Publishers say they need DRM to prevent piracy.
Because
that's the major problem the industry faces.
Yet, today's story at Ars Technica (
Only 9% (and falling) of US Internet users are P2P pirates) notes that only 9% of Internet users are actually "pirates."
(Also picked up on
Slashdot.
(To be US-centric), the 91% of the US Internet population that's willing to play by the rules and get their products legally is stuck with DRM-crippled books, the hassle of begging DRM vendors to authorize devices, hoping the company selling those DRM-crippled books doesn't go out of business because then they lose their books -- and maybe even unauthorized
spyware and rootkits -- all because of a tiny minority?
"
Only 9%," you say. "Nine percent is a
lot!"
Perhaps.
But remember, the publishing industry is perfectly happy with the print business model...which often sees
40-50% of its product unsold, returned or destroyed. That's after the publisher has already incurred the costs of printing, shipping and warehousing those unsold books, too.
Maybe the pirates aren't the industry's biggest problem.