Quote:
Originally Posted by DuneSoldier
I don't follow the point you are trying to make here. You're saying that DRM-Free music is only acceptable due to the fact that we standardized on the MP3 container?
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Not exactly. I'm saying that DRM-free music is available in music stores because consumer interest in MP3 players, and the associated software, reached a point where it was relatively easy to buy a song or album and download it seemlessly to your player. MP3 tagging had something to do with that, of course.
My point is, the ebook market doesn't have the same kind of sophistication at this point, and it doesn't enjoy anything near the saturation that MP3 players enjoy.
Think back to before the iPod made it big. MP3 players existed before then, but they didn't represent a big market, and the idea of putting music into MP3 format for consumers would've been a non-starter. If people wanted to carry around their music, they could do so with CD players or even cassette Walkmen. Computers had CD-ROM drives that could play audio CDs, so there wasn't really the need (from a vender point of view) to produce digital music files. The MP3 player changed that, and the impetus to the MP3 player was obviously the MP3 format.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DuneSoldier
One of the problems with DRM is the fact that there isn't some universal standard. If I want to buy a book from Fictionwise but it is only available in a secure format I'm SOL since I have a Sony Reader. I'm not a criminal, I don't violate copyright, I just want to buy an ebook and read it on my reader. If not for the DRM I could just use Calibre to convert it to ePub or LRF. But since it does have DRM, I can't use it without violating the DMCA and becoming a criminal.
All DRM is doing is having me renew my library card since I can't legally use the book on my Reader, and therefor won't buy the book.
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DRM isn't really your problem, though. Your problem is platform-dependency. If a secure format worked on
any reader, that would solve your problem. Secure doesn't
have to mean a file can't be cross-platform.
Think about the other kinds of DRM there are in the computer world. A product key (as many software packages include now) doesn't prevent you from using the product on any coputer with a compatible OS. There are also watermarks, that don't prevent you from copying the file anywhere, but discourage you from distributing it.