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Originally Posted by mr ploppy
People noticed DRM restrictions on mp3s because they have multiple devices they want to play them on. With ebooks that isn't really the case, and is unlikely to be any time in the future, mainly because most people only read them once and only ever buy from the official site registered with their device. DRM on ebooks is annoying to advanced users, but pretty much transparent to everyone else. And without any major consumer uprising against it, I can't see it ever being removed. The distributors make far too much money from gullible publishers telling them it will help combat piracy to remove it voluntarily.
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The thing found so far, is that watermarkings, if invisible, are not removed. As long as there is nothing actually stopping them from using the files on another device, they just simply don't bother. O'Reilly has had DRM free, but watermarked, ebooks for years, and studies on them have shown that many watermarked copies have shown up online.
Quote:
Originally Posted by speakingtohe
Watermark was a widely discussed thing in the 90's for digital photos and pdf . Pretty sure it was mostly abandoned in widespread usage, but I have seen it on photographers websites so could be wrong there.
A watermark would be pretty trivial to remove IMO, so not a deterrent to a large scale knowledgeable pirates although it would allow the publishers to catch a few.
The big drawback that I see is in order to trace a book each watermark has to be unique to the purchaser. Each book would have to be processed by the seller, and while I am sure it can be done, how many sellers would want to do it. They could pay adobe to do it for them, as adobe has a lot of expertise in this area, but why would they switch if they are already invested in DRM.
Helen
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The watermarks discussed in photography were visible ones. It was pretty much culled due to astetics, and how easy it was for people to spot it, and crop it out.
And the watermarking would be done with similar systems as to what they have for DRM. Every single DRM'ed ebook you buy is specific to you. If I buy an ebook, and you buy the same exact ebook, my reader won't open your copy, and yours won't open mine. Every time DRM is put onto something, everything is encoded to only be unlocked by one specific key. For Amazon, that key is the PID (basically the serial number) of the Kindle that downloaded it. You have multiple kindles on the same account, books downloaded on one kindle will not work on another, despite all being linked to the same account. For Adobe's ADEPT DRM, the key is based on your account info, so each device that is authorized for your account has the key, while it is authorized (as soon as the device is deauthorized, it no longer has the key). It is trivial to make a system that encodes your information into the ebook, invisibly, when you buy it. They've already been doing it for a while, only difference is this time they don't do anything to stop it from working on nonauthorized devices.