Ditching DRM on all e-books. Could Apple do it again?

[Alexander Turcic]

For some, DRM stands for Down-Right Maddening. Nobody likes the painful and annoying restrictions it imposes on us, and the very fact that there's an increasing number of e-book stores selling their content DRM-free can be seen as proof that the publishing industry doesn't depend on it either. So why do we still have to deal with DRM for a majority of e-books, whereas most downloadable music has gone DRM-free?

Or, could Apple step in and pressure the publishing industry to go completely DRM-free, the same way they did when renegotiating deals with the big music labels? Kirk McElhearn of Macworld thinks there is a chance, also for Apple:

I can listen to my digital music files on just about any device; I want to do the same thing with my books. [...] Apple could take the lead, as the company did with DRM-free music, and help change another market that needs it. This could be good for Apple itself, too, given the perception of the company in the wake of the ebook price-fixing ruling.

[image source: Flickr, related: Apple eBook price fixing case going to court]

[Crash500]

I would think it would be more likely that Amazon would push for DRM free first. They have readers on multiple devices where Apple would prefer to lock everybody into their platform. Plus...Amazon was actually the first company to take the lead in releasing DRM-free music. (Well I believe eMusic was one of the first but Amazon actually was getting the big name music companies.)

[DrNefario]

I don't see either of them pushing for DRM-free ebooks.

Amazon sell Kindles in order to sell ebooks. Apple sell ebooks in order to sell iPads. Neither goal is served by ditching DRM. It's the publishers who need to wake up and stop handing the power to Amazon and Apple.

[bhartman36]

How is it that Apple gets the credit for non-DRM'd music? They weren't the first to do it, and in terms of locking in consumers, you can't even access their stores from outside of their software, and their music files aren't even MP3s.

I would bet my entire life savings that Apple won't be out of the gate anytime soon with DRM-free e-books. Apple makes money on hardware. If I can put e-books I get from them on any device, they lose out on iPad Mini sales, at least.

Amazon makes money on e-books. The more devices those e-books are compatible with, the better it is for them. The challenge will be getting publishers to go along.

Originally Posted by bhartman36

How is it that Apple gets the credit for non-DRM'd music?

I tend to agree that the credit is not deserved, but Apple is the media darling and they had (or at least seemed to have) the dominant market position at the time. I suspect that their decision was as much to avoid losing part of their market to non-DRMed music providers and streaming services than anything else.

[Meemo]

I don't know about Apple, but you can buy DRM-free books from Amazon right now. It's the publisher that determines whether an eBook purchased from Amazon has DRM or not.

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by bhartman36

How is it that Apple gets the credit for non-DRM'd music? They weren't the first to do it, and in terms of locking in consumers, you can't even access their stores from outside of their software, and their music files aren't even MP3s.

Mostly because Apple pushed for non-DRM'd music for years before they were allowed to actually offer it...and once they were allowed to offer it, it pretty much killed DRM'd music.

And it's a mistake to conflate the "walled garden" approach Apple take to Apps with their very open approach to music. iPods (and now iPhones etc.) can play mp3s or .aac files, and you can put on any music file on your device, whether bought from iTunes, ripped from a CD, or bought from some other service. (.aac, the format Apple uses for iTunes, is an open standard designed as a successor to mp3s; it's used by several other companies and can be used by anyone).

I would bet my entire life savings that Apple won't be out of the gate anytime soon with DRM-free e-books. Apple makes money on hardware. If I can put e-books I get from them on any device, they lose out on iPad Mini sales, at least.

I'm not very convinced by this, as I don't really think that iBook lock in is much of a sales driver for iPad minis; while the ability to put any books from anywhere might drive hardware sales, as it makes the hardware more useful.

Amazon makes money on e-books. The more devices those e-books are compatible with, the better it is for them. The challenge will be getting publishers to go along.

Yes, but they also have a significant Kindle lock-in; if all books can be read on any device, people might be more likely to not buy from Amazon as much. It's speculative either way.

Originally Posted by BWinmill

I tend to agree that the credit is not deserved, but Apple is the media darling and they had (or at least seemed to have) the dominant market position at the time. I suspect that their decision was as much to avoid losing part of their market to non-DRMed music providers and streaming services than anything else.

Apple had 80% of the mp3 player market and had been wanting to sell DRM-free music almost from the beginning - while DRM'd music made the iTunes store possible, it also significantly hampered its growth, as most people tended to rip CDs and put those on their iPods because they were DRM free (plus you had an instant backup).

But in general I think the article is wrong. Apple was by far the most dominant presence in the mp3 world, having 80% of the market. But in the e-book world, they are a dwarf; even people who read on iPads have tended to use the Kindle app and buy from Amazon. So it's not clear that having DRM free iBooks would do anything to the market as a whole.

But of course I don't believe that the booksellers or device makers *want* DRM. Amazon has *zero* problem selling DRM free books, whether self-pubbed, public domain, or from a publisher that has gone DRM free. There's no evidence that they resisted this *at all*. And I doubt that Apple would, either. But the DRM ball is in the publisher's court.

[bhartman36]

Originally Posted by Andrew H.

Mostly because Apple pushed for non-DRM'd music for years before they were allowed to actually offer it...and once they were allowed to offer it, it pretty much killed DRM'd music.

But there were other outfits using DRM-free MP3s for years before iTunes. And Amazon was the first to sell DRM-free music from all major labels. At the time they did this, Apple was still selling DRM'd music.

Originally Posted by Andrew H.

And it's a mistake to conflate the "walled garden" approach Apple take to Apps with their very open approach to music. iPods (and now iPhones etc.) can play mp3s or .aac files, and you can put on any music file on your device, whether bought from iTunes, ripped from a CD, or bought from some other service. (.aac, the format Apple uses for iTunes, is an open standard designed as a successor to mp3s; it's used by several other companies and can be used by anyone).

But AAC isn't the standard (as in mainstream, not technical standard) that MP3 is. You can't necessarily take your AAC files and use them on another device as easily. And being tied to software puts limitations on functionality if you're using a non-iDevice. Back a few years ago, when Palm still existed, there was a major kerfluffle because Palm engineered the Palm Pre to be able to sync to iTunes, and Apple cried foul.

Originally Posted by Andrew H.

I'm not very convinced by this, as I don't really think that iBook lock in is much of a sales driver for iPad minis; while the ability to put any books from anywhere might drive hardware sales, as it makes the hardware more useful.

If I can put a book I bought from iTunes on any device, why in the world would I want to pay iPad mini or iPad prices to read an e-book? I don't think e-books are a major draw for the 9" iPad (although I do know people who read on one), but the iPad mini is a different story. The iPad mini is more closely designed to compete with e-readers such as the Kindle, Kindle Fire, and Nook. In fact, the major draw of the iPad mini is the reading form factor, as far as I can tell. For almost anything else, you're better off with a full-sized iPad, since the price difference isn't gigantic.

Originally Posted by Andrew H.

Yes, but they also have a significant Kindle lock-in; if all books can be read on any device, people might be more likely to not buy from Amazon as much. It's speculative either way.

The difference is that Amazon has software for almost every platform: PC, Mac, iOS, Android, Windows 8, etc. Amazon literally doesn't care what hardware you read on, as long as you're reading an Amazon book.

Originally Posted by Andrew H.

But in general I think the article is wrong. Apple was by far the most dominant presence in the mp3 world, having 80% of the market. But in the e-book world, they are a dwarf; even people who read on iPads have tended to use the Kindle app and buy from Amazon. So it's not clear that having DRM free iBooks would do anything to the market as a whole.

I think DRM-free e-books would have the biggest impact on Amazon's hardware division. If non-Kindle users could buy any e-book from Amazon, I think the e-Ink reader market would become a lot more diverse than it currently is. That would be an interesting thing to see.

Originally Posted by Andrew H.

But of course I don't believe that the booksellers or device makers *want* DRM. Amazon has *zero* problem selling DRM free books, whether self-pubbed, public domain, or from a publisher that has gone DRM free. There's no evidence that they resisted this *at all*. And I doubt that Apple would, either. But the DRM ball is in the publisher's court.

Agreed. I think the publishers are crapping themselves in fear at the thought. When you look at what's happened to the music industry since DRM-free music, it's enough to give one pause. Of course, there's a major difference between the two: The music industry has singles. Books don't (generally) work that way, so you don't have an analogous situation to the music industry, where a consumer can buy one song and leave the album on the virtual shelf. (It should be noted, though, that that's not an impossible model for the publishers to adapt, in some cases. I sell individual stories out of my anthology, and major publishers could decide to break up their anthologies that way, if they thought it would make them money.)

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by bhartman36

Amazon makes money on e-books. The more devices those e-books are compatible with, the better it is for them. The challenge will be getting publishers to go along.

If that were true, then Amazon would be selling EPUB, which is compatible to much more e-readers than MOBI/AZW nowadays.

Yes, Amazon makes money selling e-books, but they want you to read them on Kindle only, or in one of their apps, not on someone else's reader, and not in someone else's app. The reason probably is that the Kindle uploads information to Amazon, while other readers and apps would upload information to their manufacturer. (It's also the reason why my e-reader is permanently disconnected from Wifi.)

Originally Posted by bhartman36

Of course, there's a major difference between the two: The music industry has singles. Books don't (generally) work that way, so you don't have an analogous situation to the music industry, where a consumer can buy one song and leave the album on the virtual shelf. (It should be noted, though, that that's not an impossible model for the publishers to adapt, in some cases. I sell individual stories out of my anthology, and major publishers could decide to break up their anthologies that way, if they thought it would make them money.)

It would be great if I could buy only the GOOD chapters in each book

It's more often the case that I hate a chapter in a book, than me hating enough of a music album to want only one or two songs.

[Kirtai]

It's most likely that it'll be the publishers who drop DRM in order to break the monopsony Amazon is building. Charles Stross had a couple of things to say about that on his blog that caught the eye of the high ups at Macmillian.

[jgaiser]

Originally Posted by bhartman36

But there were other outfits using DRM-free MP3s for years before iTunes. And Amazon was the first to sell DRM-free music from all major labels. At the time they did this, Apple was still selling DRM'd music.

Indeed.. I was buying DRMless mp3's from Amazon for a long time before Apple stopped selling their DRM encumbered m4p files.

[bhartman36]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

If that were true, then Amazon would be selling EPUB, which is compatible to much more e-readers than MOBI/AZW nowadays.

Is there a smartphone, tablet, or desktop that Kindle software doesn't run on? Hell, they even have a Web reader. They can safely ignore other e-ink formats, because they've got software for almost any device imaginable.

Originally Posted by Katsunami.

Yes, Amazon makes money selling e-books, but they want you to read them on Kindle only, or in one of their apps, not on someone else's reader, and not in someone else's app. The reason probably is that the Kindle uploads information to Amazon, while other readers and apps would upload information to their manufacturer. (It's also the reason why my e-reader is permanently disconnected from Wifi.)

I think the reason has more to do with protecting their e-book sales. The Kindle is a kiosk to the Kindle store. It doesn't help them to give users another reason to use other readers, because that's more sales for them in their kiosks. And Kindle is the big kahuna when it comes to e-ink readers.

Originally Posted by Katsunami

It would be great if I could buy only the GOOD chapters in each book

It's more often the case that I hate a chapter in a book, than me hating enough of a music album to want only one or two songs.

I usually buy whole albums, too, but we're a dying breed.

[franYo]

Originally Posted by bhartman36

If I can put a book I bought from iTunes on any device, why in the world would I want to pay iPad mini or iPad prices to read an e-book?

If you don't want to buy an iPad, why would you buy books from iTunes?

[Sregener]

Originally Posted by Crash500

I would think it would be more likely that Amazon would push for DRM free first.

And what everyone seems to forget is that Apple was the industry leader in online music sales. By a lot.

Thus, it seems likely that if anyone has the clout to get DRM removed from books, it would be Amazon, not Apple, that would make it happen. I've never seen the iBookstore as a serious competitor with Amazon.

And anyone who thinks Apple is going to lead the charge in making ebooks readable everywhere needs to remember two things. 1) It was only very recently that you could read an eBook bought from the iBookstore on your Mac. 2) There is no Android app for reading books bought at the iBookstore. So Apple has shown a distinct preference *against* platform neutrality, and I see no need for them to push for it now.

[bhartman36]

Originally Posted by franYo

If you don't want to buy an iPad, why would you buy books from iTunes?

If I had an iPhone or an iPod, it might make sense to want to buy my e-books from the same place.