Free e-Books = More Sales

I just read a synopsis for an intriguing book by Cory Doctorow called "Little Brother" with an even more fascinating opinion piece dissecting why offering a book for free online will help with physical book sales. Read the piece here: http://craphound.com/littlebrother/about/#comment-10831 . Below is my posted reply.

"Fascinating rationale with many valid points. One thing I would note though is that I presume your intent is not to encourage people to copy and pass the work off as their own. It is not mentioned, but probably should be as some people out of ignorance do not understand that despite having the ability to copy and then sell something does not make it appropriate or legal. Some recent examples I have seen were centered on art being taken from a website and then uploaded to one of those sites that sell t-shirts, coffee mugs, posters, etc. created from your uploads. This was done for profit and was thankfully caught by an observant fan of the artist's. The individual subsequently pulled it down.

In my travels to hopefully becoming a published author and trying to increase my visual art presence I certainly don't want to have to deal with something so low and underhanded as this.

Granted that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I would still not be flattered if someone outright stole my work. If they were a fan and loved it so much they made their own work after being inspired by mine that is entirely different and absolutely acceptable.

I certainly found this article intriguing and will ponder it for my own journey."

What are your thoughts on the piece? Too risky or is this the future?