The death of print ... (or, does DRM drive you to piracy?)

[DawnFalcon]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

Still quite easy to get around those geo restrictions.

And in many cases, that's a crime with substantial penalties attached.

[alecE]

Option 3! I just hope that eventually a little bit of common sense will prevail and DRM and geo restrictions will wither away.

[zerospinboson]

Originally Posted by DawnFalcon

And in many cases, that's a crime with substantial penalties attached.

But perpetrating criminal acts is so much fun.
That said, they're just working on desensitizing the population towards believing the stigma of being a "criminal" is applied entirely arbitrarily.

[Jack Tingle]

I chose 3, but in truth, I'd probably just buy the paper version.

The results of this should scare publishers even more into irrational acts. Almost 3/4 of those surveyed said they'd ignore the current laws, if pushed even slightly. It _should_ scare them into killing off DRM, but the publishing industry doesn't appear to have any rational brain cells.

My one plea: never pirate a Baen (or other DRM-free) book.

Regards,
Jack Tingle

[tompe]

I cannot choose any alternative since I refuse to buy a DRM infested book. It does not matter that I can remove the DRM. I do not want to support DRM books which I do if i buy them.

[tompe]

None of the alternative in the poll answer the question in the thread title ("does DRM drive you to piracy?"). The last alternative should be split into "Refuse to buy", "Refuse to buy amd pirate", "Refuse to buy and wait for breakable DRM" or something like this.

I refuse to buy DRM:ed books and that has lead to me pirating some book.

I also think it is immoral to remove DRM from a book since you then supports the system with DRM and will cause it to live longer.

[alecE]

Originally Posted by Jack Tingle

...but the publishing industry doesn't appear to have any rational brain cells...

Let's see, if the industry does have rational brain cells, they would make it easy for me to buy and read the first book of a series, so that if I liked it I could buy the remaining titles...

I want to buy Sharpe's Tiger by Bernard Cornwell in eformat:
Is it available in the UK? - no, not at the moment
Can I buy it from the US? - no, regionally restricted
Are there illegal copies available? - you betcha

So if I follow this through to the logical but illegal conclusion, I could download a pirate copy for free, or could even download Cornwell's entire œuvre for free, but I cannot legally **BUY** a copy and put money in the publisher's and author's hands.

Rational brain cell count = zero

[calvin-c]

Originally Posted by DawnFalcon

And in many cases, that's a crime with substantial penalties attached.

I don't think so, in most cases at least. On the part of the seller, it's possibly a violation of the contract. (Depends on how the restrictions were 'gotten around'. Even if all the contract says is "thou shalt not sell to foreign buyers" it usually doesn't require super-secure precautions. The usual standard of due diligence is whether or not the seller has taken reasonable precautions, e.g. checking the address/phone/credit card.)

On the part of the buyer, it's possibly providing false information-but in most jurisdictions I'm familiar with that's only a crime when it's provided to authorities (and even then, often only in a sworn statement).

The closest crime I can think of is fraud-and since the buyer is paying for the product I'm not sure that fraud would fit either. (I'm sure the buyer could be charged with fraud, I'm just not sure (s)he would be convicted.)

[PKFFW]

DRM does not drive anyone to piracy. DRM is an inanimate bit of computer code or other form of restriction and has no ability to impel a sentient being to anything.

The inconvenience, dislike or whatever of DRM is used as a rationale for the entirely personal decision by some/many to engage in piracy.

For the record I voted for number 3 as, though not entirely accurate, it was the closest to my reality.

Cheers,
PKFFW

[pilotbob]

YADT (yet another DRM thread)

But, I voted in the poll for the heck of it.

BOb

[wayrad]

I'd buy the p-book (if it's out in paperback, otherwise I'd wait) and make my own ebook.

[Sonist]

Originally Posted by tompe

I cannot choose any alternative since I refuse to buy a DRM infested book. It does not matter that I can remove the DRM. I do not want to support DRM books which I do if i buy them.

While I agree with you on principle, I am trying to be realistic.

In the real world, if I can strip the DRM easily, and if the price is right, I'll buy a book which interests me.

What prompted this poll, was this: I almost clicked "Buy" for one of the Lonely Planet country guide books, which have become available in AZW format. But then I realized that it is in Topaz format, so I did not purchase it. Instead, I will use the couple of paper books I have (one is the same LP edition) and probably download one of the widely available PDF versions to try on my laptop.

LP has already made a lot of $$ from me, but they and Amazon missed out on this purchase. Because of DRM.

I was curious if others feels similarly, and what the ratio among the different attitudes towards purchasing DRM-ed books is.

[sianon]

Originally Posted by calvin-c

I don't think so, in most cases at least. On the part of the seller, it's possibly a violation of the contract. (Depends on how the restrictions were 'gotten around'. Even if all the contract says is "thou shalt not sell to foreign buyers" it usually doesn't require super-secure precautions. The usual standard of due diligence is whether or not the seller has taken reasonable precautions, e.g. checking the address/phone/credit card.)

On the part of the buyer, it's possibly providing false information-but in most jurisdictions I'm familiar with that's only a crime when it's provided to authorities (and even then, often only in a sworn statement).

The closest crime I can think of is fraud-and since the buyer is paying for the product I'm not sure that fraud would fit either. (I'm sure the buyer could be charged with fraud, I'm just not sure (s)he would be convicted.)

It could possibly be construed as smuggling given you are purchasing a product that is not legally available in your country of residence. Although smuggling was used historically as a means to deprive the government of it's taxes and thus the high penalties.

[KarenH]

I voted for the third option, but what I generally do in that case is buy the paper version (preferably used).

[tompe]

Originally Posted by Sonist

While I agree with you on principle, I am trying to be realistic.

In the real world, if I can strip the DRM easily, and if the price is right, I'll buy a book which interests me.

I would buy the paper version since it is DRM free.