Quote:
Originally Posted by AlexBell
I'm sorry, I don't follow you. Who is harmed if I remove DRM to make a backup copy, or to put the ebook on a different reader? No one loses a cent whether I do it or not - they still have the sale.
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They want more than one sale. One thing that was learned while music went through the various format changes was that people would keep buying the same stuff over and over again. It was easy money for the publishers. They want the same thing for books. If you can keep a copy forever, that's only one sale. If you have to buy it again when your ereader dies and the DRM update service is no longer being provided, then it's money in the bank for them. Not being able to legally resell and even lend the books in many cases is also a form of control that they never had over paper books.
I'm not saying you should have a guilty conscience over breaking the DRM, but I am saying that they have the law on their side, and that can have consequences for scofflaws. Fair or not, they play by the rules of the legal system, and DRM-breakers very likely don't. The fact that they spent reasonably large amounts of money to influence the laws means that they think it would make a difference. It's not about harm, but rather about power.