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Why ebooks are bad for you
Carol Haynes:
So some forms of copy protection are DRM, as I see it. For example having to use a serial number to activate a software programme is obviously not DRM, whereas an executable that is linked at purchase to a "machine ID" is DRM (and I would call that copy protection). Have I got that right?
-johnk (June 15, 2011, 07:35 AM)
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Grey area IMHO - someone like Adobe who lock software to you machine but allow you to unlock it I don't really consider DRM. Microsoft lock it and then don't let you unlock but they are fairly liberal if you need to call them (unless it is an OEM copy which is specifically licensed to one new machine and heavily discounted because of it).
If book publishers said to me: Hardback £25, Paperback £10, eBook (without DRM) £10, eBook (with DRM) £1 I might be convinced. WHat usually happens is Hardback £25, Paperback £10, eBook £12 or similar on Amazon. Often paperbacks are cheaper than the eBooks (and the same is more often than not true for physical CD and MP3s - especially on iTunes where DRMed downloads are usually more expensive than the more flexible CD equivalent).
zridling:
What are these solutions? I've never defended DRM, but I still don't see an alternative for ebook authors. How do you generate a reliable income stream for ebook authors without some form of DRM (and copy protection falls under the banner of DRM)?-johnk (June 14, 2011, 08:17 PM)
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The simple answer is: "by writing the next book." Consider that historically, authors make most of their money from a book soon after it's released, and that by how many hardcovers it sold. However, DRM is self-defeating and this is proven over and over. Gaga recently sold over a million copies for 99 cents of 'Born This Way' on Amazon (mind you, Amazon paid for the privilege), but I found this old Slashdot link in my bookmarks:
"Electronic copyright infringement is something that can only become an 'economic epidemic' under certain conditions. Any one of the following: 1) The products they want... are hard to find, and thus valuable. 2) The products they want are high-priced, so there's a fair amount of money to be saved by stealing them. 3) The legal products come with so many added-on nuisances that the illegal version is better to begin with. Those are the three conditions that will create widespread electronic copyright infringement, especially in combination. Why? Because they're the same three general conditions that create all large-scale smuggling enterprises. And... Guess what? It's precisely those three conditions that DRM creates in the first place. So far from being an impediment to so-called 'online piracy,' it's DRM itself that keeps fueling it and driving it forward." (Yep)
__________________________
One key property of printed books is that it is very hard to modify them. However, digital books are easy to rewrite, provided they are released under a licence that permits that. Back to Richard Stallman. He was unhappy with some of the misleading and incorrect things in the interview book "Free as in Freedom," but since he had published it under the GNU Free Documentation License, he was able to go back last year and offer his own take on the text and facts (PDF). Now it's "Free as in Freedom 2.0."
As 40hz says, forget the publishers for now. Authors have control if they will only exercise it. Making a living off of book writing is a very recent --- and still rare -- phenomenon (19th Century).
40hz:
I think what it ultimately comes down to is that neither the content creators nor the content consumers are being well served by any of this.
And 90% of the arguments, dog & pony shows, posturing, testimony before government, threats of legal action, actual 'legal' actions taken, white papers, disinformation, outright lies, accusations, and "prayers for relief" don't serve any constituency or interest other than those of industry middlemen.
Unfortunately, these middlemen have so alienated the buying public that circumvention and bootlegging have gradually come to be seen as legitimate responses to an entrenched and backwards facing industry long overdue for a complete overhaul. And the content creators have been tarred with the same brush by their association.
I write. I also compose and perform music.
There was a time when people like me only got to experience the dubious pleasure of being raked over the coals on every deal we made with either a publishing house or record company.
Not any more...
Content creators no longer get ripped-off exclusively by their publishers. Today they also get ripped-off by a large percentage of their fans. In short, they get burned going in and burned going out.
No wonder so many people have given up on copyright and are now looking at coming up with something they can patent or license. At least patents (even those that should never have been issued) are more enforceable than a copyright.
:-\
Renegade:
The one overlooked contribution publishing houses used to provide was editorial input on an author's work. Was a time when they even went so far as to sign less polished writers. They'd sign them on, and then help them develop their writing skills if they showed talent but lacked the necessary craftsmanship.
They don't really do that any more.
And the unfortunate result is the spate of poorly written books we're seeing released by publishers who should (and do) know better.
-40hz (June 15, 2011, 07:53 AM)
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This is a core problem. It's virtually impossible to read the news today and not have a WTF moment with rubbish writing. Spelling errors. Wrong word. Missing articles. Incorrect terminology. The horrors go on and on.
Anyways, "Go the F**k to Sleep":
And the book's main site:
http://gotheftosleep.com/
And the pissing and moaning...
http://www.baycitizen.org/books/story/go-f-sleep-case-viral-pdf/
And Akashic been doing what they can to control distribution of the document by asking people to take down any posted PDFs. This may not be much. "As the publisher of this book, our responsibilty is to tackle instances of piracy when we become aware of them," Ahmad said, "That's just doing a service to our authors, ourselves, book sellers, distributors, to everyone involved in the successful making and promotion of a book."
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The book was sent off BY THE PUBLISHER through email and it went viral.
The Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_the_Fuck_to_Sleep
Would the book be the #1 best seller BEFORE ITS RELEASE without the ebook circulating by email? Highly unlikely.
Piracy helped this book!
But the only thing they can think about is "piracy", which without, the book very well could have been relegated to obscurity.
Sure, piracy sucks. If I had a nickel for every time my software was pirated, I'd retire. Wah. Boo hoo. Suck it up and move on.
Piracy in the "Go the F**k to Sleep" case has made the book a #1 best seller, and I assume, highly profitable. It's raining money, hallelujah!
You can either focus on making money, or you can focus on money that you didn't make. Should'a, would'a, could'a. Move on already. Do the "best effort" thing to prevent piracy then turn your attention to something productive.
Now, I think that is a very rare case. It doesn't happen every day, and it's not the norm. But, it illustrates how "piracy" isn't the end of the world, and can in fact help.
Why did Microsoft not enforce any licensing for Windows until Windows XP? Or for Office? Because piracy helped Windows and Office become dominant.
I really like Carol's take there:
* Hardcover $35
* Paperback $15
* Digital with no DRM $10
* Digital with DRM $2
Or whatever pricing, but that kind of range.
I can live with DRM like that. I could even go for "rental" with reasonable prices. But I'm not going to pay $40 to $80 (the normal range for books I buy) to get screwed with DRM (been there and done that). Luckily, there are publishers for the stuff I want that do DRM-free books.
DRM *can* work. But it needs to be reasonable. I'll pay for something that's locked down, chained up, and restricted... but not much...
Now... I can go the f**k to sleep... :D :P
40hz:
Now... I can go the f**k to sleep... :D :P
-Renegade (June 15, 2011, 04:26 PM)
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Nice touch that. Loops back to an earlier comment and ties it together nicely. Full points! ;D :Thmbsup: :Thmbsup:
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