Quote:
Originally Posted by emellaich
Here is the scenario I am trying to figure out: Assume I own an epub device. I buy and download a book. Then B&N goes bankrupt. Later the reader breaks and I have to replace it with a different brand. Will I be able to access the book on the new device? Or, does access end if B&N disappears?
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Regarding B&N, their DRM-scheme works like a glorified username/password combo for the file. No need to go back to a central server to "authenticate" anything the way that ADE does. Once you've downloaded your book the first time, it'll work forevermore, provided you've still got something to read it with, and it hasn't corrupted due to copying errors or disk damage.
As long as you still have a good copy and some sort of reader/software app which can open B&N-DRM files, then even if B&N does a murder/suicide pact with Borders and sinks into oblivion, you'll still be able to open your e-books as long as you remember the Name/CC# combo that was on file in your account when you downloaded it.
They've also no device limits as a result of this and their supporting hardware/apps support more than one Name/CC# combo at a time. So in theory you could put your B&N-DRM books on as many readers as you like (supply an entire classroom with a single one of those B&N Classic promo freebies, say). Even swap around with your family and friends, provided you're willing to enter your very personal info for the first book you put on their devices and vice versa.
There are many things B&N does wrong when it comes to e-books/readers and marketing/selling/providing support for them, but their relatively flexible and lenient DRM scheme (which they bought from eReader and have been slowly destroying Fictionwise over) is not one of them.
And you can readily remove it with nothing more installed than Python, which is a great boon for people with non-standard computer systems.
I hope that once the B&N-DRM scheme gets incorporated into ADE like they've been negotiating for, more devices will start using it.