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The piracy debate also overlaps with that on ebook pricing.As The Economist pointed out in an analysis of ebooks andthe book business titled “Great Digital Expectations,” “piracyis a particular threat because of a second, biggerproblem: the apparently arbitrary nature of e-book pricing”,(The Economist, 10 September 2011).Piracy and ebooks is a complex challenge for the industry’sorganizations, as is crafting the overall story they want totell the reading audience as well as politicians and regulators.So far, in many parts of continental Europe, at least, thepredominant mood is one of angst. “Publishers and retailerstremble from the pirates,” read the headline of an articleabout extraordinary growth of ereader and ebook sales forChristmas 2011 in Germany —and this wasn’t in a tabloid,but in the country’s leading business daily, (Handelsblatt,27 December 2011). What may have been conceived as ameans of self-defense in an industry undergoing changecan result in a severe image problem, as pointed out byRené Strien, a German publisher and president of the associationof German trade publishers (buchreport, 19 January2012). Strien warned of publishers publicly beingblamed as a mere “content exploitation Mafia” at a crucialmoment when the very basics of European and internationalcopyright were coming under review by politiciansand clashing lobbying groups, with growing controversybetween rights holders and consumers.Thus, piracy - together with pricing, copy protection (DRM)and regulation - may be one of the strongest forces shapingthe European ebook markets in their next phase ofdevelopment.The Global eBook Report 126