MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Are there any studies PROVING that DRM works?

Worldwalker · 10-09-2010, 10:03 AM

The only thing being "protected" on digital products is the manufacturer's platform lock-in.

The people who download torrents of illicitly copied books a) do not read most of them, and b) would not pay $15 for a book whether or not they read it. They're not lost sales because a sale has to have the potential to happen in order to be lost. The publishers act like every book in a 2000-book torrent is a "lost sale" and claims that single download "cost" them $30,000. They act like someone who earns $25k a year would go out and spend $30k of that on books at full retail price if they didn't come along with the two or three books that person really wanted to read.

Look at me, as an example: I read public domain books or DRM-free books. Is every book I download from MobileRead, or every book I buy from Baen, a "lost sale" to a cabal publisher? They'd have you think so, since I'm not buying it from them. In practical, how-it-impacts-the-publisher terms (not going into legality here, just realpolitik) I'm no different from a "pirate"; I don't buy their books. I buy David Weber's books, and I read Charles Dickens' books, but I don't buy expensive ebooks from the cabal publishers. But I'm not a "lost sale" because the circumstances under which I'd pay more than MM paperback price, a lot more than used or discounted or charity MM paperback price, for an ebook don't exist. There is no situation in which that sale would be made. It's like saying that I'm a "lost sale" for Kindle books because I own a Sony.

Losing the bike you paid for means losing the bike; you don't have it anymore. "Losing" sales of an ebook is a lot more dubious. Would the person who read it have read it if they had to pay $15? Or if they couldn't get it for their platform? Or if they had to jump through hoops? Maybe they would have read it. Maybe they would have read it for $5, but not 15. Maybe they wouldn't have touched it. Maybe it was just some random book cluttering up the torrent they downloaded to get some other book. You can't know, and it's not only a different answer for different people, but for different books with the same person.

Also, it's "lose" not "loose". You're not really helping your credibility there.

10-09-2010, 10:03 AM	#100
Worldwalker Curmudgeon Posts: 3,085 Karma: 722357 Join Date: Feb 2010 Device: PRS-505	The only thing being "protected" on digital products is the manufacturer's platform lock-in. The people who download torrents of illicitly copied books a) do not read most of them, and b) would not pay $15 for a book whether or not they read it. They're not lost sales because a sale has to have the potential to happen in order to be lost. The publishers act like every book in a 2000-book torrent is a "lost sale" and claims that single download "cost" them $30,000. They act like someone who earns $25k a year would go out and spend $30k of that on books at full retail price if they didn't come along with the two or three books that person really wanted to read. Look at me, as an example: I read public domain books or DRM-free books. Is every book I download from MobileRead, or every book I buy from Baen, a "lost sale" to a cabal publisher? They'd have you think so, since I'm not buying it from them. In practical, how-it-impacts-the-publisher terms (not going into legality here, just realpolitik) I'm no different from a "pirate"; I don't buy their books. I buy David Weber's books, and I read Charles Dickens' books, but I don't buy expensive ebooks from the cabal publishers. But I'm not a "lost sale" because the circumstances under which I'd pay more than MM paperback price, a lot more than used or discounted or charity MM paperback price, for an ebook don't exist. There is no situation in which that sale would be made. It's like saying that I'm a "lost sale" for Kindle books because I own a Sony. Losing the bike you paid for means losing the bike; you don't have it anymore. "Losing" sales of an ebook is a lot more dubious. Would the person who read it have read it if they had to pay $15? Or if they couldn't get it for their platform? Or if they had to jump through hoops? Maybe they would have read it. Maybe they would have read it for $5, but not 15. Maybe they wouldn't have touched it. Maybe it was just some random book cluttering up the torrent they downloaded to get some other book. You can't know, and it's not only a different answer for different people, but for different books with the same person. Also, it's "lose" not "loose". You're not really helping your credibility there.