From the mailbag: "Is it safe to download free ebooks?"

Yes – but only if you stick to reputable websites or an ereader store accessed on your device itself.

That is, there are three legit ways to download free electronic books:

* Many free ebooks are classics from the public domain such as Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Dracula by Bram Stoker, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle or Shakespeare's timeless works. There are more than a million ebooks to download between sites like Gutenberg.ca or Archive.org.

Related: How to get free ebooks from your local library

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* Some newer works are free, too, either by independent authors looking for distribution and publicity as well as known authors who agree to offer some of their older works temporarily free to help promote newer books (such as snagging a 5 year-old James Patterson novel on the Kobo digital store).

* You can also borrow books, digitally, from your local library. As written about for Moneyville here, all ebook readers but Kindle support this handy feature. You do need a library card, access to your city's library website and the free Adobe Digital Editions software for your PC or Mac. Just like paper books you need to reserve what you want in advance but on the day they're due you don't have to drive back to the library!

Related: This ereader now support 500,000 apps

But there are also a number of websites that offer "free" versions of paid ebooks. In many cases, they're "pirated" versions of current New York Times bestsellers, such as E.L. James' Fifty Shades trilogy, Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl or No Easy Day by Mark Owen with Kevin Maurer. Piracy refers to the unauthorized duplication and/or distribution of copyrighted material.

And there is often a price to this "free" content, often found on BitTorrent sites. Many of these .pdf, .epub or .zip files contain malware (malicious software) that could give your computer a virus, install spyware (which monitors your web surfing habits) or place adware on your system such as changing your web browser's home page, adding a toolbar you didn't want and causing pop-up advertisements. Overall, malware can also significantly slow down the performance of your machine.

Related: What to look for in an ereader

Rule of thumb: if it sounds too good to be true, it is. Stick with reputable sites or your ebook reader's official store, be it Kobo, Kindle, iBookstore or Google Books.

And of course, be sure to run good antimalware software and keep it updated to catch suspicious files that can harm your computer and your wallet.
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