Password-based DRM has a dim future

[anamardoll]

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

Actually, when I said "everyone," I wasn't referring to the members of MR.

I was referring to everyone else; family, friends, co-workers, who don't hang around this site; and therefore don't understand how hostile and unappetizing the ebook atmosphere is for the average profit-driven writer, without the prospect of some sort of protection for their work.

But we were discussing password-based DRM, and it wasn't me who brought up (or espoused) piracy...

So the ebook authors like Konrath who have made a tidy living on their books came up with a completely unbreakable DRM scheme for their novels, did they?

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

So the ebook authors like Konrath who have made a tidy living on their books came up with a completely unbreakable DRM scheme for their novels, did they?

"The ebook authors like Konrath who have made a tidy living on their books"? And are there many of those? Or are most ebook-exclusive authors earning not much more than lunch money, if that?

[CommonReader]

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

"The ebook authors like Konrath who have made a tidy living on their books"? And are there many of those? Or are most ebook-exclusive authors earning not much more than lunch money, if that?

And how many authors of paper books are there who make a tidy living from their books?

[anamardoll]

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

"The ebook authors like Konrath who have made a tidy living on their books"? And are there many of those? Or are most ebook-exclusive authors earning not much more than lunch money, if that?

I'll let Joe Konrath answer that. Joe?

Only Joe Konrath and Amanda Hocking make good money self-pubbing.

First of all, anyone who spouts this nonsense is a lazy researcher, because it's a simple Google search to find dozens of authors making good money.

http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2011/0...you-dense.html

I love Joe's blog.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

I stand corrected. "Dozens" certainly sounds like the vast majority of profit-driven authors to me.

[GreenMonkey]

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

And everyone wonders why I haven't been writing...

Here's what I was getting at. Pirated versions lack annoying DRM, annoying warnings, and all sorts of other stuff.

Have you seen this picture? Pretty much sums it up for the video world.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by GreenMonkey

Have you seen this picture? Pretty much sums it up for the video world.

And, like so many other aspects regarding DRM, completely exaggerated and over-the-top, a parody of reality, not accurate at all. Pretty much like an anti-gun advocate depicting all guns as blowing up in the user's hand. Or a homeowner being forced to negotiate a minefield and six metal detectors, before putting his key in the front door's lock.

And, oh, yeah... isn't about ebooks anyway.

Until and unless we can discuss the pros and cons of digital security without all the histrionics, it can't be discussed.

[miguel1626]

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

And everyone wonders why I haven't been writing...

The pirates! They've destroyed my dreams!

Who cares about a run of the mill scifi author, while there are hundreds of better options out there?

And some authors wonder why they can't make any money... (oh no, its not my writing that is subpar. Its the pirates, I tell you, the pirates!)

EDIT: As for DRM, I've no use for it. All my Kindle books have been duly stripped of this abusive restrictions on my reading... And yes, Mr. Jordan, I've paid for ebooks, from good authors.

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by miguel1626

The pirates! They've destroyed my dreams!

Who cares about a run of the mill scifi author, while there are hundreds of better options out there?

And some authors wonder why they can't make any money... (oh no, its not my writing that is subpar. Its the pirates, I tell you, the pirates!)

EDIT: As for DRM, I've no use for it. All my Kindle books have been duly stripped of this abusive restrictions on my reading... And yes, Mr. Jordan, I've paid for ebooks, from good authors.

Damn pirates, they've already cost me £60trillion in lost sales this month alone. What we need is an ebook reader that checks for the existence of DRM and has a big spike shoot out of the top to poke their eyes out if they try to read something that's not protected. They'll certainly think twice before they do it again. And if they do, well it won't matter after they've lost both eyes will it? I bet those silly liberals with their health and safety laws would squash it though. Damn liberals.

[anamardoll]

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

I stand corrected. "Dozens" certainly sounds like the vast majority of profit-driven authors to me.

Did you even read the article? Doesn't sound like it.

[elcreative]

Now be fair... 1st time offence only one spike, 2nd time two (just to make sure that the first worked as well)

Originally Posted by mr ploppy

Damn pirates, they've already cost me £60trillion in lost sales this month alone. What we need is an ebook reader that checks for the existence of DRM and has a big spike shoot out of the top to poke their eyes out if they try to read something that's not protected. They'll certainly think twice before they do it again. And if they do, well it won't matter after they've lost both eyes will it? I bet those silly liberals with their health and safety laws would squash it though. Damn liberals.

[miguel1626]

elcreative's DRM scheme really improves upon mr ploppy's. If it were implemented, I'm sure mediocre scifi authors would make vast amounts of money, since people would no longer be able to pirate their masterpieces.

One-eyed ebook pirates, that's something I look forward to...

[Marseille]

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

Time to move on to biometrics.

Originally Posted by ardeegee

They can have my fingerprints when they pry them from my cold, dead hand.

Originally Posted by Shimarenda

Fingerprints are passe. Prepare to have your iris scanned for every transaction.

This line of thought is precisely what I don't like about biometric security. With a password, I can tell the aggressor the password to make the beatings stop. With biometrics, it's just too easy to take the "prying" route and not even ask. I like my irises where they are, thank you very much.

Digital security measures should not place your digits in grave danger.

[ardeegee]

Originally Posted by David Marseilles

Digital security measures should not place your digits in grave danger.

You don't need someone's finger-- just their fingerprint. Find something they've touched showing a clear fingerprint, make a copy of it.



It is easy for anyone to devise a security system that they aren't clever enough to figure out a way to hack-- the trick is to devise a security system that nobody else is clever enough to figure out to hack. The problem is, there are some very clever people out there (some of them successful SF writers.)

[miguel1626]

Originally Posted by ardeegee

It is easy for anyone to devise a security system that they aren't clever enough to figure out a way to hack-- the trick is to devise a security system that nobody else is clever enough to figure out to hack. The problem is, there are some very clever people out there (some of them successful SF writers.)

It's Schneier's Law:

"Anyone, from the most clueless amateur to the best cryptographer, can create an algorithm that he himself can't break. It's not even hard. What is hard is creating an algorithm that no one else can break, even after years of analysis. And the only way to prove that is to subject the algorithm to years of analysis by the best cryptographers around."

But I'm sure Mr. Jordan has a solution involving government thugs and the death penalty for copyright infringement.