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My favorite form of reading material comes with the strictest DRM scheme imaginable: it is printed on pulped fibers, of various origin, and using a mixture of indelible inks. The only way to get a "digital" version of some of that stuff is to treat it like the vinyl LP you want on your iPod: make an analog-to-digital copy.
Would I purchase a digital copy of a book with my rights managed/imposed? Maybe, if there was no other way—including paper—to get the same intellectual content... but only then if it was something I truly wanted to read. I'll go for paper every time, before willingly selecting a format that I can't read on whatever platform I choose.
That said, would I—as an author—allow my works to be sold or distributed with DRM? That depends. If it is a publisher I know and respect, and I am on good terms with them, and especially if the publication is a magazine or anthology (meaning the intellectual property of other authors is also at stake, and not just my own words), then I probably wouldn't have any complaints with the process. I might not like it, but recognizing it as a potential necessity I wouldn't fight it.
And that stipulation goes especially-double if the same content is readily available on physical, honest-to-goodness pulped fibers.
- M.
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