Let me profess my partial innocence before I profess my guilt. My car came with a Bentley as I bought Charlie from an enthusiast. I rationalized that because I wasn't robbing the author of a sale when I down loaded a pdf copy, because I wouldn't be buying one anyway.

I have been complicit in trying to help others get one, like last summer I tried to email a copy to that poor woman in the carribean with the overheating problems and no bmw mechanics because she had so few resources. The fact that it didn't go through doesn't change the fact that I tried to rob the author. I have been complicit in the current Bentley binge in ways I don't care to admit.

How many e34s are there on the road? They die every day. How many potential buyers are there for Bentley manuals? The number of potential customers is constantly shrinking due to the diminishing number of e34s and due to all of us who get them free. I had a stats professor in grad school who wrote his own textbook. He concluded at the end that he made minimum wage for his efforts because it took sooooo much time and he sold so few copies because the publisher wouldn't go for a second edition. Minimum wage is probably what this guy is going to get because we are all ripping him off.

I know that free downloads are part of the culture with music and movies, but I don't do it there cause I know if artists don't make money they won't make music or movies. Is the Bentley going to go out of print cause it isn't making any money?

I am wishing there was some way to make it right to this guy. Think we can have a bake sale and raise $40-50 for each copy we have pirated? Anyone have a serious idea about something that could be done to make it right?

I am not trying to make anyone feel bad. I am not pointing any fingers. I hope I am not alienating my friends on this board. I just think it is time that this point of view was expressed. I just kept waiting for someone else to do it. Any those of you who know how I participated in this current round can silently condem me for being a hypocrite and a flip-flopper. I deserve it.