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I know there are some (many?) folks who take the position that DRM is easy to strip from Amazon books, trivially easy almost, and so it's no big deal.
But it IS a big deal in principle and in fact.
I shouldn't have to spend time and effort de-crapifying a book I BOUGHT. DRM dictates the terms and conditions under which you may use a product you bought, which violates my rights as a consumer.
Publishers and vendors should not be able to restrict my right to read my ebooks on my device anymore than a publisher can dictate that a paper book can only be read on the subway at 3 AM under harsh flourescent lights.
DRM will become an even bigger deal if Amazon upgrades their DRM to be harder to disable, which could happen at any time without warning. Or if Amazon or another vendor decides to punish (ban) or sue people for removing DRM.
In the US, removing or bypassing DRM is a violation of the DMCA, a Federal offense, and anyone who does so is theoretically liable for large fines. Just because nobody has bothered to enforce this law against consumers yet does not mean that it will never happen -- just look at the way the file sharing lawsuits are playing out. Yes, ultimately consumers MAY win, but the cost of doing so is enough to bankrupt a good many defendants along the way.
Bottom line, if you have a book with DRM, it was not sold to you. It was rented to you, to be used at the whim and mercy of the vendor.
Consumers need to understand this before they end up with a bricked library. Consumers should be encouraged to support only DRM-free vendors so they have access to their books long after the vendor is out of business or they decide to change devices.
And consumers should be taught to vote with their wallets -- buy only from DRM-free vendors, boycott the vendors and publishers who use DRM and tell them about it, loudly and publicly. This is the only way to change the situation and it should be changed for the good of everyone.
DRM is terrible for consumers and expensive for vendors. It harms honest readers and prevents them from reading books they've paid for on their own devices ... while being a mere annoyance (for the time being) for the people intent on stealing content.
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