eBook whinging: DRM
Jun. 7th, 2011 01:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sobriqueSo, I have a Sony Reader. I've been lusting after a Kindle. My Reader has 'grown' a crack, making it unreadable.
In an idle moment or two, I've been looking at what would happen to my 'existing' library.
Adobe Digital Editions, is not supported on Kindle.
Or perhaps more correctly - the DRM used by Adobe, isn't supported. You can fairly easily convert PDF to a suitable format.
This notion offends me. I don't like the idea of DRM at the best of times - I'm more than happy to pay for a book (ebook or otherwise) but I find it offensive that as a paying customer, I'm restricted in my ability to lend or read something.
I've put up with it previously, because it was relatively painless to download and then copy to ebook reader - lack of lending annoyed me, but it was largely a moot point when most people weren't ebook enabled.
But now, it seems I have a choice. I can either go for a _different_ ebook reader, that is 'permitted' by Adobe.
Or I can go and re-buy the 80 or so ebooks I have purchased to date.
Neither of which is a particularly appealing option. Not when I've paid near the price I would have for a paperback, for an item which is CONSIDERABLY easier to reproduce for the publisher. I don't think ebooks should be free - I accept entirely that a reasonable proportion of the price of a book isn't for the physical item, but is for paying the author and support staff who edit, proofread and do all other things.
I find it somewhat odious that an ebook will often cost _more_ than a 'dead tree book', but at the same time - I don't mind paying the 'early release' price that hardbacks go for, and get an ebook instead, if it's something I really want to read now.
(I mean seriously - hardback release is usually earlier, and they usually cost more. I get that's a premium for wanting to read it right now. Hardbacks remain considerably less portable and convenient though. But that's a different rant. Suffice to say - it's worth paying hardback price and _not_ get a massive tome)
But now? Now I'm faced with some (digital) books, that I have entirely legitimately bought and paid for. Which I cannot use, because the DRM says no, we don't like that you're trying to read it with _that_ device.
This ladies and gentlemen, is where DRM goes wrong. It's why it is - and always has been - a stupid idea. Charge me for a product, then tell me I cannot use it unless I buy it _again_?
No, we're not going to play that game. I'll buy a replacement paperback when I drop it in the bath, and already own copies of some of the books I really like.
But if you're telling me that - in essence - I have to pay the full price AGAIN for a digital copy that the only difference is the artificial digital restriction code built into it?
But it remains a fundamental flaw of DRM - you can make very good encryption algorithms - of the kind that's impossible for an average home user to crack.
However DRM requires that you _also_ supply the key to that encryption, allow me to decrypt it, and have software to control how and when I do so.
In effect, it's not about trying to pick the lock, it's about trying to find the spare key, that you _know_ is hidden somewhere.
In an idle moment or two, I've been looking at what would happen to my 'existing' library.
Adobe Digital Editions, is not supported on Kindle.
Or perhaps more correctly - the DRM used by Adobe, isn't supported. You can fairly easily convert PDF to a suitable format.
This notion offends me. I don't like the idea of DRM at the best of times - I'm more than happy to pay for a book (ebook or otherwise) but I find it offensive that as a paying customer, I'm restricted in my ability to lend or read something.
I've put up with it previously, because it was relatively painless to download and then copy to ebook reader - lack of lending annoyed me, but it was largely a moot point when most people weren't ebook enabled.
But now, it seems I have a choice. I can either go for a _different_ ebook reader, that is 'permitted' by Adobe.
Or I can go and re-buy the 80 or so ebooks I have purchased to date.
Neither of which is a particularly appealing option. Not when I've paid near the price I would have for a paperback, for an item which is CONSIDERABLY easier to reproduce for the publisher. I don't think ebooks should be free - I accept entirely that a reasonable proportion of the price of a book isn't for the physical item, but is for paying the author and support staff who edit, proofread and do all other things.
I find it somewhat odious that an ebook will often cost _more_ than a 'dead tree book', but at the same time - I don't mind paying the 'early release' price that hardbacks go for, and get an ebook instead, if it's something I really want to read now.
(I mean seriously - hardback release is usually earlier, and they usually cost more. I get that's a premium for wanting to read it right now. Hardbacks remain considerably less portable and convenient though. But that's a different rant. Suffice to say - it's worth paying hardback price and _not_ get a massive tome)
But now? Now I'm faced with some (digital) books, that I have entirely legitimately bought and paid for. Which I cannot use, because the DRM says no, we don't like that you're trying to read it with _that_ device.
This ladies and gentlemen, is where DRM goes wrong. It's why it is - and always has been - a stupid idea. Charge me for a product, then tell me I cannot use it unless I buy it _again_?
No, we're not going to play that game. I'll buy a replacement paperback when I drop it in the bath, and already own copies of some of the books I really like.
But if you're telling me that - in essence - I have to pay the full price AGAIN for a digital copy that the only difference is the artificial digital restriction code built into it?
But it remains a fundamental flaw of DRM - you can make very good encryption algorithms - of the kind that's impossible for an average home user to crack.
However DRM requires that you _also_ supply the key to that encryption, allow me to decrypt it, and have software to control how and when I do so.
In effect, it's not about trying to pick the lock, it's about trying to find the spare key, that you _know_ is hidden somewhere.
