[leebase]

I heard once that "if I can't sell it, I don't own it" -- it was actually in the context of one's body parts (like kidneys), but it's also certainly applicable to the discussion of ebooks.

When you bought a paper book, you clearly owned it. You could give it away, you could sell it. Everyone in your house could read it. You could donate it to your local library.

Digital goods (music, movies, books, software) are not sold, they are licensed.

Now, before we delve into the evils associated with this setup (and you'll find me in large agreement) - let's start by considering the challenge that content producers have in the digital age.

Content producers need an incentive for their work. Just as we all do. Authors (we'll use them to represent the entire content chain) get their income by selling books. All uses of a book outside of the first sale, do not compensate the author. Even so, a physical book is limited to one person at at time. When I finish a book and give it to a friend, I no longer have the book -- and I'm not going to give it away until after I've finished reading it. And after I'm done with it, there's a good deal harder effort required for someone desiring MY book to find me (as opposed to walking in a book store and buying off the shelf).

In the digital world -- without DRM -- a book is just a file. I can copy a file and sent it to all my friends and relatives -- all at the same time -- all while retaining the file for myself. Not only that, I can post the file online and give the whole world access to my file. It's not difficult at all for someone who's interested in my book to find my copy of the book. Every bit as easy as going to a store.

As you can see, it would be quite difficult for an author to make money from his efforts in a world where his work can be instantly distributed for free across the world to anyone who would want it without paying the author.

And thus the authors (again, as representative of the entire content producing chain) take measures (which we will discuss) to ensure (we know this is a goal not something perfectly attained) that they can be paid for their work.

And so, at the start of the discussion, we can see that digital goods HAVE to be treated different than physical goods. To not do so would change the financial equation for authors drastically, and could likely end the profession of book writing.

Lee