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Originally Posted by HarryT
Because, as I keep saying, I think that the very act of buying a book with DRM sends entirely the wrong message to the publisher of that book. It's only by NOT buying from those publishers that they'll get the message that customers don't want DRM.
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If my memory serves me, you are making these two arguments repeatedly over several threads. I will rephrase in my words not quoting you exactly.
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1. Only way to show our dissatisfaction with DRM is not to buy DRMed books and buy non-DRMed books (e.g. Baen)
2. Publishers will not have incentive to drop DRM if DRMed books sell well.
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I think they are both wrong. For argument's sake, I will set side the legality issue.
1.
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1. Only way to show our dissatisfaction with DRM is not to buy DRMed books and buy non-DRMed books (e.g. Baen)
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This does not hold since books offered without DRM are of different types from those offered with DRM. For example, good guys like Baen specialized in SF/Fantasy while bestsellers are sold with DRM.
If Baen's non-DRMed books sell well but not DRMed bestseller, the publishers cannot tell between two explanations:
a) ebook readers are more partial to SF/Fantasy genre (or more specifically Baen authors) and/or bestseller readers do not want them in ebook.
b) People hate the inconvenience of DRM.
If publishers conclude a) (no ebook market for bestseller), they may stop publishing them in ebook.
In contrast, by buying books with the most easily circumvented DRM (e.g. lit or now epub), consumers can clearly signal to publishers that we are willing to pay for ebooks but hate DRM.
How will publishers know that consumers hate DRM if DRMed books sell well? For example, if the epub sales goes up after the new de-drm tool is available, it will signal b) but not a).
(BTW, I would love to do this analysis with proper data but I am not sure whether they are available).
2.
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2. Publishers will not have incentive to drop DRM if DRMed books sell well.
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Even with successful sales of DRMed ebook, publishers have incentive to drop DRM since implementing DRM costs money. Once the ebook market is established with sizable sales, publishers can increase their profit by reducing cost by dropping DRM. Apple iTune can be an example of this.