Penguin Press books - DRM'ed ?

[FacebookVirus]

I'm avoiding DRM as much as possible, and I'm interested in a Penguin Press book. Do they use DRM?

I will be purchasing from Amazon. This page looks like it's saying there will be no DRM if purchased from Amazon.

http://www.us.penguingroup.com/stati...s-formats.html

Am I reading this right?

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by FacebookVirus

I'm avoiding DRM as much as possible, and I'm interested in a Penguin Press book. Do they use DRM?

I will be purchasing from Amazon. This page looks like it's saying there will be no DRM if purchased from Amazon.

http://www.us.penguingroup.com/stati...s-formats.html

Am I reading this right?

No. That just says that if bought from Amazon it's not compatible with Adobe DRM.

All Penguin's ebooks have DRM at the moment.

[HarryT]

No, it simply says that it doesn't have Adobe DRM. Given that they use Adobe DRM for ePub it would be a little surprising if they didn't use Amazon's DRM on the Kindle.

Given the extreme ease of removing Amazon's DRM, does it really matter one way or the other?

[FacebookVirus]

Shucks. I *wanted* to believe.

It's probably safe for me to assume if it's DRM-free then it will say so.

Thank you for the input.

[FacebookVirus]

Originally Posted by HarryT

No, it simply says that it doesn't have Adobe DRM. Given that they use Adobe DRM for ePub it would be a little surprising if they didn't use Amazon's DRM on the Kindle.

Given the extreme ease of removing Amazon's DRM, does it really matter one way or the other?

It doesn't matter, since I have experience removing Sony's DRM with Alf's tools.

The same process hasn't worked on my Kindle, though. I need to check Alf's site and research why that is.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Given the extreme ease of removing Amazon's DRM, does it really matter one way or the other?

For some people, it's a principle not to buy DRM-ed media, not even if removal is trivial. I'm a bit less extreme; I will buy DRM-ed media if removal is trivial, but if DRM can't be removed, I won't buy it. Ever.

Still, I can respect the "I won't ever support any media that has DRM" standpoint. In my case, I'd be missing a lot of books I'd want to read.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

For some people, it's a principle not to buy DRM-ed media, not even if removal is trivial. I'm a bit less extreme; I will buy DRM-ed media if removal is trivial, but if DRM can't be removed, I won't buy it. Ever.

Still, I can respect the "I won't ever support any media that has DRM" standpoint. In my case, I'd be missing a lot of books I'd want to read.

Just so long as they actually tell the publishers that. If there isn't any feedback for them, then its just self-righteous posturing.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Just so long as they actually tell the publishers that. If there isn't any feedback for them, then its just self-righteous posturing.

The only DRM on games that I'll accept is entering a serial number or having to put the CD/DVD into the drive. (Or both.) If I need internet and a connection to the publisher for any media, it's an instant no-buy.

I actually do send mails or post on forums with regard to games I'm interested in, telling developing houses/publishers that if they make the game dependent on *ANY* sort of online activation or content, I'll not buy it, and I've stuck to it.

I'm a HUGE Baldur's Gate fan, but I did *not* buy the remake because it has actiavtion DRM using BeamDog's servers. BG2 will have that too, so I won't buy that remake either.

I *will* probably buy Torment: Tides of Numenera and Project Eternity, because they are going to be sold through GOG.com, which means no DRM, complete, and (almost always) a very good price.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

The only DRM on games that I'll accept is entering a serial number or having to put the CD/DVD into the drive. (Or both.) If I need internet and a connection to the publisher for any media, it's an instant no-buy.

I actually do send mails or post on forums with regard to games, telling developing houses/publishers that if they make the game dependent on *ANY* sort of online activation or content, I'll not buy it, and I've stuck to it.

Good for you! You have a principle and you stick to it in a meaningful way!

[FacebookVirus]

I find myself becoming lazy, or maybe it's just age. Having to connect my reader to a PC is a chore, not to mention having to keep a PC just for that reason.

Currently, I use an ereader, smartphone, and tablet. If I could run calibre and Alf's tools on one of them, I'd be thrilled. I suspect I'm not the only one.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Good for you! You have a principle and you stick to it in a meaningful way!

Bioware made me do it. After EA bought them, they went downhill fast. (Basically, everything EA buys goes downhill.) Their last good game Dragon Age: Origins. I had been waiting for it for over 4 years and I bought it. Then, DLC appeared. I bought that too.

And then, it was revealed that it (the DLC) had online authentication. Dragon Age itself could be played without creating an account if you wanted to, but the DLC couldn't.

Run game with DLC installed -> Check OK -> Play -> Save -> Quit game.
Start game -> DLC can't be authenticated -> Check Fails -> Game won't let you open any savegame that was created while the DLC was installed and active.

Result: you can't play.

They had a lot of problems in the weeks after the first two DLC releases. At that point I resolved to never buy any game or program relying on online stuff ever again. (Except if I don't care when losing it, such as some $1 smartphone games I bought because they struck my fancy.)

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Still, I can respect the "I won't ever support any media that has DRM" standpoint. In my case, I'd be missing a lot of books I'd want to read.

I think of it as 'The Author is missing more ROYALTIES'

[jbcohen]

As a general rule I assume that every publisher uses DRM, and their own DRM method. Unless the publisher says otherwise, for example Baen will state that they do not use DRM up front.

[FacebookVirus]

Originally Posted by jbcohen

As a general rule I assume that every publisher uses DRM, and their own DRM method. Unless the publisher says otherwise, for example Baen will state that they do not use DRM up front.

That's a good rule.

Tor does the same, and I've been delving into their works lately. I will be buying more Baen later. Between those two publishers alone there's more than I can keep up with.

It's funny, because I started using Linux on the desktop almost a decade ago. Over time I drifted more and more into purely open source distributions, primarily debian. The same is happening with my taste in ebooks.

[GreenMonkey]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

The only DRM on games that I'll accept is entering a serial number or having to put the CD/DVD into the drive. (Or both.) If I need internet and a connection to the publisher for any media, it's an instant no-buy.

I actually do send mails or post on forums with regard to games I'm interested in, telling developing houses/publishers that if they make the game dependent on *ANY* sort of online activation or content, I'll not buy it, and I've stuck to it.

I'm a HUGE Baldur's Gate fan, but I did *not* buy the remake because it has actiavtion DRM using BeamDog's servers. BG2 will have that too, so I won't buy that remake either.

I *will* probably buy Torment: Tides of Numenera and Project Eternity, because they are going to be sold through GOG.com, which means no DRM, complete, and (almost always) a very good price.

Ditto, I passed on BG Enhanced edition for the same reasons. Remote server authentication = no sale. I still play games that try to update (I'm thinking Heroes of Might and Magic 3 here) that try to reach out to servers that are long-gone. Any such authentication method in my mind is a rental, not a purchase, and the value to me declines by quite a bit, accordingly.