Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
I think personally that, in permitting anyone to "bolt on" their own DRM method to an ePub file (and still call the result "ePub") the standards committee made a disastrous error.
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But what's the alternative? I can think of three, but two of those are worse and one -- perhaps the one you're thinking of? -- is impossible.
The two worse ones:
- No discussion of DRM in the standards. Various vendors implement various encryption and obfuscation schemes in different ways, making generic EPUB handling more difficult than it already is.
- A standard full DRM scheme controlled the IDPF. This standard is not open, and use requires licensing and accreditation by an independent organization set up to control and manage the scheme, as per the DVD Copy Control Association's management of CSS (Content Scramble System). This organization has complete control over who is and is not allowed allowed to use scheme.
The impossible option:
- A fully-specified open DRM scheme. The impossibility is that "open DRM" is an oxymoron. Either parts of the system are still closed and vendor-specific, or anyone is free to use the specification to implement a DRM-removal tool.
DRM is the problem in itself, not the specification of DRM in EPUB.