Social DRM

[mrmikel]

It would have the advantage of not being meaningful to anyone else, also. Nice idea!

[EowynCarter]

Originally Posted by mrmikel

It would have the advantage of not being meaningful to anyone else, also. Nice idea!

Personally, I would hate that.
I don't want my book altered in anyway.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Freeshadow

@ skreuzer The keyword here is "social".
If it's non intrusive a fair user has no interest in removal.
An unfair one needs nothing but two copies from varying users, diff in a shell and some braincells.
Might even have own interest in keeping unique markers on own stuff.
Think: name on clothes/personal logos/wallpapers on devices etc.
A QR encoded but not first-sight in plain view embedded identifier is subtle, machine readable and thanks to the rising spread of smartphones yet easily accessible to humans.
embedding it as svg code inside existing SVGs makes it at least partly resistant to non intended damage, math games with timestamps are the direct counterexample of resistance. A wee typo correction or inclusion of a custom meta data field is highly likely to screw the identifier up.

Quite honestly, we are all farting in the breeze, here, because unless someone is selling ebooks from their own site, like bloody Fabergé eggs, and taking all the TIME and effort Social DRM (liked, disliked, cool, uncool, whatever) would take to implement, a) it's useless, as shown by howeversomany other posters already, as it's easily findable and nukable, and b) it can't be used via ANY actual retailer that's going to sell any actual QUANTITY of books.

So: if you have what is the equivalent of a digital vanity press operation (this idea alone is starting to make my freaking head hurt), selling a boutique book operation (yessss, I feel the first stirrings of a migraine....), then we're all wasting our time having this conversation, because anyone willing to go to all THAT bloody trouble probably has spent actual, real, live MONEY, and wants a return on it, which means....YESSSSSSSS!!! They will be selling it on Amazon, B&N, Kobo (assuming its little four-legs aren't aimed at the sky soon), et al, in which case, "Do Not Pass Go, Do Not collect your $0.99." No Social DRM possible. And we're back at folks having formats that the nefarious-minded (and those honorable souls, whom, of course, only really want to read it on their other devices) already know how to circumvent.

Logic. It's just so relentlessly sucky.

You are now returned to your regular programming.

Hitch

[AlexBell]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Personally, I'd like it if books I bought had a nice graphical title page with my name, date and place of purchase, purchase price, and a facsimile of the author's signature.

That's the kind of social DRM it would be nice to have.

I have an ebook from Verso Books http://www.versobooks.com/
which has my name and email address on several pages in the front matter. I don't much care for the additions.

I have no relationship with Verso Book except buying this ebook from them.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by AlexBell

I have an ebook from Verso Books http://www.versobooks.com/
which has my name and email address on several pages in the front matter. I don't much care for the additions.

I have no relationship with Verso Book except buying this ebook from them.

There's a big difference between "my name and email address on several pages in the front matter" and a pleasing page that's essentially a signed 'Ex Libris'.

But, as Hitch reminds us, unless you're J K Rowling, it's not going to happen. (And I was very disappointed that they didn't include a prettier visible attribute for their social DRM, as well as all the hidden bits.)

[Freeshadow]

+1 for the mouse

[DomesticExtremis]

Originally Posted by Hitch

<rant />
Hitch

Yep, +1.

[khoogeland]

Me too. +1 that is. Something nice, like an ex-libris containing my name and date of purchase would be more likely to keep me from spreading copies than something hidden. It would please me, rather than annoy me. The book would feel like it's mine. It's like writing your name in a paper version.

Also it couldn't possibly be harder to encode this, than it would be to encode my data in a string of numbers. And I really do prefer carrot to stick.