up and read more," said Allessi. "And what's wrong with that?"