Torrentfreak recently decided to do a check on whether the iPad's release was making pirating e-books more popular. After checking the before and after numbers, it was shownthat the number of BitTorrent downloads of books grew by an average of 78 percent after the release of the iPad.

The idea of e-book pirating is a relatively small problem at this point due to the difficulty of scanning books for redistribution and the small amount of people with the knowledge and interest to do it. This could be changing though with the introduction of apps like iBooks and Stanza more copies of e-books could be available much sooner with easier formats for pirates to move. Most of these files are text files which are tiny and can be downloaded quickly as opposed to larger music and movie files.

Most of the gripes when it comes to e-books are from those who want them released the same day as their paper equivalents more cheaply and without DRM. Apps like iBooks are hopefully pushing to make this happen. With this, the iPad could become the device that readers crave as well as mobile tech geeks.