Why would fear of piracy prevent this? I don't see why a free ebook (included as part of a physical purchase) should/would be any less secure than a normal purchased ebook?
A normal purchased ebook can only be used on the account it's purchased with. A DRM free one could be emailed to all your mates, uploaded, torrented, etc
Whether that would really have a material impact on sales is of course another matter.
Sure, i understand how DRM works and my assumption was that the free ebook would still be to the purchasers account and protected in line with industry standards etc...
Why would fear of piracy prevent this? I don't see why a free ebook (included as part of a physical purchase) should/would be any less secure than a normal purchased ebook?