> You are not being prevented from accessing another copy of the book to get that knowledge.

Except in the (potentually rare) situation that a book is rare, which brings us back into full circle in the discussion.

So, ragebait article or not, we have identified an issue if reasonable importance.

E.g. if there was an official statement that non-destructive scanning were to be used in titles with less than X copies in circulation,I would feel more comfortable.