DRM and eBook Formats

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by 6charlong

Thank you Xenophon, for your clear and reasoned explanation of this core issue. It seems to me that this issue of DRM-and-copyrights is what is confounding wider adoption of eBook publishing.

This sentence got my mind wandering (not too difficult today btw)...

Music files were there long before any DRM schema was introduced. Those "protected" music files are a fairly recent invention. Music files are now highly popular, every knows them, and I'd say most people that have access to them (aka, have internet) have a portable player to play them.

Then book files... First, we had the PG library, all in plain text. But those are only old (or boring) books, and no bestsellers. So, only a few people know about these books and actually use/read them.

Then the bestsellers start popping up, but they generally are under some sort of DRM scheme. So people need to get used to a new medium (ebooks) but they can only use certain readers to read certain books. No wonder most people don't even think about ebooks as a next generation of reading books... (as they do think about music files as a next generation of listening to music).

[GeoffC]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

......

Then book files... First, we had the PG library, all in plain text. But those are only old (or boring) books, and no bestsellers. So, only a few people know about these books and actually use/read them.

coughs, splutters, spits .... coffee on keyboard, down trouser leg ......

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by GeoffC

coughs, splutters, spits .... coffee on keyboard, down trouser leg ......

You don't find the CIA Factbook boring to read? I never got past the first page... Not really interresting fiction, I'd say..

[vivaldirules]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

You don't find the CIA Factbook boring to read? I never got past the first page... Not really interresting fiction, I'd say..

Dickens? Proust? Twain? Shakespeare? Plato? Christie? Hugo? Joyce? Hesse? Verne? Bronte? Whitman? About a guzillion other authors??

[AlexBell]

Originally Posted by 6charlong

After reading the Wiki I learned that it's illegal to strip DRM from eBooks where I live

Sez who? I've never seen any definitive statement from either statute law or case law in any country, nor any cases where anyone has been prosecuted. If anyone is aware of any definitive statements or prosecuted cases please post them with references.

So far as I am concerned any agreements or contracts have been made somewhere within the author/agent/publisher/vendor complex. No discussion or agreement was ever made with me. My opinion was not sought as to what I can do with something I have paid for and is my property, nor have I ever been asked to sign anything. So I am not party to these restrictions.

There are of course copyright laws and laws regarding theft. But since I have no intention of passing off anybody else's written material as my own work and have no intention of selling or giving away any books which were originally DRM'd these laws do not apply to me. In my opinion, for what it is worth any ebook which I have paid for is my property, and apart from the copyright and theft laws no one can tell me what I can or cannot do with it.

Regards, Alex

[AlexBell]

PS I'd fired off my response before I saw Xenophon's posts. He says it much better than me, and in a more measured tone.

Regards, Alex

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by vivaldirules

Dickens? Proust? Twain? Shakespeare? Plato? Christie? Hugo? Joyce? Hesse? Verne? Bronte? Whitman? About a guzillion other authors??

*sighs*


I meant you can only find older books (out of print) there OR boring books. Please point out where I said older books are boring books?

[GeoffC]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

*sighs*


I meant you can only find older books (out of print) there OR boring books. Please point out where I said older books are boring books?

Sorry for the misunderstanding, it was the use of the parathentesis that seemed to hint that old meant boring .....

old (or boring) books .....
has a slightly different meaning (to me) than old or boring books .....

[vivaldirules]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

*sighs*


I meant you can only find older books (out of print) there OR boring books. Please point out where I said older books are boring books?

my apologies

[Sweetpea]

So, what were we talking about anyway? The weather?


No need for apologies!

[GeoffC]

DRM ... ebook formats ?

[slayda]

Old is boring. I know because I'm old.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by slayda

Old is boring. I know because I'm old.

Generally, I'd disagree with you... But, you know exceptions are there to confirm the rule...

[6charlong]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

This sentence got my mind wandering (not too difficult today btw)...

Music files were there long before any DRM schema was introduced. Those "protected" music files are a fairly recent invention. Music files are now highly popular, every knows them, and I'd say most people that have access to them (aka, have internet) have a portable player to play them.

Then book files... First, we had the PG library, all in plain text. But those are only old (or boring) books, and no bestsellers. So, only a few people know about these books and actually use/read them.

Then the bestsellers start popping up, but they generally are under some sort of DRM scheme. So people need to get used to a new medium (ebooks) but they can only use certain readers to read certain books. No wonder most people don't even think about ebooks as a next generation of reading books... (as they do think about music files as a next generation of listening to music).

Going back to the original subject of this thread, I think Sweetpea is onto something. It was MP3 files that made music readily go digital. MP3 was so ubiquitous that even the iPod had to implement it. We now have a similar eBook encoding tool in ePub but so far only Sony has implemented it on their hardware. Maybe my only option is to wait and hope that either: 1. BeBook drops Mobipocket in favor of a different eBook rendering program, and 2. BeBook or some other company offers a small, inexpensive reader with good ePub support.

Frankly I'm appalled at the way DRM is being used on books. Amazon seems only to pretend to use it to protect copyrights while in fact, they are using DRM to prevent people from buying books from another bookseller. As Xenophon pointed out, there is so much confusion about what the copyright laws say that companies can get away with this sort of thing.

My search for a good, cheap 5-inch eInk reader led me to the BeBook Mini, and that led me to question the future of Mobipocket books in light of Amazon's change to a style of DRM that only works on the Kindle. Amazon's behavior is the most egregious example of how a bookseller can combine DRM and formatting for a purpose completely unrelated to copyrights. In the end, Amazon's new DRM-and-Mobi-format scheme has convinced me it is unsafe to get a reader that depends on Mobi.