Comments on: State of the eBook: News, Debate, and the Three Letter Word-DRM! http://www.geardiary.com/2009/12/18/state-of-the-ebook-news-debate-and-the-three-letter-word-drm/ Everyone can understand technology; sometimes it just takes a little translating. Wed, 15 Feb 2012 02:34:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Movie Piracyhttp://www.geardiary.com/2009/12/18/state-of-the-ebook-news-debate-and-the-three-letter-word-drm/#comment-63621 Movie Piracy Sun, 20 Dec 2009 00:00:55 +0000 http://www.geardiary.com/?p=65561#comment-63621 <span class="topsy_trackback_comment"><span class="topsy_twitter_username"><span class="topsy_trackback_content">#piracy State of the eBook: News, Debate, and the Three Letter Word-DRM ...: Like the collectors in that book (and ... http://bit.ly/8bZEI4</span></span> #piracy State of the eBook: News, Debate, and the Three Letter Word-DRM …: Like the collectors in that book (and … http://bit.ly/8bZEI4

]]> By: HotAsHellLeadshttp://www.geardiary.com/2009/12/18/state-of-the-ebook-news-debate-and-the-three-letter-word-drm/#comment-63607 HotAsHellLeads Sat, 19 Dec 2009 22:16:02 +0000 http://www.geardiary.com/?p=65561#comment-63607 <span class="topsy_trackback_comment"><span class="topsy_twitter_username"><span class="topsy_trackback_content">State of the eBook: News, Debate, and the Three Letter Word-DRM ... http://bit.ly/4mTp9c</span></span> State of the eBook: News, Debate, and the Three Letter Word-DRM … http://bit.ly/4mTp9c

]]> By: Carly Zhttp://www.geardiary.com/2009/12/18/state-of-the-ebook-news-debate-and-the-three-letter-word-drm/#comment-63606 Carly Z Sat, 19 Dec 2009 21:15:28 +0000 http://www.geardiary.com/?p=65561#comment-63606 Just to throw some fuel on the anti-drm fire, here's a link from teleread that points out a key point: just because we CAN share books with friends doesn't mean they'll want to read them.<br><br><a href="http://www.teleread.org/2009/12/19/do-i-really-want-to-read-a-friends-erotica-clashing-literary-tastes-the-ultimate-drm-against-sharing/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%253A+teleread%252FKHnj+%2528TeleRead%253A+Bring+the+E-Books+Home%2529&utm_content=Google+Reader" rel="nofollow">http://www.teleread.org/2009/12/19/do-i-really-...</a> Just to throw some fuel on the anti-drm fire, here's a link from teleread that points out a key point: just because we CAN share books with friends doesn't mean they'll want to read them.

http://www.teleread.org/2009/12/19/do-i-really-…

]]> By: Gary Bunkerhttp://www.geardiary.com/2009/12/18/state-of-the-ebook-news-debate-and-the-three-letter-word-drm/#comment-63579 Gary Bunker Sat, 19 Dec 2009 13:32:15 +0000 http://www.geardiary.com/?p=65561#comment-63579 After nearly 30 years in the computer world, I've seen many copy protections schemes come and go. Everything from intentional disk errors to code wheels to DRM wrapper - none of them have ever prevented any piracy.<br><br>Moreover, I think bigger impediments to ebook adoption are pricing and the first sale principle. With a physical book, I pay $7 or so for a paperback, and I can give it away or loan it out an unlimited number of times. With the most generous system currently on the market, an ebook costs $7 or so, and I can loan it out exactly one time for a finite time, and can't give it away or do anything else with it except keep it for as long as the DRM doesn't lose support. See MSN Music, Google Video paid content, etc. After nearly 30 years in the computer world, I've seen many copy protections schemes come and go. Everything from intentional disk errors to code wheels to DRM wrapper – none of them have ever prevented any piracy.

Moreover, I think bigger impediments to ebook adoption are pricing and the first sale principle. With a physical book, I pay $7 or so for a paperback, and I can give it away or loan it out an unlimited number of times. With the most generous system currently on the market, an ebook costs $7 or so, and I can loan it out exactly one time for a finite time, and can't give it away or do anything else with it except keep it for as long as the DRM doesn't lose support. See MSN Music, Google Video paid content, etc.

]]> By: Richard A MacKinnonhttp://www.geardiary.com/2009/12/18/state-of-the-ebook-news-debate-and-the-three-letter-word-drm/#comment-63569 Richard A MacKinnon Sat, 19 Dec 2009 10:17:16 +0000 http://www.geardiary.com/?p=65561#comment-63569 <span class="topsy_trackback_comment"><span class="topsy_twitter_username"><span class="topsy_trackback_content">RT @geardiarysite: State of the eBook: News, Debate, and the Three Letter Word-DRM! http://bit.ly/8B8EiF</span></span> RT @geardiarysite: State of the eBook: News, Debate, and the Three Letter Word-DRM! http://bit.ly/8B8EiF

]]> By: riemann42http://www.geardiary.com/2009/12/18/state-of-the-ebook-news-debate-and-the-three-letter-word-drm/#comment-63565 riemann42 Sat, 19 Dec 2009 07:03:12 +0000 http://www.geardiary.com/?p=65561#comment-63565 After some bad experiences with the old Amazon eBook store, I only purchase "Social DRM" books. Any activation system / tracking system risks (1) leaving me out in the cold when my favorite online bookstore goes out of the business and (2) puts other ridiculous restrictions on me, such as how many devices I can read a book on. <br><br>Social DRM is a polite way of reminding the customer about copyright, without imposing an undue burden.<br><br>The bad things about Social DRM are the same as with any DRM:<br><br>1) It restricts third parties from developing software / hardware, especially free software developers. <br><br>2) It encourages multiple proprietary standards to avoid licensing fees, etc.<br><br>3) It doesn't work. All DRM is just an obfuscation scheme, not an encryption scheme (in short... I have to be able to read it!).<br><br>Edward After some bad experiences with the old Amazon eBook store, I only purchase “Social DRM” books. Any activation system / tracking system risks (1) leaving me out in the cold when my favorite online bookstore goes out of the business and (2) puts other ridiculous restrictions on me, such as how many devices I can read a book on.

Social DRM is a polite way of reminding the customer about copyright, without imposing an undue burden.

The bad things about Social DRM are the same as with any DRM:

1) It restricts third parties from developing software / hardware, especially free software developers.

2) It encourages multiple proprietary standards to avoid licensing fees, etc.

3) It doesn't work. All DRM is just an obfuscation scheme, not an encryption scheme (in short… I have to be able to read it!).

Edward

]]> By: Monhttp://www.geardiary.com/2009/12/18/state-of-the-ebook-news-debate-and-the-three-letter-word-drm/#comment-63564 Mon Sat, 19 Dec 2009 06:49:38 +0000 http://www.geardiary.com/?p=65561#comment-63564 <span class="topsy_trackback_comment"><span class="topsy_twitter_username"><span class="topsy_trackback_content">Books,Book and Books State of the eBook: News, Debate, and the Three Letter.. http://bit.ly/7oB11B mybookstop.info</span></span> Books,Book and Books State of the eBook: News, Debate, and the Three Letter.. http://bit.ly/7oB11B
mybookstop.info

]]> By: Goodhuthttp://www.geardiary.com/2009/12/18/state-of-the-ebook-news-debate-and-the-three-letter-word-drm/#comment-63562 Goodhut Sat, 19 Dec 2009 06:37:24 +0000 http://www.geardiary.com/?p=65561#comment-63562 <span class="topsy_trackback_comment"><span class="topsy_twitter_username"><span class="topsy_trackback_content">State of the eBook: News, Debate, and the Three Letter Word-DRM ... http://bit.ly/8uROmk</span></span> State of the eBook: News, Debate, and the Three Letter Word-DRM … http://bit.ly/8uROmk

]]> By: DishNetwork Businesshttp://www.geardiary.com/2009/12/18/state-of-the-ebook-news-debate-and-the-three-letter-word-drm/#comment-63555 DishNetwork Business Sat, 19 Dec 2009 04:17:11 +0000 http://www.geardiary.com/?p=65561#comment-63555 <span class="topsy_trackback_comment"><span class="topsy_twitter_username"><span class="topsy_trackback_content">State of the eBook: News, Debate, and the Three Letter Word-DRM ... http://bit.ly/5UweAt</span></span> State of the eBook: News, Debate, and the Three Letter Word-DRM … http://bit.ly/5UweAt

]]> By: Dish Networkhttp://www.geardiary.com/2009/12/18/state-of-the-ebook-news-debate-and-the-three-letter-word-drm/#comment-63553 Dish Network Sat, 19 Dec 2009 03:51:32 +0000 http://www.geardiary.com/?p=65561#comment-63553 <span class="topsy_trackback_comment"><span class="topsy_twitter_username"><span class="topsy_trackback_content">State of the eBook: News, Debate, and the Three Letter Word-DRM ... http://bit.ly/7UtDOg</span></span> State of the eBook: News, Debate, and the Three Letter Word-DRM … http://bit.ly/7UtDOg

]]> By: Allistair Leehttp://www.geardiary.com/2009/12/18/state-of-the-ebook-news-debate-and-the-three-letter-word-drm/#comment-63544 Allistair Lee Sat, 19 Dec 2009 01:37:58 +0000 http://www.geardiary.com/?p=65561#comment-63544 <span class="topsy_trackback_comment"><span class="topsy_twitter_username"><span class="topsy_trackback_content">GD: State of the eBook: News, Debate, and the Three Letter Word-DRM! http://bit.ly/8B8EiF</span></span> GD: State of the eBook: News, Debate, and the Three Letter Word-DRM! http://bit.ly/8B8EiF

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