Quote:
Originally Posted by Ekaros
Bad, and useless. DRM doesn't stop pirates, it only hurts legitimate buyers...
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Exactly right! Plus I've actually found that piracy is good for business. Seriously. Think about this. The biggest problem facing any and all authors is obscurity. Piracy helps to mitigate that to some degree. So I say let them pirate my stuff, because in the end I'm going to benefit from it, as pirates are more likely to buy your stuff than those who don't as they get to test drive it before buying.
Personally, I'd be more concerned if people DIDN'T pirate my stuff. If they weren't, it'd mean that either my stuff sucked, or it was the wrong book for the market. So in some respects piracy also helps with marketing as you find out who your target audience is, if the book is good/bad/other, and lots more. I've actually benefited hugely from taking an anti-drm, pro-piracy stance with my books. Now I don't believe in stealing, but I'm fine with people pirating my books as it means I'll get more sales and more eyeballs on my works than if it didn't happen. Sure, that seems weird for an indie author to say that, but time and again it's been proven true.
The vast majority of people who love DRM and hate piracy (not all, but certainly the greater degree) are those who are A) greedy, B) power or control hungry, and C) short sighted. Take for example one lady I was acquainted with. She was adamant about DRM and terrified of piracy. She was also a PHD who through her book (which repeatedly got reviewed at 1 star) was God's gift to literature that every major name, including Disney, would kick down her door to get their hands on. So I guess you could also add "delusional" to the list of those who hate piracy and love DRM. At least that's been my experience.