Why haven't e-book companies patched their DRM?

[Robotech_Master]

Apple was famous for patching every new Fairplay crack with a new version of iTunes.

But on the other hand, cracks for LIT, Mobi, and eReader have been around for years…and they continue to work.

Why haven't the e-book companies patched their readers to invalidate the cracks?

(Not that I want them to or anything. I'm just curious why they haven't.)

[Moejoe]

I would guess that the market is too small for them to bother with regular updates of DRM schemes. If the market grows, I suspect you'll see the DRM updated more frequently. Just a guess though.

[zelda_pinwheel]

or... maybe in some cases they know that people will buy their format specifically because it's been cracked, so it's really in their interest not to fix it, so they keep selling more.

but that's pure speculation on my part. it could easily be the "market too small" thing too.

[tompe]

Probably because it is not possible to update all the reader software.

Or maybe the seller of DRM still sells it so they have no incentive to fix it.

[wayrad]

Maybe it's just as useful and effective as it ever was after being cracked...

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by wayrad

Maybe it's just as useful and effective as it ever was after being cracked...

[Lilly]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

or... maybe in some cases they know that people will buy their format specifically because it's been cracked, so it's really in their interest not to fix it, so they keep selling more.

but that's pure speculation on my part. it could easily be the "market too small" thing too.

That's true in my case; when my PRS-505 was my only reader, before buying a Kindle, I bought Lit format books 80% of the time for my PRS-505.

[Liviu_5]

Originally Posted by Lilly

That's true in my case; when my PRS-505 was my only reader, before buying a Kindle, I bought Lit format books 80% of the time for my PRS-505.

Let's put it like this; cracked drm = more sales;

before mobi dd - all my drm purchases lit except several early silly pdf's when I did not know better and two pdf's when no choice because of vast price difference with print (print 15$, drm pdf 4-5$)

after mobi dd before inept - many prc purchases in addition to lit;

after inept - I expect I will resume purchases of drm pdf's and try an epub drm soon too

if lrx dd comes about, I expect I will buy some of those too, but for now never bought any lrx; I got some lrx with the 50$ credit I got from Sony, but that's not *bought* as in pay money from my pocket

[Robotech_Master]

I suppose the "cracked DRM = more sales" theory is one possible explanation, but I'm always a bit suspicious of "conspiracy theory" ideas like that. I mean, given that the publishers are the ones clamoring for DRM, you would think they would insist that e-book vendors keep their DRM secure and uncrackable.

[Liviu_5]

Originally Posted by Robotech_Master

I suppose the "cracked DRM = more sales" theory is one possible explanation, but I'm always a bit suspicious of "conspiracy theory" ideas like that. I mean, given that the publishers are the ones clamoring for DRM, you would think they would insist that e-book vendors keep their DRM secure and uncrackable.

Honestly I think that authors and higher management are insisting on drm, rather than editors and the day to day people involved in publishing, so while I would not call it a conspiracy theory, it's just that the people who would have to clamor to patch the drm are not interested, the vendors others than Adobe are not interested, and it's not worth the cost of overhauling, especially when there is no unique all-in-one thingy (store, app, format) like iTunes...

This is why I am very curious how Adobe will respond to the inept challenge...

For me, I like having the options of buying multiple formats, but if there were a total lock down (impossible imho) I would revert to buying or borrowing print, waiting for wild versions of locked e's and such since with the exceptions of throwaway books when the print prices are very high and do not come down because those books are POD, while e prices are much lower, I have no intention of buying rentals so to speak...

In the iPod case, Apple was the essential beneficiary of drm because that locked people into iPods and that's where they made their money, not on iTunes which always has been a marginal revenue place for them. Even so, the iTunes drm was not as strict as in books since you could burn to a non-drm cd, easily rip the song with recording software, not to mention that 90%+ of the content people have on their ipods has never been bought from iTunes either...

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by Lilly

That's true in my case; when my PRS-505 was my only reader, before buying a Kindle, I bought Lit format books 80% of the time for my PRS-505.

yes, me too ; for drm books i bought almost exclusively lit to remove the drm (and because it's a good conversion format), and the very occasional mobi if the book is not available in other formats. i was so excited by the inept crack because i really want to support a standard format for ebooks and epub is my preferred format anyway, but i refuse to buy a book i could lose access to because of drm. now, instead of buying lit books, i can buy epub books, knowing that i can remove the drm and be sure to keep my library accessible to me, and be happy knowing i am "voting with my pocketbook" for an excellent standard format, as well.

Originally Posted by Robotech_Master

I suppose the "cracked DRM = more sales" theory is one possible explanation, but I'm always a bit suspicious of "conspiracy theory" ideas like that. I mean, given that the publishers are the ones clamoring for DRM, you would think they would insist that e-book vendors keep their DRM secure and uncrackable.

well, as Liviu said, it really depends on who is demanding drm ; so i don't know if it's really to the point of a conspiracy theory or simply that the ones who could do something about it don't care to. i've recently learned that french publishers in charge of the digital divisions are majoritarily opposed to drm (yay !!), but of course they need to figure out how to publish drm free in practice, bearing in mind that many authors insist on drm because they are still scared of evil pirates, and many of these editors' bosses are not so enlightened. nonetheless it's a good sign and it gives me hope that the drm war (here, at least) won't drag on for 10 years.

[Barcey]

The DRM vendors are in the business of selling the illusion of protection. As long as that perceived value is in place and they are collecting their percentage of each sale, they don't care.

They understand how the technology works and they know that if they change the DRM technology it will just get cracked again. For them to update the technology is very costly. For each crack they have to evaluate what it would take to fix, how disruptive it would be for the users and the negative publicity they would receive. It would also make them a target for the next crack because of the negative publicity. I'm sure they've evaluated all those things and decided the best action is to do nothing.

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by Barcey

The DRM vendors are in the business of selling the illusion of protection. As long as that perceived value is in place and they are collecting their percentage of each sale, they don't care.

They understand how the technology works and they know that if they change the DRM technology it will just get cracked again. For them to update the technology is very costly. For each crack they have to evaluate what it would take to fix, how disruptive it would be for the users and the negative publicity they would receive. It would also make them a target for the next crack because of the negative publicity. I'm sure they've evaluated all those things and decided the best action is to do nothing.

hm, that's an interesting point as well. actually i think that's the most convincing argument i've heard so far, and i'm really glad of it, because i don't want drm to be patched !!

[Boston]

I think perhaps its because the target market for ebooks is different than it was for music.

While there are bootleg sites for books, they haven't reached the masses like some of the illegal sites for sharing of mp3s.

As long as most people crack DRM so they can read, not to mass distribute then as others have said, the increase in sales negates the any lost sales.

This could change if eBook reading picks up on mass market devices (like the iPhone) and reaches the "why pay what you can get for free" market.

But for now, I think drm does what its intended for the most part (e.g. deters illegal sharing of books but isn't so unbendable that it prevents use).

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by Boston

But for now, I think drm does what its intended for the most part (e.g. deters illegal sharing of books but isn't so unbendable that it prevents use).

well... i have to disagree with this... i don't think it deters anyone who is determined to share their files, and i DO think that it sometimes prevents honest customers from accessing their legitimately purchased content...

but i agree that it's probably a question of scale. i think that book sharing is nowhere near the phenomenon music sharing was / is, simply because of the work involved in creating an ebook (particularly if it's not available as a commercial ebook). okay, for harry potter, there are people who are insanely dedicated and are willing to scan, ocr and proofread all night long and get it out there. but other than the insanely popular books i doubt it's anywhere close to the music sharing level.