Personal Digitization of Books Catching on Across Japan

Home-brew digital editions scanned from print editions. Hmmm. The Mainichi Daily News: "Personal digitization of books is catching on in Japan as people look to move their book collections to portable devices. Referred to in Japan's Internet community as 'jisui,' (literally 'cooking one's own meals'), the process involves feeding pages of a book through a scanner one by one to turn a work into digital form. ..." Copyright issues, certainly. Unauthorized copying/duplication of text. Serious problem for traditional print publishers still emphasizing that medium; not so for those focusing on e-publishing and making books readily available in that format. From the consumer's point of view: why do a crummy scan of a high-priced paper book when a cheaper, clean e-edition is available. Will be interesting to watch what happens with backlists along this line.