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I don't know why some people think that DRM would be effective in any way. Different people have different views on sharing, but I don't see how DRM would keep more people honest.
A person buys an ebook. They want to share it with the world. If they are tech savvy enough to share it, they are tech savvy enough to find the tools to break DRM, so DRM is ineffective.
A person buys an ebook. They want to share it with a friend. If there is no DRM, that is easy to do. If there is DRM and the buyer knows how to remove it, it is easy to do. If there is DRM and the buyer doesn't know how to remove it, but the friend does, the buyer will learn how to remove it. If neither knows how, but another friend does, then two people will learn how to remove DRM, and the other friend will probably get the book as well. If the buyer has a friend, or friend of a friend, or internet friend that knows how to remove DRM, then many more people will learn about DRM, and probably more will get the book. If the buyer is too lazy for this, the friend will probably find a sharing site and get the book from there, instructing the buyer on where to find free books next time. One way or another, DRM doesn't work, but in the removal process more people might get access to a free book.
A person buys an ebook. They don't want to share it with anybody. DRM isn't necessary.
I was amused by the locked door analogy. I lived in a student house two years ago where everybody got what amounted to single room apartments, and where all the doors were locked with electronic keys. I do mean all the doors, even the fire safety doors on the hallways. Even with the keys, we only had access to the hallways leading to our rooms and to the laundry rooms on our floor. As a result, trying to visit somebody in the same building meant going outside, ringing the other person's room (the intercom wasn't working so this would have to be planned, otherwise they wouldn't know who was calling), waiting for them to come down and being led to their room. I heard that other buildings had it worse, because at least we could go out without needing a key, but others needed keys to get out as well. The result? Fire safety was traded off for ease of movement on the hallways. Sure, the sheets of paper keeping the doors from locking could be easily removed, but they could be easily replaced as well.
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