[jabberwock_11]

I was going to let the matter go, as it seems that no consensus can be reached, but you have drawn me in. I know we will probably not see eye to eye on this, but maybe I can explain my argument in a way that you will show at least some of its merit. I realize that this thread is geared toward the needs of the writer, but if you are not meeting the needs of your customers, then you will not be a writer for long. I am not trying to be contrary, I am trying to help. Technical writing is one of the few areas where a writer can make a good living without a day job. It behooves those writers to understand what their customers' needs are. While people who create DRM will scream about piracy and the need to protect intellectual property, the fact is that the danger is just not real. The on-line music industry, for example, has mostly done away with the use of DRM because it simply did not work. It did not stop piracy, but it did stop customers from buying. Did this result in an increase in pirated music? Maybe a little, but those files were already out there for the taking. Did it also result in increased sales? Absolutely. The music industry is being hurt by their own inability to adapt, improvise, and overcome, not piracy. They scream about piracy while paying their executives outlandish salaries and continuing to market to the dwindling CD buyers, and yet even they saw the damage that DRM was doing to their sales. Customers do not like DRM and they will quite often show it with their pocket books.

If I am looking for a reference manual or technical piece then I usually have to make due with a hard copy, but more and more often those creatures are available as ebooks. When they are available in electronic format they are RARELY protected by DRM. Does this mean that the pirate sites are flooded with copies of sports medicine books, electronic schematics, and pilfered copies of the Pharmacopeia? Not so much, no. There is no demand for them on pirate sites, because there are not enough people who care about them.

If I absolutely need a manual for work and it happens to have DRM, then I either buy the book in paper or I buy the ebook anyway and strip the DRM off (not difficult to do) so that I can use it as I please. Most folks will not know how to do this and will either buy or photocopy the paper version if they don't want to deal with the DRM. To be a successful writer you need readers. A loyal base of readers is best established by meeting their needs, not by limiting their use of your works.