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Originally Posted by davidrothman
If nothing else, meantime, remember that any OpenReader-related DRM will be (1) optional for publishers, (2) done in a way that avoids an Adobe- or Microsoft-style chokehold and (3) allow books to be accessed permanently and owned for real. With DRM, OpenReader will go either the Open Source route or a semi-proprietary one, if the standards setters believe this is necessary. I’m rooting for the open source possibilities if it can be user friendly. We’ll see what the standards setters deem effective without anything being a chokehold (we know that today’s DRM is better at enforcing Adobe’s marketshare than in protecting e-books).
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But this type of DRM cannot exist.
The stated purpose of DRM is to lock the content to the purchaser to prevent piracy. DRM with the attributes you describe cannot do that, for the simple reason that the lock design and key are available for anyone to see and use. It's like putting a lock on your house and then always keeping a spare key under the door mat. There's no security.
5 minutes after any open source DRM is created, someone will have written a program to take the DRM off. Make it 10 minutes if they go the semi-proprietary route.
If there is no security, why bother with putting DRM on in the first place? It's adding cost to something and getting nothing in return.
If we bend reality a bit and assume that such a DRM scheme can be made to work, it still has all the problems of any other DRM scheme:
+ If support for the format goes away, your content becomes useless.
+ You cannot transfer your content to someone else.
+ If a device comes out that does not support the format, you cannot read the eBook on that device.
Simply put, your DRM-scheme cannot be "done in a way that avoids an Adobe- or Microsoft-style chokehold" and cannot "allow books to be accessed permanently and owned for real." and still be DRM. We either have no DRM, or we have a chokehold and eBooks cannot be accessed forever.
And all this doesn't even cover what the
true purpose of DRM is (i.e. format/device lock-in). Which means that it will be a tough sell to companies like Sony.