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@Hitch. You've just about convinced me that DRM may indeed effectively serve the purpose you set out. I wouldn't quite say I've changed my mind, but I'm thinking about it. Because I was in legal practice for many years, and your comments do resonate with my experience to some extent. Many people, even some very intelligent people, simply don't understand the basics of how our society and its institutions function, except on the most basic level. Many years ago a friend of mine said of a colleague with multiple degrees including a masters, "I'm just surprised that he can get up and dress himself of a morning and get to work!" A surprising amount of time was spent just helping people with some pretty mundane everyday tasks. And yes, of course we do tend to erroneously judge people in general by reference to our own social groups. Of course, if you are right, my oft stated conclusion that most people choose to pay rather than go to the trouble of pirating if books are reasonably priced and conveniently available may need revision. I'm sure there are many people who fall into that group, but its certainly possible that the larger group is the people who are simply defeated by DRM, as easily circumvented as it is. At present I simply don't know.
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