Would you be e-reading if DRM was unbreakable?

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

I think publishers wouldn't mind making the usage of ebooks so cumbersome that people actually *would* return to paper books.

Common misconception. If the big publishers really wanted everyone to return to paper and give up on ebooks, they'd just stop selling ebooks (while camping out on the rights to do so). No, they may have kicked up their heels at first, but they've been in full-on cake-and-eat-it-too mode for quite some time now. They want readers to be able to buy the hardback, the trade-PB, the MMPB, and two copies of the ebook, if they're so inclined.

Nobody's going to invest in the hardware infrastructure upgrades necessary to stream every book ever published one page at a time to millions of readers' who are going to scream bloody murder the first time there's a connectivity issue when they're ten pages away from the grand finale.

Cripes, it sounds like something straight out of a Jasper Fforde book: "Text Grand Central was down for over five hours this weekend before JurisTech could track down the glitch."

[calvin-c]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Why is everybody thinking that this will not happen?

There is Spotify, and other services that stream music, the gaming industry is gearing up to stream games, software is moving toward the cloud running in browsers (effectively streaming the software), and there are already some services that stream books, and you can only read them using their smartphone or tablet apps.

So tell me: why would no-one ever start doing this with books on a big scale?

Good question. Of course it's not your original question but maybe it's the one you should have asked instead?

I don't stream music, games, software, or videos so maybe I'm the wrong one to say that it won't happen but if it does then I will simply quit reading ebooks. I'll also, probably, boycott the ebook 'seller' that does this.

As I've said, the DRM isn't the problem-for me, at least. The problem is the lock-in to a particular device or software. I suppose a seller could give me the ability to 're-stream' the book whenever I wanted to, to any (compatible) device I registered with them, but I probably still wouldn't buy from them. I've got too much distrust, mostly based on experience, to believe that a seller who promises 'forever' will really deliver forever. Even if the seller doesn't go out of business they *always* reserve the right to change the terms of the agreement. The only force I can think of that would change that would be a law requiring a seller to honor whatever the terms were when you originally bought the product.

Anyway, streaming isn't for me. I've heard that kids like it but I have no idea why. I suspect it has to do with the schools now teaching children what to think rather than how to think. Around here that's apparently called 'back to basics'. This is a clean forum so I won't mention what I call it.

Unbreakable DRM would make very little difference since I don't buy very many books. Public domain, creative commons, and some books sold under traditional copyrights don't include DRM so nothing would change there. DRM for library books is entirely legitimate since you need a mechanism to ensure that books are "returned". However, I would stop buying ebooks that have DRM and seek out a physical copy if I felt that the book was important enough to read.

[goldilocks]

"Would you be e-reading if DRM was unbreakable?"

Yes! In fact when I first got my Sony all I could download from Sony was LRX (or was it LRF?) format (which I still like better than ePub). The DRM was not breakable and no one ever accomplished breaking it. Of course, after Sony switched to ePub it was not worth the effort to try anymore.

But I cannot read the small print in paperbooks anymore - so DRM or not, I will still purchase and/or acquire DRM eBooks. I have also been scanning my books due to space constraints and termites.... So if there was a new DRM that was not breakable I would buy the book and scan it if I could not get an eBook that would work on my particular reader.

[speakingtohe]

I would just carry on.

I didn't know about DRM when I bought my first reader, and wasn't upset on finding out about it. I paid $379 for a Sony PRS-600 which I gave to a co-worker last year. Never regretted it for an instant.

I bought it because I could get library books in a remote Arctic location.
I learned how to remove DRM within a day or so, but rarely bothered. I don't reread and seems wrong with a library book.

I will do it if a book is particularly ugly on the Kobo and I don't have it on my Sony, but prefer to leave library books as is.

Bought or free books I will before reading so I can format them as I wish. I am not worried about losing them. Could happen, just isn't causing me anxiety. After all I have had more than a few lost or damaged paper books in my time.

And it is not really that simple to copy or back up paper book

Helen

[calvin-c]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

Bought or free books I will before reading so I can format them as I wish. I am not worried about losing them. Could happen, just isn't causing me anxiety. After all I have had more than a few lost or damaged paper books in my time.

And it is not really that simple to copy or back up paper book

I suspect you mean convenient rather than simple. It's really pretty simple to make copies. Just turn on the copier, put the open book on the glass face-down, and press copy. Repeat those simple steps until you're done. That's time-consuming and possibly expensive (depending on the copier) so it's inconvenient, but not difficult or complex. (I'm sure that one or the other of those is the opposite of simple. Isn't it?)

BTW, my fear of losing books stems from a time when I lost several of the books in my TBR pile. Losing books I've already read is one thing but losing them (through no fault of my own either) before I've even read them, now that ticked me off!

[Tattncat]

If the Publishers developed an unbreakable drm, it would impact my purchasing their ebooks but not my reading. I have managed to acquire by picking up freebies, public domain and my purchases, what I consider to be a large number of ebooks.
I would pick up the occasional drm book, and concentrate on reading my personal library's contents plus public domain and library books. I would not be purchasing paper books unless a special collector's edition took my fancy.

[Sydney's Mom]

Originally Posted by cadele

Couldn't face going back to paper again and I won't pirate, so that would leave me with non-DRM indie books and out of copyright. I expect I would eventually weaken and break down and buy a must-have DRM infested book, but I wouldn't be happy.

Just the thought makes me much happier about my vast TBR - suddenly an asset and not a nagging guilt after all.

As my husband says, if it wasn't bytes, there would be a real problem!

[spellbanisher]

I rarely ever remove the drm on the books i buy.

[bgalbrecht]

I would stop buying ebooks from the retailer(s) with the unbreakable DRM, unless all the retailers switched to the same format and I could read them on any ereader. I have so many ebooks now, I would probably only have to consider buying a few books from favorite authors when they are release new books in series that I want to continue to read.

[meeera]

I might buy a few $1-2 unbreakable DRM books, if I wanted to read them straight away so the risk of sudden unavailability was a non-issue. I'd completely stop buying full-price DRM ebooks, though.

[Arithonne]

I'd still buy e-books, but I suspect my TBR collection would be smaller. Largely because I'd be more leery of buying something I'm interested in reading but not in the very near future just because it's temporarily at a low price. I'd also prioritize reading and buying books sold without DRM. It might also effect the maximum price I'd be willing to pay for a DRM-ed book. Ultimately, I'd don't think there's ever going to be an unbreakable DRM scheme.

I also can't see streaming only catching on any time soon for books. Sure there are streaming services for music and TV/movies, but that's essentially a different and more customizable method of delivering radio and TV. And even with streaming services, you can still buy the item outright.

[Mhtsos]

Buy non-drm books,download copyright free books,pirate and buy paperbacks.
I never had and never will give a single cent for exclusive DRM material.

[GeoffR]

If DRM was unbreakable I'd still be ereading: DRM-free ebooks from publishers like Baen and Tor, and DRM ebooks from my local library.

But I don't think I'd buy any unbreakable-DRM ebooks, I would treat such a book the same way I do one that is not available as an ebook at all -- wait until it becomes available as an ebook without unbreakable DRM, or reluctantly buy the paper or audio version.

[pdurrant]

There isn't an option for me. I'd go back to doing what I did from 2003 to 2008, which is continue to buy ebooks, but only ones that were DRM-free.

Currently that would be ones from Baen, TOR, and various independent publishers.