Quote:
Originally Posted by HansTWN
Been hiding under that old rock during the last few days?  We just had the Harry Potter ebooks come out without DRM, only protected by watermarking. |
You got me there!
Truthfully, and I can add thankfully as well, I don't track Harry Potter. I tend to dismiss it out of hand though of course I did peruse one of the first books, and actually went to see a movie after a friend raved about it. The movie belongs in the Saturday morning kiddie group genre.
I can argue that DRM is in general for "protection of the product" and watermarking is an age old form of protection, and I suspect that something else is afoot, but I am not going to waste very much time on figuring out what this new Harry Potter move is about. I am sure the MR people will figure it out.
Still I was interested enough to look up when the books first came out, and found this in Wikipedia.
"Since the release of the first novel Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone on 30 June 1997, the books have gained immense popularity, critical acclaim and commercial success worldwide.[2] The series has also had some share of criticism, including concern for the increasingly dark tone. As of June 2011, the book series has sold about 450 million copies, making it the best-selling books series in history and has been translated into 67 languages,[3][4] and the last four books consecutively set records as the fastest-selling books in history."
They have been out starting about 15 years ago.
I do know that there were many complaints over the years that the book wasn't available legally as an eBook. Rowling preferring the old standard of dead trees, dust, mold and mildew and that slightly sweet spell. (oops, must have been Freudian, "sweet smell.")
She has made a few Billion on Harry Potter so perhaps now she is becoming altruistic like Bill Gates and Warren Buffet.
Perhaps this is a new marketing ploy designed to...? Time will tell.
So I will change my challenge to "Tell me of
10 significant authors that eschew DRM."
(((... and I will spare the whole place ... Genesis 18)))
Or let me put it another more telling way.
After my first Billion, I myself will eschew DRM. That is a pledge.