When I was little, I was told that you should never, ever buy a stripped book. Then I started noticing the standard warning that appears on the copyright pages of most mass market paperbacks. I got the impression that stripped books were some kind of dangerous contraband, and there was a shady stripped book black market with guys in dark alleys hiding their wares inside their coats. I thought you'd get in huge trouble if you were even caught reading a stripped book -- that the feds would come after you or something.