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Perhaps that's just the price you pay for access to ebooks at all -- particularly via an incredibly convenient system like Kindle? (Also, loaning -- the most pr

Perhaps that's just the price you pay for access to ebooks at all -- particularly via an incredibly convenient system like Kindle? (Also, loaning -- the most pressing concern here -- is supported.) Authors need to get paid. I completely understand the irritation DRM presents, but if you want to be able to resell your books or pass them down through the generations, maybe paper copies are the way to go under our present conditions. A second question. Most of us, I presume, work in software. How do you approach the distribution of your work? Is unlimited piracy of your code an acceptable price to pay for giving customers unfettered access to the product of your labor, in your eyes?

criddell 9y ago
Loaning is supported as long as the other person is also using a Kindle. I think if there were a non-proprietary DRM system where I could give my books away or loan them to friends reading on non-Amazon devices, I would feel a lot better about it. Having access to your library when you travel is also a pretty big deal. You suggest sticking with paper books, but the accessibility benefits (ie large typefaces or screenreaders) that you get with ebooks is hard to give up. For some people, it isn't a matter of choosing between paper or digital, it's digital or nothing. I agree that authors should usually get paid (I say usually because I support public libraries). However, I don't think there's much evidence that DRM helps authors get paid. Is there a popular book that hasn't been pirated thanks to DRM? Do you think the Amazon lock-in that DRM provides is good for the industry? I certainly don't. As for your second question, you are probably not going to get the answer you expect. Lots of people here support and work on free and open source software.
- bykovich2 9y ago
  Open source software is fantastic -- but is that how we're making our livings? From what I can tell, OSS is either a) a labor of love, in addition to a separate full-time job, b) supported by a nonprofit that pays you a salary out of grants and donations, or c) supported by a corporation that pays you a salary out of EE sales or support revenue. (There may be exceptions, but they seem few.) Only (a) bears any resemblance to the business model for authors. Some authors certainly receive nonprofit monies, but funding for the arts is notoriously thin. If you were able to create a corporation that sells support contracts for literature or an enterprise edition for scholarship -- and payed out to authors regardless of how well their product performed -- then there might be a comparison.
JetSpiegel 9y ago
I wished people thought so high of my code that they actively tried to use it,even through illegal means.
MrMorden 9y ago
Your question is based on two premises: that DRM reduces piracy by a non-negligible amount, and that anyone pirating a copyrighted work would have otherwise purchased it legally. The available evidence contradicts both.

criddell 9y ago

Loaning is supported as long as the other person is also using a Kindle. I think if there were a non-proprietary DRM system where I could give my books away or loan them to friends reading on non-Amazon devices, I would feel a lot better about it. Having access to your library when you travel is also a pretty big deal. You suggest sticking with paper books, but the accessibility benefits (ie large typefaces or screenreaders) that you get with ebooks is hard to give up. For some people, it isn't a matter of choosing between paper or digital, it's digital or nothing. I agree that authors should usually get paid (I say usually because I support public libraries). However, I don't think there's much evidence that DRM helps authors get paid. Is there a popular book that hasn't been pirated thanks to DRM? Do you think the Amazon lock-in that DRM provides is good for the industry? I certainly don't. As for your second question, you are probably not going to get the answer you expect. Lots of people here support and work on free and open source software.

bykovich2 9y ago
Open source software is fantastic -- but is that how we're making our livings? From what I can tell, OSS is either a) a labor of love, in addition to a separate full-time job, b) supported by a nonprofit that pays you a salary out of grants and donations, or c) supported by a corporation that pays you a salary out of EE sales or support revenue. (There may be exceptions, but they seem few.) Only (a) bears any resemblance to the business model for authors. Some authors certainly receive nonprofit monies, but funding for the arts is notoriously thin. If you were able to create a corporation that sells support contracts for literature or an enterprise edition for scholarship -- and payed out to authors regardless of how well their product performed -- then there might be a comparison.

JetSpiegel 9y ago

I wished people thought so high of my code that they actively tried to use it,even through illegal means.

MrMorden 9y ago

Your question is based on two premises: that DRM reduces piracy by a non-negligible amount, and that anyone pirating a copyrighted work would have otherwise purchased it legally. The available evidence contradicts both.