|
It was mentioned in another thread - "violating" the license is not necessarily ILLEGAL. It is a violation of a contract which is a CIVIL matter. You might be able to be individually sued but not thrown in jail. Some might consider that a minor difference but it is not minor.
So for example, you buy ebook from Amazon. Strip the drm and read it on Sony. Somehow Amazon finds out and sues you. What are Amazon's losses? Hard to say if they don't sell a Sony copy - then they did not lose a sale. Kind of like CIVIL trespass - I walk across your lawn - some damages suits in such cases have awarded damages of ONE PENNY - the jury found the harm minimal. Now that does not mean you might not have to defend a CIVIL suit and that could cost more than that PENNY.
Georestrictions would be similar but in that event it is an agreement not even entered into by the purchasers. Those are 3rd party agreements. Not even the seller has necessarily signed such agreements - they are between publisher and author. Anyone visiting the US for example can buy a pbook limited to sale/distribution in the US. I really don't expect another country's customs officials to seize it when returning home. Is there a violation? Maybe before a sale, citizenship should be checked! But there is obviously more control over an ebook - well, until some kiosk is set up that sells ebooks directly to your reader (unless there is a lock/key avoiding such sales) or they start selling ebooks on disk.
|