Quote:
Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan
Are you saying it's acceptable to steal, then? I, as a member of the society at large, would disagree.
I also take umbrage to the implication that I, and all content producers, treat my customers as thieves. The act of applying security to one's goods to prevent theft is NOT treating all customers as thieves. Security is designed to deter actual thieves. Non-thieves should not be inconvenienced by the existence of security, any more than is necessary to deter actual thieves.
However, I also made clear in my comment that a balance should be struck between applying security and inconveniencing customers (by which, I mean honest customers... not the thieves). Presently, digital security systems do not strike a good balance, and that needs to be fixed. However, "a good balance" doesn't mean "swing the doors open, turn your back and let the consumers do what they will." That particular sales method hasn't been successful for too many content producers, and it isn't going to get any better.
And as a content producer, I'm sick and tired of being called names and stolen from, especially when I don't even apply DRM to my products, by people who believe I'm an ogre because I understand the need for product security.
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I never said once that it was ok to steal - I don't agree with it and I do not approve of theft. But I am saying that theft is a profession almost as old as prostitution – so you have to deal with it in a way that does not alienate your actual customers.
And I never called anyone names, but just as you are “sick and tired of being called names and stolen from” – I am sick and tired of being called a thief. Just as you don’t want to be lumped in a group that doesn’t fit you, neither do I. I do not know how to break DRM. DRM is NOT fairly easy to break. Of all the people I know in real life that own ebooks and ebook readers, not a single one knows how to break DRM. Most of them have no real clue what DRM means.
My mother, who I have to give step by step instructions to open her email, would NEVER EVER learn how to break DRM. All she knows is she feels like she is getting the short end of the stick when it comes to buying books now.
So, please, in the future, don’t assume that
most consumers are easily circumventing DRM – that’s an assumption and completely false.