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Originally Posted by calvin-c
Maybe-and maybe not. Right now there's a question, at least in my mind, how far the 'inability to read the book' extends, and that will be determined by how they implement the technology.
As one example, if I lend out a free book (not only non-DRM, but maybe one downloaded from Gutenberg) should I be locked out of reading it?
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I suspect the lending ability will be limited to DRM'd books purchased from the BN store.
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Anyway, implementing the feature at all seems a friendly thing for B&N to do so it doesn't make a lot of sense for them to put severe restrictions on it. My biggest fear isn't that B&N has locked it down to the point where I can't read any copy of a book that I've loaned out, but that they've given publishers to option to 'lock out' the lending capability, much as other systems allow for printing.
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Yep.
I think lending is a step in the right direction--and the overly-cautious, DRM-infested version of it is going to flop like other forms of DRM. However, it'll bring up public awareness that you *should* be able to lend your ebooks, and hopefully make people realize that you *should* be able to re-sell them, as well... just like physical books.