J.K. Rowling

the boy wizard novels from being published online in e-book form.

The multi-millionairess' unpopular decision was sparked by the problems

caused by pirate versions of the Potter releases, which appeared on the

internet without her permission last month.

Neil Blair, a lawyer with Rowling's literary agency, explains, "This has not

been an area that we have sought to license. We monitor the internet and take

appropriate action."

But experts are convinced the magical Potter saga would be a smash hit in

digital format.

Nicholas Bogaty, director of the Open Ebook Forum, says, "I'm sure it would

be a very big book very quickly and would probably serve as a terrific

marketing vehicle to get people to buy the print book."

Barbara Marcus, president of the children's books division of Rowling's U.S.

publisher, Scholastic Inc., counters, "I don't think that there is a cool enough

or interesting enough hardware to get the kids engaged.

"One of the fantasies I had was of kids walking around, without backpacks, and

somebody would say, 'You have to read Of Mice And Men and The Red Badge of

Courage. Here are the e-books.' That fantasy hasn't happened."

Rowling's latest Harry Potter adventure, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood

Prince, is released on July 16.

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