Quote:
Originally Posted by OtterBooks
I haven't seen any such data, but I'm open to its existence. The only accounts of DRM hindrance I've heard come from people who own multiple ereader platforms, a minority of enthusiasts I've only witnessed on these forums, many of whom generally strip DRM anyway.
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See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital...t#Obsolescence
In the ebook world there have been three major incidents, none of which have involved companies going out of business:
Amazon dropped support for PDF and LIT files.
Fictionwise lost access to Overdrive Mobipocket files.
Adobe dropped support for Content Server 3 PDFs.
And there's been a minor incident for ePubs:
On November 19th, 2010, the HarperCollins ebookstore closed down. When Adobe Content Server 4 eventually goes away, those ePubs purchased from the store may well become unreadable on new devices/installations.
Oh - and there's the CyberRead ebook store closure.
And then there's all the DRMed music that's become unusable, or threatens to become unusable....
When we say that DRM might prevent you accessing your books in the future, this isn't just a theoretical possibility, it has happened several times in the past, and will probably happen again. But next time, many more people will be affected.