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Originally Posted by bingle
Yeah, you're right. DRM can't do anything to protect content. In my opinion, not even with an entity controlling the reader in its entirety - anything that can be read can be copied, although it's possible it will be a slow and laborious process. That still doesn't stop it, though, as can be seen by the proliferation of pirated print books, VHS tapes, and so forth that eventually end up on the internet.
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Which is why I use the term "The stated purpose of DRM". People more knowledgeable than I have proven that DRM cannot fulfull its stated purpose.
So the "real purpose of DRM" must be something else. The only purpose we can see is to lock honest users into a closed, proprietary system.
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Originally Posted by bingle
My point with my new DRM scheme (the, uhh, PAPER based one, for anyone who missed it ;-P) is that by tying an ebook to a physical medium, you're not really getting much of a benefit from the "e-ness" of it. And you can't ever beat the security of paper with a digital medium - if you're not going to reap the benefits of the medium, why do it at all?
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But pBooks aren't that secure either. Within 12 hours after the new Harry Potter book was available on paper, it was available in an unofficial eBook version.
While it would take one person a long time to digitize one book, it takes much less time and effort for 40 people to digitize a chapter each.
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Originally Posted by bingle
One of the big draws of ebooks is the fact that they can be easily copied. Almost all of their benefits depend on that. By restricting the ability to make copies, you remove the *point* of the format. Especially by tying it to a physical medium, as print books are.
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I wouldn't use the term "big draws" to describe the ease of copying.
The biggest benefit of eBooks is convienence. They are much lighter and much more compact. I can, theoretically, carry around my whole O'Reilly reference library on my iLiad, for example.
The ability to easily copy an eBook is actually a drawback - because it causes DRM to seem to make business sence.