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At this point, I might as well forego the abstract discussion and go on record with my "official position," as an author and bookseller: That DRM is simply unnecessary.
My operating premise is that most customers who feel they are getting a good deal generally do not try to rip off the people who gave them that deal, nor do they encourage others to rip that person off. I sell my e-books at a low price, my customers can read my e-books on quite literally anything that can display text, and get a well-written story, cleanly produced and professionally packaged. Customers feel they are being treated well, getting a good book at a good price, and so they treat me well by not trying to take advantage of me.
I do not apply DRM to my books, because I accept that I have no control over the fate of an e-book file once it is in someone else's hands... once possessed, it can be re-ripped, converted, passed on, etc, as the possessor desires, and there's very little I can do about it, practically speaking. Therefore, I fall back on the reasoning of the first paragraph.
I operate based on this theory, in the understanding that if I continue to make money on my site, I will continue to sell e-books. If I find I am making no money, or feeling I'm just being taken advantage of, I will stop. (This is why I took my books out of the Kindle store, after a year of underperformance.) After 3 years online now, I feel I can say that the theory seems to hold water, and I plan to continue selling e-books accordingly.
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