When most people hear “pirates,” they probably picture something along the lines of eye patches, 18th-century ships and Captain Jack Sparrow. The heart-pounding new thriller “Captain Phillips” is a sobering reminder that piracy is still alive and well (and often necessary for survival) in some of the world’s most impoverished regions.

When Napster came around, the playing field for music changed forever. Movies soon followed, and the piracy buzz spread to movies, games…within a short period of time, virtually all media could be pirated for fun and profit. Oddly enough, however, books were completely passed over. As if too old and decrepit to be worthy of piracy, books lost to newer media in terms of piracy, and especially in terms of notoriety. Until now.