Authorities are reporting that pirated online copies of the newest Harry Potter book, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”, hit the streets of the Internet in record time. Pirated (scanned) copies were available in ebook form, and audio versions on torrent sites, mere hours after the book was released for sale.

Said Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling’s attorney, Neil Blair, “We have put in place some countermeasures, but I can’t disclose the specifics. We have sent takedown notices (against Web sites hosting the illicit copies) but we haven’t filed any lawsuits.”
While it’s likely true that even with online Pottermania, the number of illegal “Half-Blood Prince” ebooks circulated won’t make a dent in the overall profitability of the newest Harry Potter book (the book sold nearly 10 million copies world-wide in one day), one still has to wonder why Rowling’s publishers didn’t just offer the book in ebook form themselves and scoop the pirates.

According to an article in The WHIR (Web Host Industry Review) the publishers decided not to release “The Half-Blook Prince” as an e-book “over fears of piracy.”

Good plan.

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