Comments on: Any publishers game for a DRM experiment? Let legit e-book buyers strip away DRM for backups

By: David Rothman

David Rothman — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 12:09:05 +0000

Bill M re DMCA: DRM-stripping programs are all over the Net, from abroad. So I’m not sure if the U.S. Justice Department could catch up with their suppliers.

As for the publishers, it’s a gray area, and one also needs to consider the vendors of the e-reading software, both legally and in terms of its relations with the e-reader vendor. But ideally there could be ways worked out to get around these complications. You’re raising useful issues. If a publisher authorized cracking, does that end the matter, or will Microsoft and all jump in?

Remember, though: The publisher won’t provide any cracking help. It would be strictly up to the individual consumers. I suppose this would be akin to nonprosecution of minor drug offenses. Perhaps most encouragingly of all, keep in mind that the law already allows libraries and disabled consumers to crack DRM.

I’m not saying that clarifies things. But maybe there’s some hope of resolving ambiguities. Appropriate congressional legislation—and I believe that one congressman has recommended this—would also help address the backup and different device issues.

Thanks,
David

By: Bill Monks

Bill Monks — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 09:56:37 +0000

How would this sit with the DMCA, which basically makes it illegal to circumvent DRM? Presumably a publisher can expressly allow the circumvention of their own DRM but what about the people who come up with the technology to strip it out? Will they be subject to police raids because potentially their “outlawed” technology could be used to remove the DRM on products which aren’t allowed to be backed up?

By: David Rothman

David Rothman — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 19:31:41 +0000

Bob, what a great example! In DRM we’re talking as much about ideology as technology. Thanks. David

By: Bob Martinengo

Bob Martinengo — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 19:29:00 +0000

It would be nice if educational publishers took a lesson from their own experience. They have been giving away, free, tens of thousands of electronic files of full-length textbooks, with no DRM whatsoever.

This has been going on for at least 7 years - maybe more. The files are used to provide access to disabled students. Many of these files are full color PDFs, and I have yet to hear of a single complaint of improper copying.

On top of that, schools routinely scan thousands of books for the same purpose. So we have many, many files out there without DRM, and the sky seems to be holding.

I guess the lesson here is that this is not a rational issue. Logic is currently eclipsed by hysteria. Common sense is uncommonly rare…