|
I agree with the spirit of what braver is saying. Content provider are arguing out of both sides of their mouths.
If you want to argue that I'm paying for the physical copy that's fine but that means the digital copy is worth nothing.
If you want to argue that the digital copy has value because you're paying for the right to consume the content and not the container then that's fine but it means that if I want to change the container I shouldn't have to pay for the right to consume it again. Charge an administrative fee to recover the cost to convert it or let me do it myself.
If you want to argue that I'm buying a one time temporary license to read the content at the will of DRM gremlins then make it a "rent" button and not a "buy" button and charge me appropriately.
The publishing industry is arguing you're paying for the physical copy and not the content for paper books but you're paying for the content and not the physical media with an ebook. You have to play by the old rules for regional restrictions. You're only temporarily licensing the right to consume the book and we can remove that right at any time. The old rules of right of first sale don't apply so you can't resell. You can't pass the text through a text to speech engine because that might hurt audio book sales. It costs more to temporarily rent you an ebook then to sell you a physical book. Copyright violation is stealing. Illegal downloads are the greatest evil facing mankind. The public just needs more education to understand all this.
Having said that complaining to Amazon won't get anywhere. The publishing industry have made them an evil pariah over something as simple as reasonable ebook prices. They aren't going to further alienate themselves over this (even if they agree). They've demonstrated this with the TTS issue. There's no money in it for them. It's the publishing industry you'd have to convince and good luck with that.
Luckily I'm not bitter.
|