[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by stonetools

OK, I asked a staight forward question above and so far no one has answered it or even tried to answer it (although they have been busy trying to point out that a lock is NOT EXACTLY like DRM). Here is the the question again:
Can we assure that writers and publishers can make a good living in a post DRM world?

As much as we can assure they will ever make a good living, sure. There's no guarantee any particular author or publisher will be financially successful, but we've got strong indications that neither of those will become nonviable careers in the future.

However, the shape of the industry may go through some rather drastic changes, and many currently viable authors & publishers may find themselves broke. This happened when radio took off--all of a sudden, in-person performers whose vocal quality wasn't great but who had great stage presence were less likely to make a living than those who could sing well, but looked awful and just stood in front of the mic like a tree.

The traits of "successful author" may change, but the ability to create a good story will still be marketable, and there'll still be a market for people who edit & distribute those stories.

There is *no* indication that selling ebooks without DRM is less successful than selling them with. The stores that sell without DRM are not failing faster than the others; the books sold without DRM are not selling less copies than those with DRM.

Before we answer that lets hear what the publishers actually think about DRM (Yes, I know its strange to actually listen to what other side says, but bear with me)

Eleven of the 13 agreed with me that DRM is necessary to protect sales. Ten of the 13 agreed with me that DRM is not an effective deterrent to piracy. And 12 of the 13 agreed with me that DRM’s main benefit is to prevent casual sharing!

There's no proof, no solid evidence even, that DRM protects sales. That customers buy more because they can't share. Killing casual sharing is killing the person-to-person promo aspects that have always sold more books in the long run.

I'm confused too. Apparently, it's scanners, not software, that are the main piracy problem.

Bootleg ebooks are more than 15 years old; people started scanning or typing them into computers as soon as the net, before the www, became active.

Publishers who started selling ebooks two years ago think that they're combating a *new* habit.

The writer (and at least one agent) bnelieves that the main way DRM works to protect sales is to prevent casual sharing, ie. passing your ebook along to friends and family. The agent supported DRM for best sellers alone.
Finally, here's the take from a publisher:
The whole world is moving away from download and own, so DRM is a moot point — only the library fanatics and the digerati care.[/quote]

The "whole world" is not. Certain areas of business are under the impression that people no longer care about having permanent access to their purchases, but plenty of us don't trust Google, Amazon and B&N to be around in 10 or 15 years when we're fondly remembering a much-liked book and want to re-read it.

And getting rid of the family-and-friends sharing is a great way to kill future sales by that author.

Oh, and the claim, “of the key titles of ours that have been pirated, all have been scans or electronic copies of MS, none have been DRM protected eBooks” -- how would they know? If the DRM was cracked, and the file converted to another format, how do they check if it's the same file? Line-by-line proofing to match the typos? Unless maybe all their "key titles" aren't available as ebooks.