A few weeks ago, I signed up on WOWIO, a site that legally offers copyrighted eBooks for free (currently to U.S. residents only). The library includes works from a variety of categories, including classic literature, comics and graphic novels, magazines and journals, scientific and reference materials, etc and is constantly growing.

The eBooks are simply PDF files that can be opened and read using Adobe Reader on all supported platforms. WOWIO’s stance on DRM is also great:

Since anyone can defeat the most “sophisticated” DRM with the print screen button, we believe that technology-based DRM is essentially a fraud. Our approach takes the market incentive out of misbehaving, rewards people for doing the right thing, and tries to stay out of the way of honest users. To help keep everyone honest, however, readers must authenticate their identity and agree to a licensing agreement when they set up their account. Then, each ebook is serialized with the reader’s authenticated name and a unique serial number, as well as other less visible markers. WOWIO will immediately terminate the account of anyone caught illegally distributing ebooks, and will prosecute serious offenders.

In order to help spread the word about the service, the company is offering free iPod shuffles to users who refer 10 friends to the site. I got some folks to sign up, and received a shiny new orange shuffle in the mail the other day. So check out the site and tell your friends about it. :)