[pdurrant]

DRM doesn't prevent mass copying of ebooks. Even if the DRM can't be broken, ebooks can be made in other ways, and I suspect that most unauthorised ebooks have been created by scanning and OCR of paper books, rather than by breaking DRM schemes.

In short, there's no technological fix that will stop people swapping ebooks on torrents, dodgy web sites, etc.

What DRM can do is prevent casual local copying of ebooks by non-technical readers. The owner can't give a DRMed eBook to a friend to read. Sometimes it can even prevent the owner reading the book. And it always causes hassle, sooner or later, to the person who actually paid for the ebook.

So I dislike DRM. I feel it doesn't prevent mass copying and is a too heavy handed way to prevent local copying, and doesn't even do that for technically minded readers.

I think a much better way to handle things would be to personalise commercial eBooks. So any book bought at an eBook store would have a first page of text that read:

"This copy of (book name) by (author name) was bought by (customer name), (customer email address) from (online bookstore name) on (date)"

In my mind this is more effective than DRM, and is also actually useful for the person buying the ebook, as it gives a record of the purchase that can't be lost.

Because of the personalization, mass copying is discouraged. You might give a copy to a friend or two, but no more than you might lend a physical book.

It requires a little bit more computer power at the bookstore end, but not impossibly much, I'd have thought.

What do others think?