[jscarbo]

As an early adopter of ebooks in 2001, I found myself burned repeatedly as technology and devices changed and I lost access to my RCA/Gemstar, Franklin Bookman and Microsoft Lit ebooks. Fortunately, a large percentage of my early ebooks were purchased in DRM-free multi-format editions from Baen and Fictionwise so it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been.

I now buy most of my ebooks from Amazon and still try to buy DRM-free editions if possible. If not, Calibre and the apporpriate plug-ins allow me to store and protect my library against future loss of access.

The limited license granted by Amazon and other ebook sellers' terms of service and their incompatible proprietary formats are absurd. I treat them with the same degree of contempt they demonstrate towards their customers and simply ignore them.

I'd love to see meaningful reform of copyright law that balances the rights of the copyright holders with those of consumers but so long as the publishers lobby remains so powerful and well-funded, such reform isn't likely to happen anytime soon.