Branko and I don’t always see eye to eye on DRM—I’m more flexible—but his post below is most timely. You see, my Palm TX can no longer use the Documents to Go program to display new e-book files loaded on it from Wowio’s ad-supported e-book service. DRM just might be the culprit. I get a message asking for a nonexistent password; and Wowio says the most likely suspect is a library-related DRM system, which may have left its droppings on my computer.
Wowio and I are both investigating this before reaching a final conclusion—I’ve also contacted the company behind Documents to Go, for example. Meanwhile, however, as a believer in copyright, I’ve heard enough DRM-related horror stories to know that consumer-hostile encryption systems are a great way to drive honest users to pirate sites, whatever the media. Far from protecting intellectual property and growing the e-book industry, today’s cumbersome and oft-Draconian DRM is a threat to both. Even publishers disagreeing with Branko on fair use issues would do well to read Jon Noring’s thoughts on the perils of DRM overkill.
A proven time-waster
Regardless of whether the library’s DRM system is at fault, there’s a definite conclusion here: Today’s frequently problematic DRM introduces yet another unknown for users. So far I still haven’t had enough spare time to get my Mobipocket Reader on the TX to work with the library’s DRM sytem. And now to find that the library’s Adobe books offer their own risks to patron happiness! Beyond doubt, in my case, DRM is a time-waster. I join Branko in his intense loathing of today’s DRM technology. In my dream world, there’d be no DRM, especially the Adobe and Microsoft varieties.
If, however, publisher insist on DRM, they’d be wise to hold vendors to higher standards. Same for libraries. The e-book industry’s tolerance of the Tower of eBabel just adds to the problem, by the way, given all the different DRM systems that publishers, libraries and retailers must suppport. The industry can’t raze the Tower without going beyond core formats and either agreeing on either a standard DRM system or on DRM interoperability standards, both seamless and well-enforced. Convenience for publishers, librarians and consumers should be the goal here—not protection of, say, Adobe’s business model: one reason why publishers urgently need to move standards-setting away from the IDPF, where the big DRM guys actually control the organization’s board. I know publishers value personal relationships. But here’s a capitalistic reply. Profits first for publishers! And patron service first for libraries!
DRM a problem even for tech-savvy libraries
Frustratingly, the public library involved here is far above average. What about libraries without the same technical capabilities? That’s how bad the mess has become, and why public libraries shouldn’t let donated convention services or other PR from DRM companies distract from the cause of patron service. It’s time for libraries to get as tough as the Dobermanish DRM is. Along with publishers, libraries should avoid doing business with smug vendors who are not responsive to users’ hopes for better-behaved DRM.
Alas, I doubt that all the library patrons and retail customers with problems are speaking out. My own hunch is that most victims of obnoxious DRM—whether passed on via libraries or stores—just silently give up on e-books. Too bad. In an era when millions of young people are building their reading habits around screens, the book industry cannot afford to let DRM vendors’ needs prevail over the commonweal.
