One author's pledge on DRM

[Steven Lake]

Kennyc: Sure, and so is Unicrom and Skynet.

[Barcey]

Kudos for taking such a strong clear customer friendly stance. I hope that if more authors take a stance like this it would do a lot to stop the circular finger pointing.

"I don't want DRM but the publishers and stores want it"
"I don't want DRM but the authors and stores want it"
"I don't want DRM but the authors and publisher want it"

Unfortunately in Canada the lobby groups have caught on that people don't like DRM so they're starting to call it technological protection measures (TPM). So far people like TPM much more then DRM.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Steven Lake

Kennyc: Sure, and so is Unicrom and Skynet.

Steven, I'm actually serious. The law defines a corporation as a person.
That's what gives them all the benefits and power they have.

[HamsterRage]

If I remember correctly, one of the first DRM failures was the old "dBase" software. Ashton-Tate put copy protection on the discs (5 1/4" floppies back then) and then found that sales dropped.

It turned out, or so I was told, that people would get pirated copies of dBase, install it and then decide that they wanted the manuals and all the good feelings that came with buying a legitimate copy of the software. So in essence, the pirated copies were excellent advertising for them.

It probably planted the seeds for the idea of trial versions of software.

[pholy]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Steven, I'm actually serious. The law defines a corporation as a person.
That's what gives them all the benefits and power they have.

And we all know that 'the law' is an ass....

I was gonna say corporations are people only in the legal sense, not in the 'stab em in the heart and they die sense' -- sheesh, even silver bullets don't work.

At least some jurisdictions are not allowing corporations and unions to make political donations - it's a start.

[Freeshadow]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

Baen trusts their readers, and the readers repay that trust with their dollars. I don't think it would occur to the vast majority of Baen customers to pirate a Baen title, and they would probably be offended at the idea.

Sounds to me like Linux users & linux native games
also check out for the "set your own price" that "world of goo" makers did

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by HamsterRage

If I remember correctly, one of the first DRM failures was the old "dBase" software. Ashton-Tate put copy protection on the discs (5 1/4" floppies back then) and then found that sales dropped.

It turned out, or so I was told, that people would get pirated copies of dBase, install it and then decide that they wanted the manuals and all the good feelings that came with buying a legitimate copy of the software. So in essence, the pirated copies were excellent advertising for them.

It probably planted the seeds for the idea of trial versions of software.

Ashton-Tate wasn't the only one.

I once worked for a small systems house that resold AT&T systems, back when AT&T was in the computer business. One product we sold was a desktop Unix system intended to compete with the IBM PC. It uses a Motorola CPU, but you could get an expansion card that had an Intel 8086 CPU and 512KB of RAM, and run MS-DOS applications from a virtual DOS drive.

Of course, you had to install the DOS application to be able to use it, and the most popular application everyone wanted to run back them was Lotus 1,2,3. Lotus 1,2,3 was copy protected, and couldn't be installed because of it, so I found myself breaking the copy protection on customer's legitimately purchased copies of Lotus so they could install and run it on their AT&T system.

One of the better takes I saw back then was a product called the Spreadsheet of Steel by Potomac Pacific Engineering, who used to advertise in Byte magazine. Their pitch was simple: "We wrote this internally for our own use. It's solid and works well, and we thought others might like it, so we're making it available. We aren't software publishers, and don't want to be software publishers. We're consulting engineers. The money we charge for this covers our costs in making and sending the disks, and pays for these ads. Use the software, share it with your friends, and if you need consulting engineering, give us a call." I suspect they got a fair bit of business with that calling card.

More recently, and old friend who does DTP for a publisher talked about getting Adobe InDesign at home. She couldn't afford the retail price for the current version. But if she installed a pirated older version, Adobe would happily sell her the current version at the upgrade price, and didn't care about the provenance of the version it was upgrading. They seemed to feel that some money was better than none...
______
Dennis

[neilmarr]

***Nice stamp Neil. Mind if I pirate it for whenever I decide to start selling?***

Honoured, if you would, Jaxx. A lot of folks miss the point that the rough-looking rubber stamp is actually based on the traditional old 'rejected' stamp on damaged goods.

Some people have already picked up on the wee logo and use it as an avatar here and there and for other uses. We're delighted. The more the merrier to get the message across. Just copy it from here.

There are several versions: some are BeWrite Books-speific, so you won't want them. The one I tend to use here carries a tiny BeWrite Books stylised bee logo (the second below), others are non-specific (the first below), so I'll copy them here for you or anyone else who wants to join the anti-DRM campaign.

Cheers. Neil

[MrPLD]

Hey there Neil, nice to see you around in the threads that I'm infesting too

I'd like to add, as publisher / marketing person - all the eBooks we produce will also be DRM free and we'll be offering them under ePub, PDF and mobi formats.

Neil, I like those DRM-free stamps... might have to organise to use them at some point on my sites.

Paul
http://elitadaniels.com

[MrPLD]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

... Adobe would happily sell her the current version at the upgrade price, and didn't care about the provenance of the version it was upgrading. They seemed to feel that some money was better than none...
______
Dennis

It seems the 'most effective' balance a lot of software makers go for is to have a light level of copy-prevention, just enough to let you know you're being "naughty" but then give you an upgrade path without any questions. That way, you feel redeemed of your sins and they get a lock-in.

Paul.

[Steven Lake]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Steven, I'm actually serious. The law defines a corporation as a person.
That's what gives them all the benefits and power they have.

I know that. I was just making a funny. As for the problem of corporations legally being a person, we're hoping in the FOSS community rectify that. Of course, we've got one heck of an uphill battle to do that, what with software patents and the like to fight against as well.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by Steven Lake

That's why I'm hoping my fellow Open Sourcers will be able to put the final nail in the coffin of DRM very soon.

Heh... more science-fictional thinking.

Well, maybe not really. Because as much as I don't like DRM--because it doesn't work, and so far every clumsy attempt to make it work, save one, has only aggravated customers--I do believe in digital document security. So I fully expect someone, at some point, to come up with a way to protect digital documents that will work, and not aggravate people who use it any more than they are aggravated by having to find their house keys in their pocket.

In other words, I expect DRM to be dumped in time, and eventually usurped by another document security system that can be applied to digital products like ebooks, which will actually work.

When that happens, I'll be on board. (ducks and dives into the river)

(from the safe side of the bank) Until then? Steven and Steven can't wait for DRM to die.

[neilmarr]

***Neil, I like those DRM-free stamps... might have to organise to use them at some point on my sites***

Holler if we can help, Paul. Tony could probably run up something site-specific for you very quickly if you like. He's a most obliging bloke. Doesn't sleep. Transylvanian by birth, you know. Cheers. Neil

[Steven Lake]

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

In other words, I expect DRM to be dumped in time, and eventually usurped by another document security system that can be applied to digital products like ebooks, which will actually work.

Meh, that's unlikely. If it's digital, it can be hacked, period. The only DRM that would work is DRM that is *NOT* anti-consumer. And that's the problem, anything pro-corporation (which is what DRM is. They're not protecting the author/artist's right, but rather their own corporate interests to the detriment of all) is by nature anti-consumer. The only DRM system that would work would be on that's pro-consumer, as it'd be the only thing end users would accept, and that nobody would try to crack, because there would be no need to. Until then, it'll all be one form or another of DRM.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by MrPLD

It seems the 'most effective' balance a lot of software makers go for is to have a light level of copy-prevention, just enough to let you know you're being "naughty" but then give you an upgrade path without any questions. That way, you feel redeemed of your sins and they get a lock-in.

Paul.

Pretty much. The lock-in is the key. Most software in that class is complex enough that you don't casually switch to a competing product. Too many compatibility issues, and too much of a learning curve to figure out how the other product does what you need to do.

Adobe InDesign certainly qualifies. It has pretty much taken over from Quark as the DTP program of choice in publishing, and is what everyone uses to do typesetting and markup. You might be able to accomplish the same things with Quark, or the open source Scribus product, but you would just as soon not have to try.

(My DTP friend was ranting about it a bit. She'd started on Quark, and gained significant expertise in working around Quark shortcomings and misfeatures to get it to do what she needed. InDesign was significantly better, and didn't have those problems, and her hard won expertise was rendered useless... )
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Dennis