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To be fair, we don't know if there is any DRM (although it does appear this author unwisely chose to use it). Each author can choose whether or not to include DRM (and the default is none, with DTP).
Also, with the new royalty scheme, the author must offer it in all geographic regions in which they have ebook rights (which for most means, worldwide) and price it at 80% or less of the print list price (of course, since most are using essentially vanity press/POD for their print books, this doesn't mean much), with a maximum cap of $9.99, which is what this author chose. Many are choosing $2.99, as that pretty much increases their sales several hundred-fold. A few others are keeping at the old royalty level and a price below $2.99, as they saw a 10-fold increase in dropping from $3 to $2 and again dropping to $1. It's easy math to see that 100 times increase in sales beats a 2 times increase in royalty rates. Plus, with a following, they can dream about a "real" publishing contract (which some have achieved in this manner); at the least, their other books sell better at the higher $3 price when there is a full-length "sample" (a full novel) of their work at the $1 range, which is the impulse price point these days, as seen by those selling music and apps.
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