Quote:
Originally Posted by DiapDealer
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The publishers (and sometimes the authors) are under the impression that the device-specific DRM provided by kepub-only ebooks provides "more security" than the standard user-specific, ADEPT, side-loadable DRM scheme does. They've (publishers/authors) discovered that they can force this "extra security" by only providing Kobo with an epub3 of their product.
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By using their own DRM, and not providing an ePub download (protected with more 'portable' Adobe DRM), Kobo (or indirectly, the publisher) avoids having to pay royalties to Adobe. Same reason B&N stopped letting people download ePub (except in apps they have not yet updated), and why Nook devices always used a hidden partition for wireless downloads. It's about maximizing profit, and reducing costs associated with customer support. 'Download' option is going to result in customer support calls as well as royalties, given the relative complexity DRM introduces.
If there's a correlation with ePub3, it may be just because they apply this policy going forward with new ebooks and grandfather ePub download for books purchased earlier.
Of course none of this has anything to do with customer preferences or convenience or their 'security'.
As most people probably never bother to stray outside the boundaries of the walled gardens (or just travel between them to visit their various 'libraries'), this is unlikely to have many implications for ebook adoption rates, or the adoption of ePub3 (whatever that means when nobody has access to a 'file'). But for people with a more 'traditional' approach to building a personal library by collecting books or files thereof, it is a disaster in the making.
As long as publishers/authors insist on DRM, perhaps what is needed is some sort of independent brokerage where customer purchases would be automatically registered, and thereafter the content could be accessed from whatever (participating) ecosystem they wanted to use, without having to purchase them again or touch a DRM infested file. The ecosystems would not necessarily even need to sell ebooks but could offer services (reading apps and devices as well as cloud services) on subscription or ad-supported basis.
But I see no signs that publishers or retailers are interested in solving these kinds of issues, or at least the cooperation that would involve is impossible to achieve. Obviously the simplest solution for everyone would be to abandon DRM.