Respecting licenses is all well and good, but I was never completely clear on why the full text of the book was not published on the web to begin with, since it

Respecting licenses is all well and good, but I was never completely clear on why the full text of the book was not published on the web to begin with, since it seems clear that the bulk of the authors' revenue is probably coming from YC, and anyway the publisher frequently keeps most of the revenue from book sales.