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While backing up the various eBooks I have bought, I noticed that about half have DRM and half do not.
Of the various TG books, almost all of them have DRM enabled, but many of the "standard" fiction books don't.
What is your thought concerning DRM?
I hate it
It makes moving my fiction from device to device difficult if not impossible. It also adds to the argument that you don't actually own what you've bought. I paid money for your book, I own the copy!
Add to that the fact that DRM is virus
In most cases. So if the publisher discontinues support and updates for their DRM (like Adobe with digital editions to name one) and you continue to use content - you are opening your computer to the more malicious viruses. Especially in view that in most cases publisher can delete DRM content from your device, anyone can access anything on your device using that DRM backdoor.
I look at DRM the same way as
I look at DRM the same way as people like Eric Flint. If someone's getting a 'free' copy of your book, the most likely explanation is that they can't afford it.
DRM is like an author or publisher refusing to give books to the library, because it's theft. That, and/or stopping by used bookstores and demanding that they destroy the copies of their work, because anyone buying them isn't paying him.
BW
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
DRM - Digital Restrictions are Manifest
I know that is not the real meaning of DRM but I hate it.
If you have a DVD player you are already experiencing DRM everytime you put a commercial DVD in the driver. If I see a DVD for sale in the USA and buy it, it simply won't play in Europe unless you have hacked the Player and made it multi-region compatible. This is all a way of the Rights Holders (a.k.a. the Film Companies) to control what can be viewed and where.
DRM with E-Pubs is much the same. It allows the Publisher t ocontrol who can read the output of the Author in a way that was simply not possible with 'Dead-Tree' publications. Publishers love it. They can literally enforce censorship on the works under their control.
Google is your friend when you are thinking about removing it on the works you have bought. Remember this though, you have simple bought a license for the works unlike with a physical publication, you have the physical copy and it is almost unheard of for that copy to be removed (unless you happen to be caught in a Farenheit 451 incident)
Samantha
DRM...
My opinion on DRM is that the only thing it does, unless it is a "only usable while connected to online service" type of DRM, is inconvenience your users. It doesn't stop piracy. It merely puts hinders in the way of legitimate uses, such as making it hard for users to change their devices because it's a Kindle specific, or Apple specific, or Adobe specific DRM... Any DRM that makes it hard to open, transfer, display their purchases between devices they own is all out bad.
None on the books I put up
DRM is just a nuisance for legit users and a joke for actual theives. And who's going to steal a book? Seriously, I have run book stores for more than 40 years and the number of books that have been stolen in that time would fill just one medium size packing box. I've lost more books to floods and termites!
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Stolen books
In Malaysia, the highest form of shoplifting is book shoplifting. In most cases, only two types of people will do this. Children, who will steal comics, small notebooks, stationery items, children's novels. And adults, who for some reason are mostly religious fanatics who steal religious books. I can understand children, because they probably want it, but don't have money to buy it. But religious adults, what's your excuse? God said do not steal. Arguably, the prophet Muhammad once said to one of the earliest converts, you can steal, but you can't lie. We caught them many times, yet, not only did they claimed they didn't steal it, they lied about it too. A few even said that the holy book shouldn't be sold, it should be given for free, and we were like, "What the hell?"
It's like bible thumpers who preach about following the ways of Jesus yet condemning and cursing everyone who wouldn't follow them.
No! No! No!
To quote from the Smashwords Style Guide, by Mark Coker:
"All Smashwords books are sold DRM-free, without copy protection or encryption. This means you’re trusting your customers not to pirate your books. In our experience, the vast majority of customers are honest. Yet without proper education and reminders, a well-intentioned customer might feel inclined to share your book with someone else.
To minimize this accidental piracy, we encourage Smashwords authors and publishers to add the Smashwords License Statement to their book. Feel free to modify the Smashwords License Statement to suit your preferences. Or, for authors and publishers who prefer a Creative Commons license, that’s acceptable too.
The Smashwords License Statement is an original creation of Smashwords, and it has been widely adopted by thousands of ebook authors and even some competitors. The Smashwords License Statement acts as a friendly Trojan horse. Even if your book is accidentally copied or shared, the recipient of the book is gently reminded of their legal and ethical obligation to compensate you for it."
Basically, it's like putting a lock on your front door. It'll keep the honest people out, but then the honest people wouldn't be going in without an invitation anyway, but the criminal element will find a way around it. All DRM does is to keep people from lifting a copy of the book from someones computer and reading it without the owner's knowledge. If the owner want's to pirate a copy to some other person, they can still do so by simply supplying the DRM password.
Hugs
Patricia
Happiness is being all dressed up and HAVING some place to go.
Semper in femineo gerunt
Ich bin eine Mann
Warning: I am probably
Warning: I am probably ranting a little about my opinion on DRM. Jist of it is sometimes it is good sometimes it is bad for the end user and sometimes just ANNOYING
I am of two minds re: DRM. In some cases it is good for smaller publishers and stuff but someone will always find a way around it. For the common user, adding DRM makes them have to jump through hoops a pirated copy does not. On books the TG ones are likely to not sell well outside the niche and that is the reason-to bring in as much money as possible. It is the same reason people who watch blue ray disks have to spend $99 a year for one program to watch it(PC) or buy another player for however much it is ever couple years. For some things it can be explained (ie authentication to play online and anti-cheat protection) for others it is a hassle (really-I can only use iTunes to play this show I paid for when the same format plays fine in all players and can download only SD in Vista despite meeting the HDCP requirement? And music plays in any player/device that is compatible?) Given the choice I will always try to buy DRM free if I can or strip the DRM out however I can if it is media like a tv episode or movie or a disk so I avoid that payment I mentioned earlier
I don't like DRM for nonstandard reasons,
or at least not the most commonly given ones.
I have e-books I purchased that, I need/needed to buy again because the reader for them became obsolete and/or the shop no longer exists.
I like to change the file name to a standardized format and to give me additional info.
That is beside all the more common reasons, like wanting to be able to back it up and load it to any of my devices, regardless of formats.
.
PS. There are books here on BC that I have purchased after reading here.
DRM MUST DIE!
Horribly!
1. DRM had not a single one occurrence of preventing "illegal" copying.
2. If DRM prevented your work from being copied - it's a sure indicator that nobody liked your work at all.
3. I have not yet met anyone who bought DRM protected content who had not lost some of that content due to DRM. (Myself included. Lost couple of hundred dollars worth of content with combination of Adobe discontinuing digital editions and having to replace my tablet)
4. I will never again pay for DRM content. NEVER. Even if DRM content is free, I will try to avoid it.
5. Also most DRM systems are consistent with definition of computer virus. And those are illegal if you are not government agency.
Coming late to this, but...
The tl;dr version is - DRM for ebooks is mostly pointless and irritating.
I'm pretty sure I discovered this DRM removal tool for e-books from a forum posting here a long time ago.
http://apprenticealf.wordpress.com/
I use it all the time to rip the DRM from my Amazon Kindle purchases, not because I want to pirate books, but because I don't trust Amazon (or the publishers of the books) not to revoke permission on them some time in the future (as they did with 1984). I have removed the DRM from all my kindle titles and backed them up for safekeeping.
I recommend it.
not as think as i smart i am