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Originally Posted by andreabc
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That article is so over the top is it hard to take it seriously.
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Publishers told us that if we did not have digital rights management (DRM) technology, they weren’t interested in letting us promote and sell their products. DRM is the set of technologies that encrypt and prevent the reproduction of e-book files. A new bricks and mortar bookstore, even the tiniest one, could have easily opened accounts with all the major distributors. But to sell electronic versions of those exact same books, publishers told us that you have to be a mega corporation. We were confused, and set about finding out why this counterintuitive business practice has taken root.
DRM is supposed to prevent piracy and illegal file sharing. In order to provide DRM, you need at least $10,000 up front to cover software, server, and administration fees, plus ongoing expenses associated with the software. In other words, much bigger operating expenses than a small business can afford. By requiring retailers to encrypt e-books with DRM, big publishers are essentially banning indie retailers from the online marketplace.
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Having $10k makes you a mega-corporation?
There is also an obviously wrong statement later on, which makes me question the accuracy of the entire article:
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The Amazon/Apple near-duopoly on e-book sales is cripplingly destructive for readers, writers, and publishers.
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While Apple uses the same file format and DRM standards as other major online booksellers, Amazon has its own proprietary file format and DRM scheme.
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