Are there any studies PROVING that DRM works?

[Worldwalker]

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

Lack of punishment means lack of incentive for respecting DRM, therefore people do what they want to do irregardless of whether DRM is there.

So we need more police, and bigger jails, and lock those readers up?

Why not just offer books that the readers can actually use they way they expect to, and avoid the whole issue? It's much cheaper.

Incidentally, I could strip DRM from any book I wanted to, any time I wanted to. Without searching my ebook reader and cross-checking with numerous publishers, nobody would ever know. And if I had any warning, even that wouldn't help them. So punishment is not an issue for me. Yet I do not strip DRM. I do not have someone else do it. I simply do not buy or read DRM-encumbered ebooks. I do not, and never have, read a single ebook that I do not have a legitimate right to. So your premise "everyone is a crook, and only the threat of punishment holds them in check" is false on the face of it.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Originally Posted by Worldwalker

So we need more police, and bigger jails, and lock those readers up?

Why not just offer books that the readers can actually use they way they expect to, and avoid the whole issue? It's much cheaper.

Incidentally, I could strip DRM from any book I wanted to, any time I wanted to. Without searching my ebook reader and cross-checking with numerous publishers, nobody would ever know. And if I had any warning, even that wouldn't help them. So punishment is not an issue for me. Yet I do not strip DRM. I do not have someone else do it. I simply do not buy or read DRM-encumbered ebooks. I do not, and never have, read a single ebook that I do not have a legitimate right to. So your premise "everyone is a crook, and only the threat of punishment holds them in check" is false on the face of it.

[Mwerbdiw]

DRM = Defective Repulsive Merchandise

[Seanette]

Originally Posted by MrPLD

I think the level where people get upset is when they can't even make a backup for their own purposes or transpose the media to another device.

I'd agree here, based on a recent battle with some Mobi files I wanted to move to Calibre for transfer to my iTouch when it arrives. All I wanted to do was make use of what I had legitimately obtained (purchase, download from sites specifically offering those files free, etc.) in the manner that fit my needs.

I think it's when DRM penalizes the honest customer that most people would start looking for ways around it.

[Seanette]

Originally Posted by CyGuy

I am against DRM in any form on any media for sale to the public, including eBooks, DVD, Blu-ray, software, etc.

Sharing copyrighted media is already illegal, period.

It should be way beyond the ability of some company or our legislature to cause media that we purchase not to perform how we demand that it perform, this is our country.

Putting DRM on an eBook as a method to “enforce law” is akin to making your new car have a speed limiter that won’t let the car go over 70 MPH. I mean why not, it is illegal to go over 70 MPH, right? Why not let the car manufacturers enforce law too?

All of this encryption on media that is for sale has not stopped anyone from sharing anything, all it does it prevent people from using that media in a way they want to. DRM punishes regular people and does nothing to those who share files…

Excellent points, and well stated.

[Seanette]

Originally Posted by neilmarr

***DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CONFUSE THE BIG 6 WITH YOUR EARTH LOGIC AND SALES RECEIPTS. THEY KNOW THAT DRM IS ESSENTIAL TO PROTECTING AUTHOR'S RIGHTS. RIGHTS ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN SALES***

That's said tongue-in-cheek, I know, Elfwreck. There's a massive amount of clear evidence out there that DRM protects authors' rights as effectively as a 'strictly no insects' sign in your garden protects against mosquitoes. Cheers. Neil

Must be careful reading this forum while eating.

(attempting to remove partially-chewed nachos from sinuses)

[Seanette]

Originally Posted by simonroyle

I was thinking USD2.99 for the ebook. Seems to be a price at which a lot of people don't have to give themselves a headache wondering whether to buy or not.

$2.99 for an e-book would be an easy "sure, buy it" decision for me unless it's the day before payday, in which case I can hold off until more money is available.

What I don't grasp is the pricing model that says it makes sense to charge as much for an e-book as for a physical volume, when an e-book does not incur paper/ink/printing/shipping costs. There's also less garbage, fuel use, etc. for an e-book.

[Seanette]

Originally Posted by Worldwalker

Exactly. If someone wants to steal your car badly enough, they'll show up with a flatbed and a fake repo order. The trick is to make it economically unprofitable to steal most cars. Not leaving your keys in the ignition is a good start.

So is driving something old enough that thieves aren't likely to be interested.

(co-owner with DH of a 1997 Ford Contour)

[Seanette]

Originally Posted by Psykhe

Too bad - because their is the only case which matters.

Because they create the product. The DRM something they use to protect said product. They decide to implement it or not. The questions "if it works or not" - which last time I looked is this thread about - is important for them and meaningless for the customer.

Wow, bit of a power trip here? Without customers, producers would go out of business rather quickly (kinda hard to continue all those executive perks when the business isn't bringing in actual revenue), and many publishing producers are more interested in squeezing blood from stones than in making doing business with them appealing to the customer (much less actually respecting a customer's "fair use" rights, such as being able to move legitimately purchased content to a different reader).

[Mwerbdiw]

The name Digital Rights Management is 1984-speak. Because it limits the rights of consumers, it would be more honest to call it Digital Rights Limitation or Digital Rights Interference or Digital Rights Destruction or something like that. When I break into your house and rape your wife and burn down the place, I will tell the police that there was nothing wrong with what I did because it was just management of the house.

[Worldwalker]

I've seen it said that DRM manages rights like prisons manage freedom.

I prefer to call it Digital Restrictions Management. That's what it's "managing", after all: restrictions on what you can do with what you just bought. And yeah, I get all crabby when people use the publishers' terms in a place like MR which should be reader-oriented. Well, there's a few shills we can't do much about (you've spotted one here, I think) but we can still at least choose our language instead of letting the bad guys choose it for us.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by Worldwalker

So your premise "everyone is a crook, and only the threat of punishment holds them in check" is false on the face of it.

I never said that. I never even implied that.

[jeffcobb]

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

I never said that. I never even implied that.

Lack of punishment means lack of incentive for respecting DRM, therefore people do what they want to do irregardless of whether DRM is there.

Kinda reads like that Ace. I am sorry for you that you see the world through such a cynical lens.

[Under the Covers]

Originally Posted by simonroyle

I was thinking USD2.99 for the ebook. Seems to be a price at which a lot of people don't have to give themselves a headache wondering whether to buy or not.

Actually, I'm one of those oddballs who would rather see a nice honest $3 price. Anyone who has actually worked with budgets and dollar amounts automatically rounds up or down, and I always recognize such a price as yet another form of trickery (pronounced "be on alert for theft of wallet"). On the rare occasions now when I run into a vendor who sells items for an honest price, I compliment that vendor and am much more apt to go back.

[Worldwalker]

Originally Posted by Under the Covers

Actually, I'm one of those oddballs who would rather see a nice honest $3 price. Anyone who has actually worked with budgets and dollar amounts automatically rounds up or down, and I always recognize such a price as yet another form of trickery (pronounced "be on alert for theft of wallet"). On the rare occasions now when I run into a vendor who sells items for an honest price, I compliment that vendor and am much more apt to go back.

Same here. That's one of the things I like about Baen: their books are $6.00, not $5.99. For everyone that "99" fools, there are probably two people who say "oh, another weasel." And not many people want to do business with weasels.