DRM and Purchasing?

[markom]

Originally Posted by latepaul

Scanning and OCR or simply have someone type it up.

Cory Doctorow made the point that if you look at the piracy that existed before ebooks were mainstream, and look at the amount of work it took (IIRC he estimated ~8hours per book) and the fact that people were still willing to do it, well that should tell you something about how futile DRM is.

For myself, I wouldn't be willing to do that much work so I'd probably either live with the restrictions or not buy. Or possibly buy and then also download a pirate copy (I'm morally OK with that even if it's technically illegal).

If the reflowing capability is the reason for OCR-ing the ebook, then we can skip it nowadays, because we can take screenshots at any zoom level we want or need (using any hi-res tablet) for about 2-3 seconds per page, so, 15-20 minutes for a 400-500 page ebook.

[JSWolf]

Before Calibre, ePub, Kindle and eInk Readers, I bought MS Reader format eBooks because I could strip the DRM.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Purple Lady

I wouldn't buy any book with drm that I couldn't remove. Formatting on the first books I bought made me learn to strip drm and reformat to suit me. The book that drove me to this had huge side margins that I found so annoying I couldn't concentrate on what I was reading.

What really bothered me that made me want to reformat was wide margins and paragraph spaces. Can't stand them. Another thing that used to bother me back when I used a Sony Reader with less font size control was when we got all kinds of font sizes instead of the default.

[4691mls]

I voted yes. I don't strip DRM now. I just buy books that work on my device as-is (and read a lot of library books).

If there was a book I really, really wanted to make sure I could keep and be able to read for years to come, I would buy a paper book.

[cromag]

I've already abandoned vendors who made it difficult to read on my choice of devices. These days I buy most of my ebooks at Amazon because I can free them up to read on the device of my choice. I buy from Kobo, but not nearly as much as I used to -- I need a significant incentive to risk having to deal with their infamous customer service department. I also buy from Baen when I can, but I read other genres beside Science Fiction, and not all SF titles are available from Baen.

[Fbone]

Yes. I delete ebooks after I read them so DRM is irrelevant.

[AnotherCat]

Originally Posted by John F

A curiosity poll (at least to me): In general, would you buy ebooks if they had DRM that you couldn't strip?...

No, not even "in general"; so absolutely not.

[crane3]

I voted NO. BUT there isn't anyway to know if the DRM'ed book is "unbreakable" before purchase; the seller/publisher surely won't state that the ebook had an unbreakable DRM code. So, a purchase of an unbreakable DRM'ed book may happen unintentionally.

My problem with DRM is that it isn't for a "device" as that is a lie; the DRM is on for a reading app NOT a device. My Nook HD+ had a device setting for DRM authentication, which I did. Found that it was for the Nook reading app & the DRM registration didn't work when I tried out MoonReader to read a book; it was supposed to as the DRM device was registered.

I'm against DRM as it restricts my using a reading app of my choice or even trying out any reader to see how I liked it. And DRM won't let one do a backup as I found out with Rick Riordan's sample chapter that was DRM'ed; never got interested in anything Riordan wrote since he felt that he had to have a SAMPLE CHAPTER DRM'ed.

There are lots of readers around & it is worth checking them out on occasion & it is easier to do so with Calibre Companion installed.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by HarryT

It's a question that requires a more nuanced answer than "yes" or "no". It would depend how widespread the availability of the reading platform was. Unbreakable Kindle DRM wouldn't bother me in the slightest, because I can read my Kindle books on my PC, tablet, or eInk devices. Unbreakable DRM that was associated with a single platform (eg Apple only) would make me think twice before buying.

For me, it doesn't require more nuanced answers. It's be no, no matter how wide the availability was. I'd still be bound to use the app from the seller/publisher. It wouldn't matter if I could use an app on my tablet, or pc, I cannot use it on my e-ink devices. And what if you don't like the app that you must use to read those books?

[markom]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

For me, it doesn't require more nuanced answers. It's be no, no matter how wide the availability was. I'd still be bound to use the app from the seller/publisher. It wouldn't matter if I could use an app on my tablet, or pc, I cannot use it on my e-ink devices. And what if you don't like the app that you must use to read those books?

We can take a couple of minutes for 50 screenshots on hi-res tablet at desired zoom level and then read those pictures using any eink reader and application we want, repeating the screenshooting before another reading session, or taking 15-20 minutes for screenshooting the whole ebook at once.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by markom

We can take a couple of minutes for 50 screenshots at desired zoom level and then read those pictures using any eink reader and application we want, repeating the screenshooting for another reading session.

Or not buy the book and not give the seller the satisfaction that we must go through a lot of hoops just to read the book on a device we want/using an application we want.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by ekbell

I voted no as without the ability to remove DRM, I'm unlikely to even bother looking. It's why I don't check out the books in the Apple Store.

If there was a book I particularly wanted to read I'd do as I do with books priced above my willingness to pay, check the library. I'm lucky to live in an area with a sizable library where they solved the desire to make the branch libraries community 'living rooms' with more open space and lots of computers by warehousing books (accessible by request) rather then selling.

You do realize there is software that DeDRM books from iTunes, don't you?

[pwalker8]

The analogue hole for books is so large that it would be futile to come out with an unbreakable DRM, even if it were theoretically possible. Back before Amazon opened their store, there was a thriving underground of people who would scan and format just about any book you might want. I'm sure there are still some who do that as a hobby. The hardware and software has improved greatly over the years.

I voted no, simply because I've seen too many stores close down over the years. I actually did purchase a number of books with Sony's LRF format, which I don't think was ever broken, mostly I suspect because the right people never bothered. Interestingly, Sony switched to a already broken scheme after a few years, which I think speaks volumes.

[Freeshadow]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

I just don't want to pay money for things I don't own and can't do whatever I want with. I like to re-read, so that's a factor too.

^That. I even avoid removable DRM where I can. Wallet voting.

[MikeB1972]

Originally Posted by markom

We can take a couple of minutes for 50 screenshots on hi-res tablet at desired zoom level and then read those pictures using any eink reader and application we want, repeating the screenshooting before another reading session, or taking 15-20 minutes for screenshooting the whole ebook at once.

That is of course a huge PITA and requires OCR afterwords or ending up with huge ebook files in a fixed image size (Or screencapping at various different sizes for each reader you own and getting huge files).

What happens when the DRM disables the screenshooting, I think we can safely assume that any halfway competent unbreakable DRM system will disable screencaps & TTS while the program is in use?