Editorial in the Washington Post about ebooks and DRM

[4Katie]

Basically it says that the ebook industry needs to learn from the music industry - ebooks won't become mainstream until they're sold without DRM, so once you buy a book you OWN it and can do whatever you want with it.

E-book business should take a page from music industry and go DRM-free
By Rob Pegoraro, Friday, April 8, 9:42 AM

I’ve done my part to prop up the consumer-electronics industry in recent years: a flat-panel TV downstairs and one upstairs, his and hers smartphones, not-too-obsolete digital cameras, a desktop computer upstairs and an iPad 2 downstairs (well, once it gets off back order).

But one thing is missing from this electronic inventory: a Kindle, a Nook or any sort of e-book reader.

That’s not an accident. The e-book business seems determined to repeat the early mistakes of the music industry with “digital rights management” restrictions. But this time around, I don’t feel compelled to back their early investments with my own money.

Think back to how the first good, mass-market music-download store worked. Apple’s iTunes Store seemed like a revelation compared with earlier, listener-hostile efforts, simply because it let you listen to your purchases in most cases.

All you had to do was consent to listen to songs bought off iTunes only on the five computers you’d authorized with your account, plus any iPods or iPhones you owned.

Those restrictions started to grate on some users. Then Steve Jobs admitted he wasn’t a fan of DRM himself, one major label decided it could do without it as well, Amazon launched an entirely DRM-free MP3 store . . . and less than two years later, DRM vanished from iTunes, too.

Somehow, the recorded-music business did not perish. Digital sales should finally pass CD sales next year.

E-books haven’t come as far along. If you buy a title from Amazon’s Kindle Store, Barnes & Noble’s Nook bookstore or Apple’s iBookstore, among others, the DRM attached to it will prevent you from reading that book on another company’s software or hardware.

That might not seem like a problem today. Amazon makes a pretty good e-book reader today in the Kindle and has since shipped software for a growing variety of computers and smartphones. But do you trust it to lead that category of hardware and software for as long as you’d want to reread that book?

E-book DRM also disables many functions common to paper books or other electronic documents. Most stores don’t let you copy text from a book to quote elsewhere, although Barnes & Noble is a welcome exception. Printing? Forget it, unless you go to the trouble of placing an e-reader face down in a copier, one page at a time.

Lending is limited to those titles for which a publisher has authorized it and comes with condescendingly strict limits that most librarians would not recognize. For example, Amazon permits only one 14-day loan per authorized title, ever.

Reselling an e-book? Forget it.

All those limits and lock-ins make an e-book with DRM a dubious deal. Why would I want to pay almost as much as for a paper book — in some cases more — and then have my purchase constrain its usefulness and therefore cut its value?

Some smaller publishers haven’t bought into DRM, just as independent record labels never saw the point of it. Tech publisher O’Reilly and Associates of Sebastopol, Calif., sells titles on its own site and through such outlets as the Kindle Store without any “protection.”

Has the company lost any sales? In a nutshell, no. E-book sales had grown to more than 10 times print sales on O’Reilly’s site by the end of 2010, wrote Vice President Andrew Savikas.

The mainstream sites are showing some signs of being open to removing DRM. Amazon, Apple and Barnes & Noble now all allow publishers to opt out of DRM. Apple even defaults to omitting DRM, although it takes only one click for a publisher to restore that.

But good luck finding out whether a potential purchase comes with the usual digital locks. Apple and Barnes & Noble provide zero indication of an e-book’s DRM status in their stores. On the Kindle Store, you might get lucky and find that a book’s title notes that virtue, or that a publisher has thought to tag that page with a “drmfree” label.

But most publishers don’t give their own authors that option. My colleague Joel Achenbach’s new book “A Hole at the Bottom of the Sea” sailed into the Kindle Store with DRM intact because he never had a choice — he was never asked. His agent, Michael Congdon, said major publishers don’t negotiate that.

Maybe most authors would choose DRM anyway. Dan Pacheco, chief executive of Boulder, Colo.-based BookBrewer, wrote that his Internet-publishing startup will provide an author’s work without DRM, “but no author has done that to date.”

There is one way to settle this discussion. Give customers a clear choice, let the market work, and the book business might discover that it can read the recording industry’s sheet music.


robp@washpost.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/e-book-business-should-take-a-page-from-music-industry-and-go-drm-free/2011/04/05/AFBRbG1C_story.html

I'm sure it will happen eventually, but how long will it take?

lol - The first comment is "Let the market work? You do know this is Washington, right? Right?"

[fancynancy]

Excellent editorial.  Originally, I was asking myself "would I rent this book for this price?".  I figured I paid $5 to rent a movie and watched it for approximately 90 minutes, so $7 for a book I read for 10 times as many hours wasn't a bad deal.  But I don't rent that many movies, and I read voraciously, so I'm not sure it makes sense anymore.  Frankly, I'm starting to sour on the whole Kindle scheme.   

[Me and My Kindle]

I read nothing but free e-books on my Kindle for the first three months after I bought it. (So imagine my surprise when the price of e-books then suddenly started increasing!)

But yeah, I agree with the editorial writer.  Competition should ultimately bring down the price of e-books, which will be good for Kindle owners in the long run.

By the way, I remember swapping some e-mails with Rob Pegoraro back in 1995. He was just starting out at the Washington Post as a technology reporter, writing articles like the pros and cons of getting on the internet using AOL!

[Jan Strnad]

Good article! Much better than what we usually get from the mainstream press!

[mooshie78]

Excellent editorial.  Originally, I was asking myself "would I rent this book for this price?".  I figured I paid $5 to rent a movie and watched it for approximately 90 minutes, so $7 for a book I read for 10 times as many hours wasn't a bad deal.  But I don't rent that many movies, and I read voraciously, so I'm not sure it makes sense anymore.  Frankly, I'm starting to sour on the whole Kindle scheme.   

For me I have very few books I want to own as I seldom re-read.  So DRM doesn't really affect me.  I buy e-books primarily for the convenience of not having a physical copy to get rid of after reading.

I'd prefer not having DRM, but I can live with it since it doesn't really hamper me as I don't re-read and don't care much about lending books to others etc.

[Jan Strnad]

Excellent editorial.  Originally, I was asking myself "would I rent this book for this price?".  I figured I paid $5 to rent a movie and watched it for approximately 90 minutes, so $7 for a book I read for 10 times as many hours wasn't a bad deal.  But I don't rent that many movies, and I read voraciously, so I'm not sure it makes sense anymore.  Frankly, I'm starting to sour on the whole Kindle scheme.   

Except that when you rent a movie and return it, you have to pay to rent it again. With a Kindle book, you can retrieve it from Amazon and read it again whenever you like. You can have several people on your account and the book can be on several devices (usually 6) simultaneously. (Check the "simultaneous device usage" item on the book listing to see how many devices can hold the book at one time.)

As for DRM, I chose not to use it. I operate more on the PBS model: Yes, many people will read my book who never pay for it, but hopefully enough people will pay for it to make it worthwhile. Why pay when you can get it free? Well, why does anyone ever contribute to public radio? Because some people understand that nothing is really free, that if you like something and want more, you should contribute to its survival.

[SebastianDark]

I agree completely.  DRM only frustrates honest customers.  Those who want to pirate books are going to do so anyway, and some inept, outdated DRM ebook technology's not going to stop them.  I sell my book THE TARGETS without DRM, and even make a case to point it out in the description on Amazon.

[Russell Brooks]

Great article. Thanks for sharing. I've had second thoughts on whether or not I should have DRM on my novels or not. Right now I do. May someone give me the the con of having a DRM free book. I'm all thumbs with this sort of thing. And it would help me to make a more intelligent choice. Any answers would be greatly appreciated.

[mooshie78]

Great article. Thanks for sharing. I've had second thoughts on whether or not I should have DRM on my novels or not. Right now I do. May someone give me the the con of having a DRM free book. I'm all thumbs with this sort of thing. And it would help me to make a more intelligent choice. Any answers would be greatly appreciated.

Well the assumed con of not having DRM is more piracy.  But as noted above, the pirates are tech savvy types who have no problems  stripping DRM.

So the only real con is maybe losing some sales as people who aren't that tech inclined can now easily e-mail the e-book file to a friend or family member and it may get passed around more than say one copy of the paperback would and multiple people can keep that copy etc.

But on the other side, maybe you get some more sales from people who refuse to buy DRM e-books--granted that's a pretty small (but vocal) crowd on sites like Mobileread etc.--a  few here, but not as many since this is a Kindle site and most Kindle owners at least begrudgingly accept buying DRM'd books from Amazon.  But there are a few here who say they never buy from Amazon.

The question for you is whether any sales lost from books getting passed around among the non-techie crowd now that there's no DRM to stop them outweigh the additional sales to people who buy now that it has no DRM.

Maybe just go DRM free on your next book and compare sales to your past books with DRM.

[Elk]

Did/does Amanda Hocking use DRM on her ebooks?

Whatever method she uses, she has been unquestionably successful.

[markarayner]

Thanks for posting this.  It's reassuring that my decision not to put DRM on my books is the right one.  Eventually, I think the industry will get around to disposing of it -- and I suspect it will happen sooner in the publishing industry than the movie industry.

[MrPLD]

Never been an advocate of DRM - as a publisher and a consumer.  It doesn't stop piracy, not even Aunty Jill and ultimately it inhibits the honest user.

[mrscottishman]

I read on so many forums that it is easy for the technically minded to remove the drm. If that is the case and I believe it is, then why put it on to begin with? It is just a nuisance to people that want to go from say a Sony or Nook reader to a Kindle. It also creates fears about what will happen if the current Kindle format becomes obsolete.

I know people say that will never happen and of course GM will never fail either. Ford made 4.4 million Thunderbirds, but you can't buy a new one now. Try buying a player for your 8 tracks or 78 records. What about the older transcribed discs? Old Time Radio fans schedule time years ahead to get their one of a kind discs converted into a usable format by using one of the few transcribed disc players left. The reel to reel players that were used in early broadcasting are becoming few and far between now.

NASA was actually going to throw away moon shot footage that had never been analyzed or recorded to film after there was no working player left that would play it. Some smart soul set it aside for years and recently some very stubborn people put several junk players together to make a more or less functional one and are trying to save that piece of history all on their own.

I see DRM as a lock to which the only ones that have the key are the ones that would/could do harm.

Now I am not saying everyone that removes DRM does harm, but surely the ones that would do the harm have the ability to remove DRM to a person.

Imagine jails where the jailer, the proper proprietor of the jail didn't have the key, but the inmates all did!

Imagine pharmacies where the pharmacist couldn't unlock the medicines, but the drug dealers could.

The casual user cannot unlock the DRM without some technical skill, tools and what would be for me at least some degree of trouble, but the very people that put books up for free download do, it is part of their skill set.

We live in a strange world. A world where the thieves have most of the keys.

I did not DRM my book and do not plan to DRM future books.

best,
Scott

[TraceyC/FL]

I"m finding it very interesting to read the DRM thing from the point of view of the content creators. That is a new aspect of the debate to me - and i'm happy to see that you all have pretty much the same outlook as I do.

I don't like DRM - especially on books that i'd like to share with my parents - but since it is there i will mainly respect it. I do have the technically ability to make it go away, it's not something i have felt the need to do. I really don't want to see it go away then have the publishers force amazon & apple to charge us for non-DRM'd copies. I still have songs to upgrade on iTunes, i'm sure as heck NOT upgrading the ex's stuff in my library, and I just haven't had the money to do it. I'd rather buy new songs or books.

So i'd like to say thank you to those of you that have gone the no DRM route. I'm going to have to get better at this indie author thing (I stink at breaking out of my box in new authors - that is one thing i can say that the freebies i have collected have done for me, and yes they have driven purchases) and support you all.

[Italiahaircolor]

Okay, honestly, maybe it's just me...but the whole loan vs own thing doesn't hit home with me that hard.

I feel like I own the books on my Kindle.  I know I don't in a nuts-and-bolts sense, but I can pull one up as easily as I could reach for one on the shelf.  That's all I really need from this experience. 

I know if I were to ever switch away from Amazon and the Kindle, I would loose my content--and as I said in another thread--that's hard to accept.  However, it would be part of the decision making process for me.  I can't see myself parting ways with Amazon, I love my Kindle and I feel, in terms of an eReader, it's cutting edge and continues to be more so with each upgrade.  If Amazon goes all-ad's, then we'll talk...but for right now, I feel like a lot of this is looking for lions where there are only pussycats. 

[markarayner]

Ultimately, I don't think readers should have to worry about this at all, which is why as a content producer I get so annoyed with DRM.  I do appreciate readers who are informed about it, but those who aren't are cool too, and totally right not to be thinking about it -- they shouldn't have to!

[Elk]

I don't think readers should have to worry about this at all,

This is the ideal.

I wonder to what extent people would still object to DRM if they could transcode to any format so they could read the book on any device, could back up the file, could sell and loan it - but could not make a copy and only one version could exist at a time.  That is, an ebook was essentially identical to a physical book.

[Library4Science]

If you are worried about not owning the ebooks you bought because Amazon can remove them you can just transfer them to your PC.  It's very easy, just plug the Kindle in to the USB port then open up its document folder and drag and drop your book files into any folder to copy them.  You can reverse this process at any time and Amazon can only delete them if you have whisper net turned on.

[mooshie78]

If you are worried about not owning the ebooks you bought because Amazon can remove them you can just transfer them to your PC.  It's very easy, just plug the Kindle in to the USB port then open up its document folder and drag and drop your book files into any folder to copy them.  You can reverse this process at any time and Amazon can only delete them if you have whisper net turned on.

That only works to put them back on the same Kindle though.  It won't work to move them to a new Kindle down the road unless you remove the DRM first, as the DRM is tied to the device they were downloaded on.

[J.R.Mooneyham]

After reading plenty of pros and cons over the years (plus doing other research), I decided NOT to have DRM on any of my Kindle ebooks, from the start.

[Alan Ryker]

I could see casual piracy picking up some once ereaders becomes really popular. Like, "I think you'd really like this book. I'll email it to you!"

But I can't stand the idea that I don't own my books, and strip the drm off of them after I buy them, so it'd be hypocritical of me to use drm.

[mrscottishman]

I have not removed DRM from any of the books I have "purchased", however I do keep them backed up on my computer. I am thinking that if anything happened I could remove the DRM then if the situation warranted it. You know $2 here and $9.99 there and a fifty dollar gift card spent on books every Christmas and birthday it adds up. Before long you can spend a lot of money on books that you don't own. 

Scott

[ellenoc]

I started with ebooks back in 1999 with a Rocket Ebook. It still works, which is fortunate because the books I have on it would be lost to me if it didn't. I saw posts about removing the DRM at the time but never did anything about it and of course it's too late now. So with my Kindle books, I got and tried the de-DRM software to make sure I could. I haven't used it for real and won't - unless the Kindle is abandoned and anyone expects me to repurchase books I've already bought.

Amazon allows books to be put up on its site without DRM and I believe most indie authors do that. I know I do.

[markarayner]

If you are worried about not owning the ebooks you bought because Amazon can remove them you can just transfer them to your PC.  It's very easy, just plug the Kindle in to the USB port then open up its document folder and drag and drop your book files into any folder to copy them.  You can reverse this process at any time and Amazon can only delete them if you have whisper net turned on.

That is a good idea.  I'll start doing it with my monthly backups!

[mooshie78]

That is a good idea.  I'll start doing it with my monthly backups!

Again, keep in mind that will only work to put them back on the same Kindle they were downloaded to as the DRM is tied to the device.  So if you get a new Kindle down the road you'd have to download them through the archive to get the DRM tied to the new device--or strip DRM from the files on the computer before dragging them over to the new Kindle.

[QuantumIguana]

It gives me peace of mind to have the books that I purchased backed up. It keeps me in charge, rather than relying on the goodwill of anyone else.