Release of Harry Potter eBooks

To:  J.K. Rowling

Dear Ms. Rowling,

We the undersigned sincerely request that you agree to allow the Harry Potter books to be released in digital eBook format.

Most of us have purchased all of your books, and many of us have also purchased the movies, audio books, and various other media surrounding the Harry Potter franchise. We are strong supporters of all things Harry Potter. We would gladly pay again for access to your wonderful books on our eBook readers.

As you know Amazon has released the very popular Kindle, and Sony along with other companies are positioning strong eBook readers as well. We the undersigned believe strongly that these eBook readers offer compelling feature sets and would really enjoy reading the Harry Potter books on these devices. We understand that you may not agree with this; however we are your customers and believe our views on the relative worth of eBook readers should be respected.

The Associated Press, on 4 February 2007, wrote:

"Rowling has cited two reasons over the years [for not allowing Harry Potter eBooks]: concern about online piracy (which has never been a major problem for the Potter books), and the desire for readers to experience the books on paper."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/04/AR2007020400654.html

These two reasons do not hold up to any objective analysis. Significant profit is being earned by many parties as a result of the monetary contributions of your fans, which indicates that the public at large is quite willing to pay for these materials as opposed to resorting to piracy. Moreover, as I'm sure you know, Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology ensures your works would not be pirated if released in eBook format. With respect to your "desire for readers to experience the books on paper", that desire did not stop you, Scholastic, and Warner Brothers from profiting immensely through the release of movies and audio books. And so we are left perplexed as to your true reasons for holding out on eBooks.

Finally, we kindly point out to you that there are populations of users with disabilities whose lives have been transformed by their newfound ability to read via eBook readers. We believe that as many people as possible should be able to access these wonderful stories and should you allow them to be released as eBooks we are certain this would increase overall access to the works.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Release of Harry Potter eBooks Petition to J.K. Rowling was created by and written by Brian Grant (brian.grant@gmail.com).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.