Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
I strip DRM from every book that I buy, as soon as I buy it. But I have non-technical friends who have Kindles who probably don't even know that DRM exists - they buy books from the Kindle bookstore and they read them on their Kindles. DRM is not a problem for them, and Amazon is unlikely to be disappearing any time soon.
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True. But what about the DRM protocols Amazon employs? And what about their file format?
Those things can, have, and will lose support, and thus disappear. And even if Amazon continues to exist, millions of people will lose their content that they paid for. Millions of people already have.
Like I said in an earlier post, "walled garden users," like those you describe, are going to behave the same way regardless of whether DRM exists or not. If they don't know DRM exists, that means they aren't trying to do any of the things that DRM prevents. And that is what makes it ESPECIALLY unfair to screw them over.
These are Amazon's most loyal and perfectly-behaved customers. And someday, Amazon is going to reward them by wiping out half their collection. It's inevitable. Way to show their appreciation for their customers, eh?
DRM prevents you from being able to take reasonable measures against losing your content, like creating a copy for back-up or converting the file into a more universal format. Personal, totally reasonable uses.
DRM'ed books are broken. I have not, and never will, spend a dime on a DRM'ed book. I refuse to support publishers who enforce it, and as a writer I will encourage other writers to stand up for their readers (and themselves) by refusing to use it.
I've downloaded free DRM'ed books - I regard them as "fixer upper's." They're broken. But since they're free, I'll take them and fix them by stripping the DRM. But I will not pay money for a broken product.
The only books I spend money on are DRM-free books. Does that limit me a little bit? For the time being, yes. But if I really want to read something I can always use the library - we have a good digital catalog here, and DRM on library books makes sense.
Eventually, enough people will get sick of DRM and the industry, like the music industry, will have to abandon it. People are less and less willing to pay for broken products, and all that companies are doing by trying to force them to is pushing them out of their customer banks and into the black market.