Quote:
Originally Posted by stonetools
I represent the long view and the unpopular truth.
A no DRM world won't be all sunshine and rainbows, contrary to the prevailing dogma here.
I think authors and publishers need to be assured that they will be paid for work. If they don't feel secure, they'll write screenplays, stage plays, or commercial jingles. They wont write novels for free, don't like being ripped off and don';t like being told that piracy and casual sharing is just "advertising" and something they should "put up with". To paraphrase Neil Gaiman, authors aren't our bitches.
To me, DRM is like copyright-a necessary evil and an imperfect tool meant to prevent the author from being screwed over and an encouragement for the author to do the hard work of writing a novel instead of say, writing commercials.
There are some authors and some publishers that are comfortable publishing DRM free. Most aren't , for what I think are good reasons, and I want to keep reading them, so....
|
Quite frankly, you seem to both ignorant of e-book history and already have your mind made up. A dangerous combination.
The long term? You haven't mentioned anything about the long term. John Maynard Keyes notes that in the long term, we're all dead.
The popular dogma here...I'd rather call it independent evaluations that you disagree with (whether personally or professionally, I'll pass on). If you want people like me to change our minds, provide facts, that can be independently verified and tested. But it can't be
your dogma - What are the facts, and to how many decimal points.
If authors and musicians want to write plays and jingles, that's their business. I'm purchasing
durable entertainment with my money, with the emphasis on durable. They're free not to produce their product, just like I can withhold my custom. I'm spending my beer money for entertainment. I could just spend it on beer. I have no delusion I'm a patron of the arts. Nor is there any moral imperative that I should be. Authors may not be our bitches, but at the same time
readers aren't their wallets. If you want to compete for my beer money, go ahead. Eric Flint understands this full well. Niel Gaiman apparently doesn't. (See -
http://www.baen.com/library/ for Eric Flint's take. And he is currently a 6 figure author, giving away e-books...)
Copyright is a different set of discussions. I will note, however, that the Golden Age of Radio, Movies, and Pulp Fiction, was in an era with an maximum copyright of 56 years (28 years with one fileable extension.) There wasn't any Oh My God! I can only exploit this for the next 56 years, I can't product this entertainment because my grandchildren won't get royalties. Everybody figure all the interesting money would be made in the first 10 years or so, so let's write/product the next product for sale. Now it's Hollywood bribing politicians to keep extending and extending the copyright, lest they lose a dime.
But the big nose under the back of the tent is durability. I can read Mark Twain just as readily as I can read the latest best seller (shudder). Project Gutenberg US had over 35,000 P.D. books and periodicals for free. I could spend the rest of my life just reading them. (And I am a contributor, as well.) Along with free entertainment (Broadcast TV and Radio), other durable forms of entertainment (how long does a DVD last? - I have over 1500 of them - all commercially bought. And 700 audio CD's.), not to mention P-books, I don't
have spend a dime for more entertainment unless it suits me. And DRM doesn't suit me. You want me to buy an e-book replacement for one of P-books? I'll pay the money - but on my terms - no DRM. Otherwise no dice. And believe me, I can outsit the authors/publishers.
No more books being written? My word, there was over 47,00 titles published in 2009. I don't think it will dry up tomorrow. If it does, writers like Eric Flint will be making 7 or 8 figures, because they will have so much less competition...