redshirtsJohn Scalzi recently published a new book, Redshirts, a humorous take on a particular science-fiction trope most familiar from the original Star Trek TV series. And in keeping with Tor’s pledge to forego DRM, the e-book version is being published DRM-free. (Or at least it’s supposed to be.)

In a post to his blog, Scalzi explained how he would like to see readers using this DRM-free e-book—personal use and sharing, yes; limited sharing with friends or co-workers, sure (but not all of them at once, please), not sharing it willy-nilly on the Internet, and bearing in mind that buying it and encouraging others to buy it helps the author and people who work for the publisher earn their livings.

Even though the e-book is supposed to be sold DRM-free, not every e-book retailer has been living up to that. Scalzi received reports that a number of e-book stores have been putting DRM on the e-book. (In the blog post about this, he actually linked to Apprentice Alf’s guide to DRM removal for the edification of those thus afflicted—which might technically be a no-no under the DMCA, which is why I’m not linking to it here.) Subsequently, Scalzi posted that anyone who received a DRM’d copy of the book can forward their receipt to redshirtsdrm@macmillanusa.com to get a DRM-free replacement copy.

It’s great Scalzi and Tor are putting this book out DRM-free. I’m tempted to buy it, because Scalzi is always a good read. But not quite tempted enough to pay $12 for it. Granted, this is less than the $15.51 that Amazon and Barnes & Noble are charging for the hardcover, and much less than the $24.99 suggested retail price for the hardcover (seriously, does anyone even pay that anymore? Even Walmart.com has it for $15.82). But it’s still about twice what a single e-book ought to cost.

(I can say that here, but I couldn’t on Scalzi’s blog, since the notoriously grumpy Scalzi announced a moderation policy of no longer allowing comments complaining about e-book prices. Granted, that was just for his “The Big Idea” posts; I don’t know if he would do the same for the ones about his own book—but I wouldn’t be surprised.)

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