[deviant]

Originally Posted by sanders

If people are hoping that this thread is persuading publishers to bring out un-DRM-ed ebook versions of their books, think again.

This thread has so many postings which had me shake my head in disbelief, I'm not sure I should even be posting a reply.

Someone was doubting whether publishers really add value to a book, because this person wanted some book "and it wasn't even available locally". Of course, that is considered a valid reason to just download a pirated copy. The alternative (going to the bookstore and asking them to order the book) is probably way too much work.

And when the store says they can't order it? What then?

Instead, let's do away with publishers entirely, and simply phone up the author, ask him/her to xerox a copy of her manuscript, and mail it to you. Much more efficient, right?

Phone up the author? That'd be a solid alternative if it wasn't for an even better one - the Internet. If authors would put their work on the net, price it at a fraction they are sold now and thus make it widely available, they'd cut down significantly on piracy.

And then all the bitching about whether "piracy" or "stealing" is the right term (when we are discussing morals). Okay. I will not call someone who downloads an ebook of mine without paying (because he decides it is "too expensive" or he doesn't want us "filthy publishers to profit from an author's work") a thief. I will call him a self-centered, low-life, arrogant f*ck.

That's your view of things. My view is that someone is trying to rip me off and I'm not going to stand for it. How do you judge whose view is right?

Then, on to DRM. Yes, DRM sucks - but what else can a publisher do? Consider being on the train, and knowing that there is this guy in the train with you, every single day, who never buys a ticket. The train goes anyway, whether he pays or not - his little extra weight can be considered "bandwidth costs" which are negligible. When he is finally asked to show his ticket and he replies with "I don't have one, and that really doesn't deprive you of anything - if you had forced me to pay, I would simply not have taken the train".

What's more, if the guy checking the ticket says "Why yes you're right - never mind, have a nice journey!", would you still pay for your ticket next time?

"Not knowing what to do" was a good excuse when DRM was an entirely new concept. Since it's no longer a new concept it should have been removed because it fails at its purpose.

Taking your train example, a DRM would have all the passengers thrown off the train into the pouring rain as the personnel checks for tickets. The only exception to this would be the people who didn't pay, who'd hide in the train. Thus, the only people getting wet would be those that paid for the ticket. How many would take the train again?

Now I know that as a publisher (focused entirely on money, after all) I should simply make the trade-off whether putting out an ebook would make me more or less money than only providing a pbook. Well, this thread certainly makes me consider other factors as well, namely: do I want to make life easier for self-centered, low-life f*cks, or am I willing to forego some profit in exchange for the warm and comforting thought that someone is not hitching a free ride thanks to my extra efforts?

I am starting to lean towards the latter.

As a person with free will you have every right to do whatever you choose. However, you should understand that the majority of readers who can't get an ebook because of your choice won't feel much compassion with your plight. In fact, they're even more likely to use a pirated copy because there is no legally available copy.