Quote:
Originally Posted by avid01
Consider this:
-1st there were DRM music
- Now music is DRM free
- Ebooks are still DRM
- Until when?
I haven't dug myself into the background of all this and how the industry works but in your best knowledge how long we will have to use DRM ebooks?
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I think it will last as long as the publishers can hang on to DRM.
Look. The people on this forum are all book buyers with a different perspective than the publishers. From the publishers point of view, book piracy is rampant. Walk into a used bookstore anywhere in the world and you see shelf after shelf of pirated books. It's the same thing with Public Libraries: they rebind the books to make them last longer and then they loan the same books over and over without making another payment.
Yes, the publishers sued over those issues a long time ago and lost in court. Naturally they want that revenue as much now as ever, and DRM presents their main chance in many decades to side-step the courts: a new technology so new rules--or at least, the old rules don't apply anymore. DRM with Overdrive, etc., has the public libraries locked down to "pay per read" but not the rest of us. The publishers can argue that books without DRM
could be listed on the internet and shared to millions of non-paying pirates.
Okay, that hasn't happened but no one can prove it
could never happen.
Therefore, I think it's logical to believe that DRM will remain on eBooks as long as the publishers can keep it there. I don't think they will sue anyone for breaking it unless they can prove that individual bought an eBook, stripped it, and then distributed it on the internet. If they sue someone who merely strips DRM to protect their investment the publishers risk losing the suit and the power to keep on using DRM.