Quote:
Originally Posted by HansTWN
Doing that you really only hurt yourself, you don't get to read the books that you want to read or you have to go to the darknet. That approach would only work if almost everybody did it the same way.
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I beg to differ. Furthermore, I try to differentiate between
needs and
wants. I might
want to re-read Catch-22 as an e-book, but I don't really
need to do so. I read the p-book version, when it originally came out. I try to resist the temptation of indulging in impulse buying and having intentionally chosen an e-book reader that supports the ePub format and isn't equipped with WiFi, of course that helps immensely. Anyway, Amazon isn't the only bookseller in the world.
There are more than enough free books that I wish to read for my edification, and there is little enough time to read them, as it is. By free books, I mean ones that can be downloaded legally from websites such as MR and Project Gutenberg.
So, if books that I want are restricted by DRM, then I'm perfectly happy to forego them. If I really
need them, then I would really much prefer to buy them as p-books, so that I can do whatever I want with them (keep them forever, lend them, sell them, give them away, etc). I still prefer p-books, in some ways. So, by not buying any DRM restricted e-books, I'm really not hurting myself at all. The losers are the publishers who insist on restricting the use of e-books by using DRM.
Of course, you could argue that if I buy p-books instead, then the publishers would probably be better off. Well, then so be it. Sure, boycotting DRM would probably only result in change, if the majority acted in the same way. However, all movements are started by individuals and all majorities are only the integral of their individuals. So I, for one, am willing to stand up and be counted. The way I see it, I have nothing to lose and might possibly gain something.
Addendum
I've now got yet another free e-book to read, which
BeWrite Books very generously gave me yesterday, as part of the special promotion they're running this weekend. It might not be too late, if you're quick enough.