This comes up often and I grit my teeth every time. You can’t have a discussion of any length about ebook sales and pricing and DRM in any sized group of digital publishing observers before you hear that it is somehow wrong or unfair that a “purchaser” can’t do everything with an ebook they’ve bought […]
What the powers-that-be think about DRM, and an explanation of the cloud
My last post stemmed from a single catalyst: my frustration with what I feel is the tendency of those opposed to the use of DRM to promote the straw horse that people who defend its use must believe that DRM prevents, or even largely discourages, piracy. I know that isn’t true of me and I […]
DRM may not prevent piracy, but it might still protect sales
There is a lot of disagreement about piracy and DRM (digital rights management) among thinkers in the publishing space. This post will express a few thoughts about both but, mainly, this post is a plea not to conflate the two into the same discussion. In fact, whether they are part of the same discussion appears […]
DRM or not? a debate that won’t be over anytime soon
The one subject I didn’t touch in last week’s series of posts on ebooks was DRM: digital rights management, the software that controls what you can do with an ebook (or any other) file. This topic is so fraught with emotion and misplaced certainty that it has “third rail” aspects to it. So we tackle […]