BoingBoing highlights an open invitation from Neil Gaiman on the question of ripping audiobook MP3s, after a fan wondered if it was okay to check out the CD version of his former #1 bestseller, Anansi Boys, from her local library, then store a copy on her iPod:

"There's a weird sort of ethical fogginess, in that I suspect that part of the idea of libraries is that when you're done with something you return it, and of course once you have your MP3 on your computer and iPod you can keep it forever. But I think this is just one of those places where changes in technology move faster than the rules.

If you're listening to it, and you've got an iPod or suchlike MP3 player, you're almost definitely going to listen to it on your iPod. That's how things are, and it's a good thing..."

Lest digital copyright cops fret that Gaiman's advocating wholesale fileswapping, though, he helpfully adds, "Probably wisest not to pull it off your iPod and give it to other people, though. Let them at least take it out of the library themselves."