iPad How long before books are sold DRM-free?

[jibril]

You know, I only started buying music from iTunes the moment it turned DRM-free....

I feel if Kindle were the only game in town as far as major bookstore, it would have stayed DRM forever. The reason Apple was able to push for DRM-free in music sucessfully is that they became such a major force that the music industry had to listen and Apple didn't like the extra work DRM made (people locked out, etcetera).

The other factor is that music was easy to read and throw contents on the web. People don't feel compelled to do the same as far as scanning books is concerned, just a lot more work. With college students and textbooks, this really surprises me tbh. But I suspect the DRM format is going to be bypassed and people will throw books up that way.

So, as always, legitimate customers will be punished by encumberances that pirates don't feel.

But I feel the same freedom is coming to books eventually. There are enough free PDFs floating around for me to read... but I'm not going to buy DRMed books.... I want access forever regardless of device.

I just hope it's sooner (< 5 years) rather than later.

[DixieGal]

About as long as it will take to pry their heads out of their butts.

[dmaul1114]

It will probably be a long time.

eBook market is still pretty tiny, we won't see DRM going away until it really increases a ton in size and the bitching from consumers finally gains a real voice.

Then one major company will drop DRM and all will have to follow suit eventually just as happened with MP3s.

[Trubu]

Originally Posted by DixieGal

About as long as it will take to pry their heads out of their butts.

So never then?

I'm hoping publishers will wise up faster than the music industry, but I expect I'll be disappointed.

[neilmarr]

DRM = Don't Read Me. I'm right in tune with you guys ... and I'm a publisher. Check out my latest blog post a few minutes ago here: http://bewritebooks.blogspot.com/ Nothing you don't already know, but we aim to take a stand and say 'no' to any retailers who want to impose DRM on our titles. That happens, you know: a small indie puts over a piece and the retailer or distributor slaps on DRM. Same problem with geographical restrictions for publishers like my own who hold international rights. Restri9ctions are not always the publisher's fault. Hoots. Neil

[Bookster]

Originally Posted by neilmarr

DRM = Don't Read Me. I'm right in tune with you guys ... and I'm a publisher. Check out my latest blog post a few minutes ago here: http://bewritebooks.blogspot.com/ Nothing you don't already know, but we aim to take a stand and say 'no' to any retailers who want to impose DRM on our titles. That happens, you know: a small indie puts over a piece and the retailer or distributor slaps on DRM. Same problem with geographical restrictions for publishers like my own who hold international rights. Restri9ctions are not always the publisher's fault. Hoots. Neil

Thank you at least somebody reasonable!

[Fotoman]

I look forward to a day when we can purchase non-DRM ebooks as directly as possible from the creators of the works. And kudos to Neil for his " Don't Read Me" blog.

This seems like an appropriate thread to promote one of my favorite fellow Canadian authors, Cory Doctorow. For those of you who don't know Corey, in addition to being one of the founders and a prolific contributor at Boing Boing, he is an anti-DRM activist and a damn good SciFi writer to boot.

Over the years he has made many of his books available for free downloads and currently has a "matchmaking service" where he gives away a free e-book copy of his new book for each printed copy he sells.

One of his recent books, "Futuristic Tales of the Here and Now" has been made into a 6-issue comic adaptation and is available as a free CBZ download at this link:

http://www.archive.org/details/CoryD...fTheHereAndNow

Cory's website: craphound

[neilmarr]

Cory is a hero, Fotoman. He's not only a wonderful author, he plays from a straight bat. He's ferociously independent (which I like). But, you know, author, editor and publisher together can be equally ferocious as a team. Neil

[neilmarr]

I've asked my tech partner, Tony Szmuk in Canada, who ran up these logos (below) for our own website and blog yesterday, to produce another version that any MobileRead member can use and copy as a personal demand (with no BeWrite bee or anything else BeWrite Books-specific) for use wherever the fancy takes them: emails, avatars, signatures, websites, blogs, etc. It will read:

OUR BOOKS

DRM-FREE

OUR WAY.

I'll post it as soon as Tony's done the job.

[CyGuy]

It will happen much sooner if people will stop purchasing ebooks infected with DRM in the first place. Vote with your wallet!

[pwalker8]

Rumor has it that Google ebooks will be DRM free and that they have got a number of publishers to go along with it. If that is true, then I would guess that ebooks will be DRM from all the major vendors within a year or so. That's what happened with music.

[neilmarr]

***It will happen much sooner if people will stop purchasing ebooks infected with DRM in the first place. Vote with your wallet!***

That would certainly send a strong message, CyGuy. It's time more publishers woke up to the fact that they're breeding customer contempt by what is quite plainly a sneaky marketing ploy and has little or nothing to do with preventing piracy as claimed.

Readers are the top of the food chain in this industry and they, quite rightly, carry most weight but the more publishers, large or small, who make a stand against DRM, the more pressure there will be on others to stop making weak excuses and free our books. And the more retailers fall into line, the less popular will become those who insist on this blatant violation of basic ownership rights.

Let's hope. Cheers. Neil