E-Book Piracy: The Publishing Industry's Next Epic Saga?

[kjk]

The idea of exclusive e-book rights tied to devices seems as annoying as being allowed to play a particular new CD only on a certain company's CD players. But Ian Fried, the vice president of Amazon Kindle, has stated that Kindle consumers don't mind its DRM.

I'm sure they all told him personally.

from:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/185335/ebook_piracy.html

[sabredog]

Add geographic restrictions to the list of reasons why readers turn to piracy to get a book they are quite prepared to pay to obtain but cannot.

[David Derrico]

If only we could look to any other industry who has already dealt with these same problems and see how they played out.

Oh, yeah. This all happened a few years ago with music. And it will happen again, even if a few old dinosaurs kick and scream (again). Maybe publishers can start suing college students and grandparents, it worked out really well for the RIAA.

[DawnFalcon]

They start doing that and I go exclusively second hand for any book in any way associated with them. (And yes, I'll start buy second hand non-DRM'ed ebooks, it's legal and I don't care - I don't have to ensure the original is deleted, just that they have the right to sell to me)

[delphidb96]

Originally Posted by kjk

http://www.pcworld.com/article/185335/ebook_piracy.html



I'm sure they all told him personally.

I love the way the author managed to work in the lie that only bulky, hard-to-find and not-really-marketable textbooks were pretty much the only thing out there *until* the rise of the Nook, Kindle and the like. Riiiiigggghhhtttt... You publishing industry apologists keep repeating that mantra - for all the good it will do you.

I'm wondering. I've noticed that we're now seeing the rise of a trend to put even PD books into commercial release through BoB, Fictionwise, eReader and Amazon - as well as all those back-list books they kept telling us just weren't 'profitable enough' to ebook-ize. Could it be that *someone* finally got wise to the fact that people would gladly *pay* for them - but if the publishers refused to release to ebook, the customers would just hunt them out on the dark-nets??? Hmmmm....

Derek

[Crusader]

Two words: Geographic restrictions. Stop that idiocy and piracy won't be a problem - at least not for the people that would have bought it in the first place. Those forced to piracy due to not being able to legally obtain a book would be glad to pay for it if the barriers were removed - I know I would!

Why can't they change the locus of sale to be the locality of the shop it's sold from? Should end most problems and presto no more geo-restrictions.

[neilmarr]

Piracy won't be stopped. But few publishers realise that it has a special value of its own. Piracy identifies hot property (supermarkets used to use shop-lifting statistics to pin point their most popular items -- and cash in on this back-door market research), and in its own way, it is a valuable promotional tool. As a small independent publishing house, my own BeWrite Books resists DRM wherever possible. Sadly some retailers build in their own. It's unnecessary, intrusive, short-sighted and a pain in the nether regions for buyers. If books are truly of value, well presented, fairly priced and with no restrictions, honest readers (the massive majority) will more than make up for bandit downloads. Neil

[omk3]

Very good points, Neil!
And well done for resisting drm! I wish more publishers could see reason and follow your example.

[Blue Tyson]

Originally Posted by Crusader

Two words: Geographic restrictions. Stop that idiocy and piracy won't be a problem - at least not for the people that would have bought it in the first place. Those forced to piracy due to not being able to legally obtain a book would be glad to pay for it if the barriers were removed - I know I would!

Why can't they change the locus of sale to be the locality of the shop it's sold from? Should end most problems and presto no more geo-restrictions.

Basically as far as I can see, it would be because the whingeing poms and the whingeing aussies (pretty sure the Canadians can handle it) couldn't compete with American prices, so they made up the 'if you bought electronic with a credit card while sitting in your living room you bought it in your room, but if you bought paper then you bought it where you bought it' crapola.

[neilmarr]

You're spot on, Blue. But bear in mind that point-of-sale of an ebook IS the location of your download device. It's not retailers who are to blame (my own small publishing house for instance contracts all rights internationally on every title, so our books are, in principle, without legal or geographical restriction through any retail site), but individual governments, who want to collect their kilo of flesh in taxes, and the larger publishers who have a vested interest in country-specific editions and staggered release dates. Personally, I think it's nonsense and an insult to bookworms everywhere. The internet is our first crack at a truly international and consumer-driven marketplace for the written word. Its global strength and reach should not be compromised by selfish and intrusive commercial and bureaucratic interests. Neil

[weedfreak]

I'm sure they all told him personally.

I didn't tell him, but I am not a customer. I am not a customer because of DRM and geographic restrictions and I have tried to tell them that but I doubt the message gets through.

I will never be a customer of any company that restricts my rights. I will support authors and publishers that supply non DRMed ebooks as a first choice then I go to the darkweb as a second choice.

In this modern age of instant d/l there is no need for ebook retailers, they are just parasites on the creative process, (as are the entrenched dinausaur publishers) as a rule I only buy direct from publishers or authors.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Ian Fried, the vice president of Amazon Kindle, has stated that Kindle consumers don't mind its DRM.

Originally Posted by kjk

I'm sure they all told him personally.

They didn't have to. After all, if you hated Kindle DRM, would you be a customer? Just using a Kindle is a de-facto indication to Amazon that you are okay with their DRM. And they don't know who or how many are cracking their DRM to shift books to other devices.

Can't say much about the article... but then, it obviously wasn't written for anyone who knows anything about e-books...

[tompe]

Originally Posted by Steve Jordan

They didn't have to. After all, if you hated Kindle DRM, would you be a customer? Just using a Kindle is a de-facto indication to Amazon that you are okay with their DRM. And they don't know who or how many are cracking their DRM to shift books to other devices.

And the current customers has not yet switched device and noticed that they cannot read their books on another device.

[neilmarr]

***In this modern age of instant d/l there is no need for ebook retailers, they are just parasites on the creative process***

I understand your feeling, Weed, but smaller houses and self-publishing authors do need the shop-window showcasing of effective retailers.

Online retailers -- even the most predatory -- tend to charge much smaller sales commissions than brick-and-mortar bookshps ever did, and there is no penal sale-or-return policy on ebooks, which means that, by and large, they're well worth their split.

Of course, if you can go direct to the author or publisher (if you know who they are and where to find them), that's the best deal all round because we don't charge commissions on our own sales and all royalties remain intact.

Do bear in mind, though, that although few people in, say, India have ever heard of BeWrite Books, for instance, or many of our lesser known authors, we are making sales through local ebook retailers who have made their presence felt there.

Cheers. Neil

[Daithi]

Originally Posted by neilmarr

***In this modern age of instant d/l there is no need for ebook retailers, they are just parasites on the creative process***

I understand your feeling, Weed, but smaller houses and self-publishing authors do need the shop-window showcasing of effective retailers.

Online retailers -- even the most predatory -- tend to charge much smaller sales commissions than brick-and-mortar bookshps ever did, and there is no penal sale-or-return policy on ebooks, which means that, by and large, they're well worth their split.

Of course, if you can go direct to the author or publisher (if you know who they are and where to find them), that's the best deal all round because we don't charge commissions on our own sales and all royalties remain intact.

Do bear in mind, though, that although few people in, say, India have ever heard of BeWrite Books, for instance, or many of our lesser known authors, we are making sales through local ebook retailers who have made their presence felt there.

Cheers. Neil

I agree with Neil here. In fact, if I were a publisher (which may happen) I may not even bother selling discounted books through my own website. I'd probably focus on sales through Amazon since that is where most people would find my books. Additionally, the better a book sells, the better placement it gets in Amazon searches, "other customers bought this," etc. Every sale on a publishers own site is a sale that doesn't contribute to his marketing. A sale on a publishers website may make him more money for a single sale, but if a single sale on Amazon helps build additional sells then a publisher is better off not selling through their own site.