Sort of getting back to the original thread question. I certainly hope EPUB becomes the standard. DRM is, somewhat, a separate issue. To me it seems DRM is currently being used for two purposes; one that makes total sense and one that doesn't. DRM used to assure protection of copyrights and to assure that authors and publishers get fairly compensated for distribution of their books, even in ebook format, I have no problem with. Used to allow ebook distributors to force people to use only the ebook viewer that the distributor sells doesn't.

It is easiest for me to illustrate with an example. We all have an ATF book. Mine is Seven Japanese Tales by Junchiro Tanizaki (English translation of course). My paperback copy has been read so many times over the years that the pages are falling out of the binding. So I have decided to buy it in ebook format.

Now the original in Japanese is I am sure long out of copyright, but the English translation that has been published is still under copyright. So I would have no problem paying a reasonable price for the ebook version. I was in correspondence with Howard Hibbit, the man who did the translation, several years ago with some questions and he was very helpful. He deserves to be compensated with royalties for the effort of translation.

Owning a Sony reader my first thought was to search the Sony Store. No luck there. A general search of known ebook sources as well as a Google search revealed only one source—Amazon. And that in Amazon's proprietary format. The problem I see with Amazon's dominance in the book market is a vertical monopoly in the making. Want a less than common ebook title. You must buy it from Amazon. Want to view it on an ebook reader then buy the Kindle.

Now I will get Seven Japanese Tales in EPUB format with the ability to read it on my Sony Digital Edition, and on any other reader I might purchase in the future! I just would have preferred to do so in a 'strictly legit' fashion. That is why I hope EPUB becomes the universal format viewable on all ebook readers.

Sorry for being so long winded.