How do you feel about DRM?

[Joykins]

Originally Posted by spindlegirl

The DRM free books I have bought sit nicely on my e-reader and backed up on calibre. I also have a few books that I bought in their infected state (before I knew better) that I was able to get removed by someone, and are now backed up on calibre. The removal was not trivial. And I don't like bothering people enough to ask someone to keep doing it for me.

Although I believe there are other ways to do it, the easiest to use DRM stripping tools seamlessly remove DRM when you add a book to Calibre. It's got to be set up at some effort though.

[spindlegirl]

I've been able to strip some epubs (and it's not via calibre - I cannot get the plugins to work in a Debian Linux desktop) but I am at a loss for how to strip the stuff on my amazon cloud. There are several free Kindle books that I have had "delivered" to the Kindle cloud that I wish I could just import into some place to strip the drm and read on MY reader... The Kindle desktop software doesn't work for me at all.

I refuse to change my entire Operating system philosophy (and get Windows - the license is expensive vs FREE Debian) for the sake of being able to "take home" the books I legally obtained from the Amazon kindle store. I've stopped adding books to the cloud, too. My husband is a Debian Linux user and developer and I like it that way.

I am not considering this terribly crucial though - I simply haven't bothered to read them.

[spindlegirl]

Which brings me to my original opinion. DRM is evil. None of this nonsense is necessary with booksellers who actually meet my actual needs and just let me buy a book without DRM. Most people just want what they want.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

The same reason that 'Keep off the Grass' signs generally work.
People are normally law abiding.

Yes, they are.

And that's why only "Keep off the Grass" signs are needed, not eight foot high iron railings.

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by stonetools

Correct . I would add that to "share" a digital file you MUST make a copy. When people talk about lending or giving away an ebook what they really mean is making a copy of the file and transferring it to someone else

You don't have to make a copy to share an ebook. You could download your purchase onto a memory card, and loan the memory card to other people. Could download a purchased ebook onto a library computer--the library could collect quite a few ebooks that way, bought by different users and left for others to read when they're done. You can loan a Kindle or a Kobo--except that the TOS for those sites say that you can't loan the ebooks at all, even without making a copy.

Often, when someone talks about sharing an ebook, they mean making a copy--but that doesn't mean it's reasonable that publishers and bookstores have attempted to make it impossible or illegal to share without copying. Some of the copy-sharing is from the lack of legitimate ways to share ebooks the way pbooks have always been shared: "I'm done with the one I bought; I'll leave it here so you can read it."

[Ninjalawyer]

Now that book publishers have repeated the mistakes of music publishers, with the same results (giving one company a near monopoly over the market), what do you think the next industry will be to fall into the same trap? 3D printing looks like a strong contender for "next big thing", but it's hard to see how DRM will work for that.

[BillSmithBooks]

The thing that drives me nuts about DRM -- its presence says, "We the publishers do not trust you. We assume you are going to engage in what we consider criminal behavior unless we put some kind of lock on our books.'"

I do not like dealing with companies that assume I am a criminal.

Seriously, to hell with them. There are lots of great sources for legitimate DRM-free books and they get my money.

[JSWolf]

I'd like to know who voted that DRM is useful. Who really thinks DRM is useful? All DRM does is hurt the honest people and the others already get their books sans-DRM or know how to strip the DRM.

[Beryll Snyder]

Originally Posted by BillSmithBooks

I do not like dealing with companies that assume I am a criminal.

Seriously, to hell with them. There are lots of great sources for legitimate DRM-free books and they get my money.

Suspected to be a criminal is just your fantasy - they want to protect their income, that is all.

Where are these great sources if 95% of quality literature is not offered there?

[Beryll Snyder]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I'd like to know who voted that DRM is useful. Who really thinks DRM is useful? All DRM does is hurt the honest people and the others already get their books sans-DRM or know how to strip the DRM.

Useful for whom? The publishers/authors obviously think it is useful for them.
Without DRM there would be no ebook market to speak of today.
So it actually was useful in the process of introducing a new medium and making it available to the public.
And the majority doesn't hurt because they just buy books the easiest way and read the stuff and forget about it.

[BenG]

Originally Posted by Beryll Snyder

Suspected to be a criminal is just your fantasy - they want to protect their income, that is all.

Where are these great sources if 95% of quality literature is not offered there?

No different than retail stores using security tags on their merchandise (though probably less effective).

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I'd like to know who voted that DRM is useful. Who really thinks DRM is useful? All DRM does is hurt the honest people and the others already get their books sans-DRM or know how to strip the DRM.

DRM is useful - indeed, it's essential - for libraries.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by BillSmithBooks

I do not like dealing with companies that assume I am a criminal.

So you don't shop in any store that puts security tags on their goods?

[anamardoll]

Originally Posted by HarryT

DRM is useful - indeed, it's essential - for libraries.

Carina press and everyone else who uses Open ePUB on OverDrive clearly feel differently.

I have to say I agree with Carina -- I've had to reformat my Nook classic three times now and it's such a pain to keep calling up Adobe to free up more licenses.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

Carina press and everyone else who uses Open ePUB on OverDrive clearly feel differently.

How do libraries operate without DRM? How do books expire at the end of the loan period?