Quote:
Originally Posted by spindlegirl
There are many people for whom DRM removal is not easy or trivial, even after reading that famous blog.
The point is, people shouldn't have to whisper in hushed tones, to do a Google Search for Apprentice Alf, after they have bought a book, to be able to keep said bought book for themselves.
That is why DRM is evil to me. That is why I will borrow a DRM laden book from the library, and then buy the physical copy for unlimited freedom and actual, honest to goodness ownership.
I consider DRM laden books to be nothing but "previews" of real books as it stands at this point.
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Yet most e/book customers disagree with you. Ever wonder why that is?
One of the interesting things about the anti DRM crusade is that there is an abundance of DRM free product available on the Internet. Indeed , it is available even in the biggest online stores, side by side with the "DRM infested" , agency priced, Big Six product. So why did the Big Six publishers have a great year selling ebooks last year? Why aren't paying customers flocking to Smashwords, where its all DRM free, all the time, and at low, low prices too? Why are the anti DRMIsts haranguing the Big Six publishers to give up DRM, instead of just blithely ignoring their offerings? IN a word; value.
Publishers-and the authors that they discover, develop, and distribute-create products that have value to the book buying public. They charge a pretty penny for those products and the public pays it, because they know a Steven King , John Scalzi, or James Patterson will deliver great entertainment value, whereas the average Smashwords author will not.
Now the authors who create such value deserve having their creations protected, which is where copyright and copyright protection tools like DRM comes in.
If their IP is not protected, well those authors will go somewhere else, where the value that they create will be protected.
Oh, and that library borrowing? You can't borrow a book from the library if the author doesn't write the book, because he can't make a living writing.