Quote:
Originally Posted by decenttp
The one thing that i have not been able to understand is how DRM is implemented? how it actually works? who implements it for an author like me? Any charges involved.
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The text (and in the case of ePub, pictures and fonts) are encrypted using a secret key that's known to the software used for reading the book. The key is usually different for every reading device, except for B&N's encryption key, which is unique to the purchaser (and is derived from their name and credit card number). Without having the secret key*, the encrypted text can't be decrypted and read.
DRM is added to ebook files by the distributor or retailer. The publisher/author doesn't need to have anything to do with it.
There are usually (Lulu.com is an exception) no direct charges to the author. Amazon does their own DRM system, so their costs are internal. Adobe's DRM schemes (Adept and B&N's version) cost the distributor $0.22 per book sold.
* The fatal flaw in all DRM schemes (apart from being wholly against the customers' interests) is that they all require the customer to be in possession of the secret decoding key. Mobipocket used to make this secret key readily available (the PID). Since Amazon bought Mobipocket, the secret key has become more and more hidden and complicated.