Quote:
Originally Posted by fugazied
Also at the minimum, any attempt at DRM has to offer the same rights/usage as with a printed book, and most of them don't.
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I think it's unfair to expect the same rights (or rather
capabilities) for ebooks as for paper books.
I think the rights and functionality for media should be related to fair use, common sense, and the medium.
For example, lending an ebook is not the same as lending a paper book, since you will effectively be creating a copy and giving it away. No 'secure' form of lending is possible without DRM being applied. An example of this sort of thing is the Zune mp3 player. Zune has (had?) the ability to send songs to other users over WiFi. The user who received the song got DRM restrictions placed on listening to it a maximum of 3 times. That specific scenario wouldn't translate well into ebooks though.
What about selling an ebook? I don't think that is necessarily a right that should be transferred from paper books. Of course prices for ebooks should be lowered to take into account that owners can't sell them if that 'right' is taken away. I feel that part of the value of a paper book is the physical object.