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Originally Posted by ApK
I do. I listed it. You quoted it. Refusing to accept it doesn't make it less real.
How on Earth do you see that as evidence that it slows down casual sharing?!?
The complaints are 1) about using the ebooks for what people consider non-infringing uses, not copyright-infringing sharing, and 2) mostly from folks here who know how to strip and would not be stopped for second if they wanted to share, but merely want the system changed for reader's benefit.
Do you have any evidence that DRM stopped a single casual share? I, too, presume it must have somewhere but I see no evidence of it.
I do see direct evidence that it has failed to stop it in many cases.
Sure seems like flimsy defense of using it.
None of that is evidence that DRM slows down sharing and I'm not sure how it's relevant in this context.
So it doesn't help, and turns some people off. Why on Earth use it?
QED.
ApK
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Is this the evidence that DRM DOESN'T work?
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Evidence that it doesn't work exists in the form of all the pirated copies of DRM protected books, which are easy to find.
Also in the existence of stripped books for non-infringing uses like backup or space shifting.
Also in the existence of people who refuse to buy DRMed books.
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I see it as evidence tha DRM doesn't always work which I cannot argue. I don't see it as evidence that DRM DOESN'T work. (I read the caps in your original post as a statement that it serves little or no purpose whatever)
Stripped books for backup is perhaps a small benefit of DRM in that it gives some people something to feel important about. And personally I see nothing wrong with stripping for personal use. You can strip it, you can format shift it, you can even print it. Perhaps it is one of the many ways ebooks are superior to pbooks.
But... because many people can strip DRM within 10-30 minutes of having their first DRMed ebook doesnt mean that the majority will even make the effort. Surprisingly even those that can will often not bother.
And the existence of people who refuse to buy DRMed ebooks does not seem to have noticably slowed down growth of sales. Some people refuse to buy meat for personal reasons, some people refuse to pay taxes, some people won't use computers, some people would rather die than have an operation/blood transfusion etc etc.
Extremists abound in many areas and some of them get over it and some don't. Because someone (or even 10,000 someones) won't buy a DRMed ebook is hardly evidence that it doesn't work.
The existence of opposing opinions/beliefs and boycotts of products based on these opinions/beliefs is not evidence that it(DRM, democracy, factory farming, antibiotics etc.) don't work. We may hate one or all of them but they seem to chug along despite our opinions/beliefs.
Show me a few non DRM using publishers who are making significant growth in the market percentage-wise (not expecting them to overtake or do better, just same rate of growth) or even big drops in sales of DRMed ebooks, that would be evidence.
To say that DRM doesn't work because it does not decrease or slow down piracy is to assume that most people are pirates which I do not believe to be the case.
I agree that DRM does not decrease piracy. I know that DRMed books are pirated and probably more than non DRMed books. But.. most best seller/popular books are sold with DRM. The piracy market is driven by both popularity and obscurity. Popular books are more often than not sold with DRM. Obscure books have to be hunted down and scanned etc. Obviously popular books will appear first just as they did before ebooks.
Probably I am missing the real evidence in your post? Sorry for going on like a rabid dog but sometimes I get stuck between a rock and a crazy place.
Helen