MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - O'Reilly is a perfect example of why DRM is useless.

fafaforza · 08-12-2010, 01:42 AM

I think Zorz's point was that you don't really see epub/mobi files that one buys from Sony/Amazon/etc uploaded to TPB and other sites. O'Reilly books, in general, have been out there for ages.

I don't think that O'Reilly is proving that people would be honest and buy the book instead of getting it free. Just recently, a few game publishers released numbers showing that 90% of people playing their game didn't pay for it.

I think the lack of "actual" ebook files on torrent sites can be attributed to the the fact that most young people and techies either don't go for an eInk device because they don't read, or prefer an iPad type device. And for a techie, reading technical books on an eInk device isn't optimal as pages refer to graphs one or more pages away, to config file lines and code spanning multiple pages, etc.

So instead, the PDF is downloaded and read on an LCD where jumping between pages is quicker, though still not as good as the real thing.

I also think that people that have eInk devices now are probably overall honest and want to see the industry and tech grow. And uploading the files would damage that.

And besides, why would you make available for free something you paid for.

But as these devices get cheaper and more people get them, there might be more of this happening. Though keep in mind that people that pick up a book in the first place, real or eInk, are probably more honest, and mindful of people's effort than a kid ripping off a CD or a video game.

Just my thought on this.

08-12-2010, 01:42 AM	#35
fafaforza Zealot Posts: 140 Karma: 26780 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Brooklyn, NY Device: Aura ONE	I think Zorz's point was that you don't really see epub/mobi files that one buys from Sony/Amazon/etc uploaded to TPB and other sites. O'Reilly books, in general, have been out there for ages. I don't think that O'Reilly is proving that people would be honest and buy the book instead of getting it free. Just recently, a few game publishers released numbers showing that 90% of people playing their game didn't pay for it. I think the lack of "actual" ebook files on torrent sites can be attributed to the the fact that most young people and techies either don't go for an eInk device because they don't read, or prefer an iPad type device. And for a techie, reading technical books on an eInk device isn't optimal as pages refer to graphs one or more pages away, to config file lines and code spanning multiple pages, etc. So instead, the PDF is downloaded and read on an LCD where jumping between pages is quicker, though still not as good as the real thing. I also think that people that have eInk devices now are probably overall honest and want to see the industry and tech grow. And uploading the files would damage that. And besides, why would you make available for free something you paid for. But as these devices get cheaper and more people get them, there might be more of this happening. Though keep in mind that people that pick up a book in the first place, real or eInk, are probably more honest, and mindful of people's effort than a kid ripping off a CD or a video game. Just my thought on this.