DRM, Rentals, DRM-stripping and Morality

[ApK]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The problem is that unless there is a way to let the publisher's know the reason you aren't buying DRMed eBooks is because of the DRM, then all they will think is oh eBooks, they don't sell. So we can stop them.

"unless there is a way?"
Phones, letters, email, public Internet postings.....?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ApK

"unless there is a way?"
Phones, letters, email, public Internet postings.....?

But for every DRMed eBook you would have bought had it not had DRM, you'll have to let the publisher know that you did not buy it because of the DRM. This is the only way they might get the message.

[MrsJoseph]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But for every DRMed eBook you would have bought had it not had DRM, you'll have to let the publisher know that you did not buy it because of the DRM. This is the only way they might get the message.

There are also sites like this one: Lost Book Sales:

Every day an author and a publisher lose out on a sale of book. This is a site for readers to tell the world about the lost sale whether it is because of price, territorial restrictions or general availability. There are a whole host of reasons a particular book is not distributed all over the world. Sometimes agents advise their authors to sell only domestic rights which usually means US or UK get the goods. Sometimes publishers aren’t exploiting those rights.

When an author writes a book, intellectual property rights are created that run with the book. Think of those rights as a bouquet of flowers. When authors enter into contracts with publishers, generally, they sell just a few flowers to the publishers. Those flowers give the publisher the right to use that Book in various ways but only in North America. But these contracts can vary a great deal. Foreign rights sales can end up making as much money for the author as the original advance.

What I have been told by some authors is that they don’t want to impair their marketability for those foreign markets by allowing an English-language digital edition to be sold in that region. Other authors say that their foreign edition rights haven’t been purchased by any publisher and they don’t want to give them up for no additional money.

Still other authors say that their publishers have the rights and the publishers won’t exploit them. Nonetheless, the only reality we readers know is that we want to buy the book but can’t.

While this site may not be the best for your particular request...it wouldn't be too hard to create something like it specifically related to DRM. In fact, if I had the ability to do so and attach it to MR like the wiki, I would do so.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But for every DRMed eBook you would have bought had it not had DRM, you'll have to let the publisher know that you did not buy it because of the DRM. This is the only way they might get the message.

Such is the way of a boycott. Nothing new here. Like any good revenge story, let them feel the pain and make sure they know why.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ApK

Such is the way of a boycott. Nothing new here. Like any good revenge story, let them feel the pain and make sure they know why.

Oh and one thing I forgot to mention... any eBook you don't buy because of DRM, you are not allowed to buy as a pBook or borrow from the library.

They have to get nothing from these lost sales.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Oh and one thing I forgot to mention... any eBook you don't buy because of DRM, you are not allowed to buy as a pBook or borrow from the library.

They have to get nothing from these lost sales.

Most effective that way, but not entirely necessary. They are not total morons. They are not going to see Kindles flying off the shelves, see non-drm outlets making millions (which they will do if we support non-drm books with our wallets), see all the anti-drm mail they are getting and then decide "oh I guess people are just not interested in reading Stephen King as an ebook."

[Catlady]

It seems to me totally unrealistic to expect readers to rise up and boycott DRM-ed books. Books are not fungible. If I want to read Anne Perry's latest, I'm not content to substitute some other author's non-DRM-ed mystery for it--I want to read Anne Perry, and that's that. Why should I deprive myself when I can easily overcome the annoyance of DRM?

[toddos]

Originally Posted by Catlady

It seems to me totally unrealistic to expect readers to rise up and boycott DRM-ed books. Books are not fungible. If I want to read Anne Perry's latest, I'm not content to substitute some other author's non-DRM-ed mystery for it--I want to read Anne Perry, and that's that. Why should I deprive myself when I can easily overcome the annoyance of DRM?

You can still send email/paper mail to the publisher, store, and author indicating that you're buying their DRMed product under duress.

Edit: Personally, I'd rather just fly under the radar. DRM-free books would be nice, and I think the market will get there eventually, but as long as the major DRM schemes remain easily breakable I'd rather avoid drawing attention to that fact. The publishing industry today is approximately where the music industry was in 2000-2001. The big boys are just getting a taste of the digital market and are running scared from pirates, insisting on DRM even though no consumer wants it. There are a handful of smaller places that actually get it, selling non-DRMed works, but they'll continue to be niche sellers. Eventually a sea change will happen and publishers will understand that they don't need DRM to protect their works. My original prediction was that would take another 7-10 years, but it's quite possible that JK Rowling's DRM-free Harry Potter releases this fall will be the catalyst for change that we need.

Rather than selling books DRMed up the yin yang, we'll get DRM-free-but-watermarked books. DRM will only remain for time-limited services like library book lending, a la music subscription services like Zune, Rhapsody, etc. Though even those are going away in favor of streaming services like Pandora, Last.fm, Spotify, Slacker, etc, so perhaps we'll see legitimate subscription access to online book reading eventually. Google and Apple are almost there, with their "cloud-based" readers. Now they just need to enable subscription access.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Catlady

It seems to me totally unrealistic to expect readers to rise up and boycott DRM-ed books. Books are not fungible. If I want to read Anne Perry's latest, I'm not content to substitute some other author's non-DRM-ed mystery for it--I want to read Anne Perry, and that's that. Why should I deprive myself when I can easily overcome the annoyance of DRM?

I pondered this question myself when drm removal software first became available.

I decided to buy. I just don't see any boycott of DRMed ebooks actually gaining enough adherents to have any measurable effect on ebook sales, not when the vast majority of ebook buyers have yet be bitten hard by DRM.

I hopeful that in the next five years or so the publishers will come to their senses, and understand that DRM is only costing them money. I'd expect that without DRM they could get a 80%/20% split on income from retailers.

[pidgeon92]

Originally Posted by Catlady

It seems to me totally unrealistic to expect readers to rise up and boycott DRM-ed books. Books are not fungible. If I want to read Anne Perry's latest, I'm not content to substitute some other author's non-DRM-ed mystery for it--I want to read Anne Perry, and that's that. Why should I deprive myself when I can easily overcome the annoyance of DRM?

Completely agree. Reading is one of my greatest pleasures in life, and I'm not going to deny myself over something that is rather trivial in my eyes.

[JSWolf]

As long as I can strip the DRM, I'm good to go. And it's true, there is no substitute for your favorite authors. No indie author is going to be the same. It doesn't work.

[ApK]

If you want change it will take some sacrifice. But for now, as I said, I'm in the "doesn't bother me" camp with you. When DRM becomes near impossible to remove and draconian to use, I'll probably take up the fight Hope you will too, even if it means holding off on some of your faves for a bit.

[pietvo]

Originally Posted by Catlady

It seems to me totally unrealistic to expect readers to rise up and boycott DRM-ed books. Books are not fungible. If I want to read Anne Perry's latest, I'm not content to substitute some other author's non-DRM-ed mystery for it--I want to read Anne Perry, and that's that. Why should I deprive myself when I can easily overcome the annoyance of DRM?

I think we should organize a DRM-free week or something similar. In that week nobody should buy a DRM'ed ebooks. Maybe that will get the message to the publishers. At least they will see something strange in their statistiscs and try to find out what's happening.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by pietvo

I think we should organize a DRM-free week or something similar. In that week nobody should buy a DRM'ed ebooks. Maybe that will get the message to the publishers. At least they will see something strange in their statistiscs and try to find out what's happening.

I honestly think you're mistaken in your belief that the average reader actually CARES about DRM. I really don't think that they do, because it doesn't stop them from reading books on their Kindle, nook, Kobo, or whatever it is they may have. The typical user does not have half a dozen different readers; she has one, and buys from the store associated with her reading device.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I honestly think you're mistaken in your belief that the average reader actually CARES about DRM. I really don't think that they do, because it doesn't stop them from reading books on their Kindle, nook, Kobo, or whatever it is they may have. The typical user does not have half a dozen different readers; she has one, and buys from the store associated with her reading device.

I think this is very true.

As much as I would like to see DRM eliminated, I don't think that the number of people who give a flying fig about ebook DRM is big enough to make the kind of monetary "noise" that would be necessary for publishers to take notice... even if you could get them all to boycott.

And while I'm absolutely certain that I could find new favorite authors from the plethora of DRM-free material available. That would—in no way—lessen my desire to keep reading my old favorite (drm-infested) authors. I see absolutely no benefit to depriving myself of the authors who've already earned automatic go-to-the-front-of-the-class passes on my TBR list... for any length of time.