Quote:
Originally Posted by rlauzon
Right. There aren't many left anymore. The auto-expiring eBooks simply didn't work. People stopped "checking them out" and the libraries that were doing it stopped.
Then you need to learn more about programming. Please don't take that as a slam.
As Bruce Schneier says: Anyone can create an encryption system that he can't break. But that doesn't mean it can't be broken.
Just because you can't see why it's difficult, doesn't mean that it's easy.
This topic is large and has already been discussed here (and in other places). The summary of the argument basically is:
1. The reader must be able to read the content of the eBook.
2. Therefore, someone can examine how the reader does it and break the system.
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Sorry, but you didn't address my main point. I'm talking about a purchase and loan system ... not a lending library. There is a difference, although you might not believe it.
I know quite a bit about programming, although I am much more fond of playing with hardware. And, when I have loaned games and other software to friends (after I have grown tired of it and long since have deleted it from my computer), I don't see them trying to bust the encryption in order to play it. What would be the point?? Same thing with loaning someone a digital book ... most people wouldn't put the time or the effort into hacking it. I'm not saying it couldn't be done ... just that most people wouldn't bother. I certainly wouldn't bother, and I could probably do it. I just don't care to waste the freaking time when I could borrow the book at low cost (or no cost if borrowed from a friend) to read. Hacking an ebook makes about as much sense to me as taking a book out of the library and then xeroxing all the pages so you have a "free" one at home. Gotta a tip for those folks, the time they put into creating their "free" version cost them a whole lot more than just purchasing the book would have.
So, your arguments, while interesting, don't really address some of my points, and, since I am hearing from other posters that lending libraries still exist (although I wasn't talking about lending libraries), and there are several out there ... then I guess that you can't really point me to any proof for your assertion.
As stated previously, they are interesting arguments, but without some outside reference to support them, they just don't make sense to me. If I may digress a moment, it's a lot like the argument I heard not long ago from my brother in law about the gas economy. His statement was that when the gas economy collapsed, there would be no more cities. He couldn't cite any support for the argument, and I pointed out that there have been large cities throughout history and long before the invention of the automobile. Of course, we never reached any agreement on the issue, because he (and I suspect you) is the sort of person who really holds on to their beliefs regardless of whether or not they are supported by .... well, by anything other than the fact that he believes it.
While I can understand his view, it makes for piss poor debate.