Unlocking the Gates of Alexandria: DRM, Competition and Access to E-Books

[meeera]

Originally Posted by AnnGirdharry

this discussion is an eye-opener.
As a (non techie) author, it's an eye opener to realise that people can remove DRM protection from a book once they've purchased it - so it makes DRM ineffective, doesn't it?

Yes, digital locks such as ADE/Amazon are both costly and trivially removed. Makes you wonder why many publishers mulishly keep on using them.

[MikeB1972]

Originally Posted by AnnGirdharry

this discussion is an eye-opener.
As a (non techie) author, it's an eye opener to realise that people can remove DRM protection from a book once they've purchased it - so it makes DRM ineffective, doesn't it?
I've wondered at Smashwords not using DRM but the ethos/ambiance of the site is not the same as Amazon and as an author I would trust buyers more who purchase from Smashwords- or am I living in a dream world?

by the way, apologies in advance from coming in at such a naïve level...

Best not to worry about it, DRM won't stop anyone determined / techie in the same way the locks on your car won't keep out a professional car thief.
It's designed for "accidental" or "casual piracy". e.g it would stop my mother handing copies of an ebook to everyone in her book club without realising she was doing anything wrong.

[meeera]

Originally Posted by MikeB1972

Best not to worry about it, DRM won't stop anyone determined / techie in the same way the locks on your car won't keep out a professional car thief.

Ebook DRM (in its commonest versions) is far easier for a non-techie to remove than a locked car is to open (with the possible exception of that car I had in the eighties which could be opened with a flathead screwdriver). Once the tools are installed, which takes a few minutes of following instructions, it's click, drag, drop, done.

[darryl]

The point that I have often made in other posts, put very simply, is that the industry continues to flourish, despite the ease of removing DRM. There will always be some piracy, but it seems that the number of people prepared to pay for their books is sufficient to support a healthy industry. Convenience seems to be the king. In short, make it easy and convenient to purchase at reasonable prices and provide good support, and losses to piracy seem to be minimal.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by meeera

Ebook DRM (in its commonest versions) is far easier for a non-techie to remove than a locked car is to open (with the possible exception of that car I had in the eighties which could be opened with a flathead screwdriver).

Most car doors can be opened with a flat head screwdriver.
Just use it to smash the window.

[MikeB1972]

Originally Posted by meeera

Ebook DRM (in its commonest versions) is far easier for a non-techie to remove than a locked car is to open (with the possible exception of that car I had in the eighties which could be opened with a flathead screwdriver). Once the tools are installed, which takes a few minutes of following instructions, it's click, drag, drop, done.

True, but by the time you have looked into it and found out it's DRM stopping you giving it away, found the tools, downloaded and installed the tools, you should then know why the DRM is there and can make an informed decision about giving ebooks to people.

As I said, the DRM is aimed at casual lenders who wouldn't necessarily know they shouldn't give the ebook away to anyone they want to, so from an education point of view it's still done it's job as the person should now know they shouldn't be giving it away.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by AnnGirdharry

this discussion is an eye-opener.
As a (non techie) author, it's an eye opener to realise that people can remove DRM protection from a book once they've purchased it - so it makes DRM ineffective, doesn't it?

Depends what you consider its purpose to be. It certainly won't deter the person who sets out to remove it, but it does play a useful role in giving a gentle reminder to the person who sees nothing wrong in giving copies of their books to their friends that it's perhaps not OK to do so.

[Pulpmeister]

One thing distributors might do is come up with a means of people paying for e-books who do not have credit/debit cards nor link to paypal. In other words, actual cash.

There are countless thousands, if not millions, who would like to buy ebooks if they could do so easily with actual money. Take my thumb drive down to the local bookstore/supermarket/digital shop, have my ebook purchases loaded onto it, pay tthe man, and go home. Just like buying my groceries or petrol for my car.

One day some genius will open an online shopfront store which does just that.

Maybe.

(Or, here's an afterthought, an Internet Cafe.)

[disconnected]

I'm not convinced that even preventing "casual sharing" results in a net gain for authors/publishers.

If a group of friends all read a lot then they can get their ebooks from Amazon and swap Kindles around; everyone on the Amazon forum seems to advocate this as an ethical and legal thing to do. Most of them probably spend at least as much on books as they would do otherwise; they just get more for their money by sharing.

If recipients of shared ebooks don't read much then probably few of them will go to the expense/bother of buying their own copy of a book. Possibly being able to easily share books would turn a few of them into habitual readers, willing to buy their own books (much as libraries are thought to do).

I think too many authors obsess about illegal copies of their books (many of which go unread anyway) instead of thinking about how to boost actual sales -- easy for me to say I guess since I'm not an author.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by disconnected

I'm not convinced that even preventing "casual sharing" results in a net gain for authors/publishers.

If a group of friends all read a lot then they can get their ebooks from Amazon and swap Kindles around

Unless you run in a circle that lights cigars with $20 bills and buys new cars every year, this is unlikely.

Kindles are fragile and (compared to books) expensive, and many people don't even lend books.
I certainly wouldn't go around lending a fragile expensive piece of equipment like it was a paperback.
(And when I lend paperbacks, experience has taught me to consider it giving a gift, because I probably will never see it again.

But it's also unnecessary because Amazon allows multiple devices on accounts and some amount of lending between accounts.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by AnnGirdharry

this discussion is an eye-opener.
As a (non techie) author, it's an eye opener to realise that people can remove DRM protection from a book once they've purchased it - so it makes DRM ineffective, doesn't it?
I've wondered at Smashwords not using DRM but the ethos/ambiance of the site is not the same as Amazon and as an author I would trust buyers more who purchase from Smashwords- or am I living in a dream world?

by the way, apologies in advance from coming in at such a naïve level...

I doubt that the average ebook buyer from Amazon is any less honest than the average ebook buyer from Smashwords. As has been pointed out in the past, most authors have a lot more to fear from obscurity than they do from piracy. One would think that eventually the publishing world will take the same direction that the music world did and drop DRM. It solves a problem that doesn't really exist.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

As has been pointed out in the past, most authors have a lot more to fear from obscurity than they do from piracy. One would think that eventually the publishing world will take the same direction that the music world did and drop DRM.

Musicians have revenue sources other than CD/download sales (eg live concerts, sales of memorabilia). Authors, on the whole, do not. I would suggest that piracy is, therefore, a bigger problem for authors than it is for musicians.

[darryl]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Musicians have revenue sources other than CD/download sales (eg live concerts, sales of memorabilia). Authors, on the whole, do not. I would suggest that piracy is, therefore, a bigger problem for authors than it is for musicians.

I'd have to give this one a little more thought. My initial reaction is that the average musician is likely in a position similar to the average author.

Piracy is something that will never be entirely eliminated. There are some recent indications suggesting that piracy of books is actually not a major problem, for instance the following two links from Nate's blog.

http://the-digital-reader.com/2015/07/23/new-survey-shows-ebook-buyers-in-the-uk-outnumber-pirates-by-fourteen-to-one/

http://the-digital-reader.com/2015/0...-the-internet/

I am interested in hearing what your views actually are on two major aspects of piracy.

Firstly, do you believe that the level of piracy as it currently stands jeopardises the existence of a viable industry?

And if not, do you believe that the industry would remain viable without DRM?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by darryl

I'd have to give this one a little more thought. My initial reaction is that the average musician is likely in a position similar to the average author.

Can you elaborate on what revenue stream you believe an author has that is the equivalent of concert performances for a musician?

I am interested in hearing what your views actually are on two major aspects of piracy.

Firstly, do you believe that the level of piracy as it currently stands jeopardises the existence of a viable industry?

And if not, do you believe that the industry would remain viable without DRM?

Piracy is certainly not an existential threat to the publishing industry, but that doesn't mean that it's not a significant issue. It is the publisher and/or author's choice whether or not to use DRM; the market will, in the long term, decide whether or not it's an acceptable thing. I can't see a viable library lending model that does not involve DRM, though, to give but one example.

[conan50]

Traditional publishers often give authors advances, so they would not be wholly at the mercy of book sales. Also ebooks are only a portion of the sales, print book, audio book, books sold at signings, movie rights for some books, and for some authors there are speaking engagements. I don't know if these will add up to live concerts for musicians, but some authors probably do quite well despite any potential ebook thefts.
I fully expect we will see a transition to ebook subscription services similar to the rise of music subscription services, on a much larger scale than current ebook subscription services. Ownership and DRM of ebooks will mean less over time. DRM has probably somewhat slowed the demise of print books, which may have been the ultimate goal of publishers, but change is upon them whether they want it or not.