[ineedasername]

In the case of text books, if you can't afford it then pirating it can actually be a net-benefit to society. You weren't going to contribute to the economy through purchasing it, but by learning from a pirated copy you increase your knowledge & potential value to society.

[lofi_lory]

I was actually about to write the net benefit bit, but decided against for avoiding some knee jerk reaction of the HN crowd, drowning the argument XD