-bks ffr dffrnt srvc. Y gt n sly strbl nd trnsprtbl bk whch cnnt b cpd r rsld nd whch ds nt rqr th chppng dwn f trs t cnstrct nd csts lss thn ppr bk.

ls thnk bk thrs hv mr t fr thn mscns, f thy wnt t mk lvng ff f msc, nd ths r mr nclnd t wnt t s thr wrk prtctd.

f g t prt by nd dwnld vrythng tht Mby vr md, h cld prbbly stll gt rch by trng th cntry dng cncrts. n fct, h mght gt vn rchr thrgh cncrts f hs msc s fr nd ths h hs mr ptntl cncrt grs.

f g t prt by nd dwnld vrythng tht Nl Gmn vr wrt, h dsn’t rlly hv n ltrnt vn t ffr m, shrt f gvng p n nvls nd swtchng t plys.

Bt hy, wh m t tlk n ths ss, rght? Wll hr’s qt frm smn mr qlfd thn m: < hrf="http://jrnl.nlgmn.cm/2007/11/m-n-mnl.html">Nl Gmn hmslf –
” dn’t thnk vryn hs rght t dgtlly cpy nd dstrbt bks thy bght t thrs, ny mr thn thnk thy hv rght t, sy, phtcpy nd dstrbt my bks, r t prnt thr wn cps nd sll r gv thm wy. ‘m ll fr thrs gvng stff wy f thy wnt t, bt thrs r, t lst crrntly, llwd t dcd n wht wy thy wnt thr bks md vlbl n th mrktplc.”

nd dn’t thnk thr’s nythng spclly wrng wth mzn spprtng n thr’s blty t chs hw thy pblsh thr wrks. ‘m sr f Nl Gmn wnts t rls n -bk frm f Nvrwhr wth n DRM n t, mzn sn’t gng t stp hm. S pprntly, h DS wnt DRM n Nvrwhr. Ds tht mk hm th bd gy, thn? Nbdy’s skng “Why d dwnlds mk Nl Gmn g crzy”. Myb t’s nt s crzy.

Once true open source eReaders hit the market, and someone contributes plans for a Lego book scanner to Make, I fully expect this company to start raving about so-called pirates like an ergotic dog chewing on stones. They’ve felt secure for all these years behind their fortress walls of paper and plastic and are obviously unwilling entertain the concept of a world in which all that material is suddenly worthless.

And so we will see more DRM and more lobbying for laws against circumvention, against innovation and invention, more corporate Luddism. And all of it emerging from the vain and destructive delusion that they can somehow halt or even reverse technological and cultural progress, or at the very least can carry over a system of distribution into an environment for which it is no longer fit. Commercially the information they are selling now will soon be barely worth the electricity used to transmit it.

Using the device you are reading this with, and despite the content industries’ best efforts, all that media is infinitely available, endlessly reproducible, and globally distributable, at virtually no cost.

There is no business in reproduction or distribution any more.

Sell now.

And since you’ve brought up Neil Gaiman’s work: I think it’s reasonable to want e-books to accommodate graphic novels, symbols, dingbats, colored or shaded text, visually complex nonstandard formats, aesch eth thorn and yogh, and other features found in hardcopy books. I am not content to have integral information stripped out of previously published works because Amazon doesn’t own the formats in which they can be displayed.

In regard to Amazon, I love them and spend WAY TOO MUCH MONEY on their site. I may need to join an Amazon 12 step program.

As to the DRM thing, their MP3 site is great and the Unload site (where the Satanic DRM files lurk) is ok too. I don’t care much for DRM but as I have a Kindle on order (told you I was an Amazon addict) I can live with Amazon’s processes.

Requiring sellers to use proper terminology could instantly raise awareness among consumers, silence many critics, and encourage DRM-free business models.

If the government can require companies to label food properly and those medicine ads to list side effects, why can’t they require DRM’d crap to be clearly marked as well?

thnk grphc nvls wll b hrdr t cmmt t -bk frmt, thgh, vn f th rdr ws tchnclly cpbl. ‘m lkng t Sndmn bk n my hnd nd tryng t mgn hw y’d gt t nt n -bk. Y’d hv t thr rsz t snc th scrn s smllr thn th pgs (bd), llw th -bk t scrll (dsn’t snd plsnt) r y’d bsclly hv t rfrmt th whl bk pg by pg, ccntng fr th sz f th rdr s tht t fts jst rght. Th mssv fll pg sprds tht Sndmn ds btwn chptrs wld prbbly b srsly dmnshd by cmmttng t t n -bk.

*cld* s ftr whr -rdrs tnd t cm n stndrd sz nd grphc nvls gt md spcfclly wth ths dmnsns n mnd, thgh. f th Kndl ctchs n, wldn’t b srprsd t s sm ntrpd rtsts strt prdcng sbscrptn wbcmc wth rsltn, sz nd clr dpth md spcfclly fr th Kndl.

Sy, tht’s dmn gd d.

Qck, smn tch m hw t drw…

Require amazon software to download a whole album bot not single tracks.

Gift balances aren’t valid for downloadable purchases.

A standard-size comics page fits nicely onto a 6×9″ hardcover page. It takes some reduction, but the aspect ratio is fine.

“Even Amazon’s much-vaunted MP3 store comes with terms of service that prevent lending and reselling.”

…

Cory, you are always on about this. You can’t “lend” a file. You can only distribute it. You can’t “resell” it; you can only charge for an unauthorized copy of a copy!

Why would they ever allow these things?

That being said, there’s nothing stopping you from doing it, and many people will, and no one will really care. They really just want to make sure you’re not distributing en masse.

You know these things; you just feign shock and hope that people don’t notice that what you’re complaining about is perfectly reasonable.

Amazon sells MP3s with no DRM. Thank you, Amazon. I can copy them around for my personal use all I want and they won’t get in my way. That’s all I’ve ever asked for. That’s all I’ve ever really had a right to ask for.

All this yammering on about how digital goods are different from physical when it serves your argument, and then turning around and saying they’re the same when that position is more useful. It’s preposterous.

DRM is bullshit. It forces honest people to do dishonest things to enjoy their purchases in totally sane manners. We all agree on that. But making money off of your work is not bullshit, and that’s what these people are trying to protect, albeit ham-handedly.

Good article, but the government wasn’t looking for any kind of terrorist when it was “fishing” for purchase histories of those 24,000 people.

http://www.news.com/8301-13578_3-9824635-38.html

They were trying to prosecute a Madison city gov’t employee for tax evasion. Still not a good reason to subpoena purchase histories, but also not a good reason for a knee-jerk “TERRORISM!” reaction…

Ummm, GRM anybody? (geographical rights management)

(Yes, I know, I sound like a scratched record – see my previous post)

Wait until they put GPS in this e-kindling device and it stops you reading your “book” as you cross a border! I simply can’t imagine why the “anti-pirate, we’re so dumb we can’t imagine a new business model beyond suing our customers” brigade haven’t tried to have GPS put in hardware yet. Oh – yes I can – if they hired someone to come up with this idea they’ve already admitted they are so dumb they wouldn’t know if he/she was telling them the truth!

Anyone fancy a combined GPS/DVD player with MPAA DVD region control?

:-)

(Ok – sorry – too far off-topic)

The Gutenberg Code?

To make money?

To make money?

I want control of the content I purchase. Recent events, such as the expiration of the DRM on purchased Major League Baseball videos and purchased Google videos make me very hesitant to purchase other content that can be changed or expired at will by some remote licensing authority. The concept that they would be allowed to edit my books without my knowledge or consent strikes too many dark Orwellian chords for my comfort. There’s no need to ban books when you can just disable (in whole or in part) the ones you don’t think people should read.

I have lots of books and records that belonged to my grandfather. Under the Amazon model, those books and records would have simply vanished back into Amazon’s vault when he passed away. Amazon would keep a copy, but I couldn’t read, watch, or listen to the books, movies, and music that helped shape his life.

DRM is “legalized” theft. I do my best not to purchase products crippled with DRM. The transition from “owned” to “tenuously and temporarily licensed” is just too far to fall.

I appreciate those of you who give so much voice to these concerns.

It’s an interesting instance of a word starting out with one meaning and ending up with an opposite meaning.

I’m still hanging on to the definition of showstopper as something wonderful, a performance so powerful that the resulting applause literally stops the show? In technology circles, it seems to only mean something so horrible that it scuttles a transaction.

I guess this is grammar day on BoingBoing, in light of the comments on today’s RIAA thread on the misuse of “begs the question” (which I was completely ignorant of!).

I’ve only purchased one movie, Hot Fuzz, but I deleted that myself not long afterwards. If I’d liked the movie more, I might have been pissed if I found out I couldn’t burn it to disc after “purchasing” it, but I’m finding my habits changing as far as movie purchases go. I was an early DVD adopter, and so have amassed a rather large collection, which is frankly an albatross in this day and age. If I miss a Hollywood blockbuster in the summer, I know I can pay four bucks and rent it on my Tivo as soon (or almost as soon) as it’s released. True, I only have 24 hours to watch it once I’ve started, but I’m fine with that; it’s like when I would rent from Blockbuster (in the cave man era).

As far as purchases… well, I’m staying away from them, and after reading your article I’m glad I did. But for anybody with a Tivo, Amazon Unbox is pretty sweet.

Frankly, I don’t think the publishers will remove DRM until the consumers shown them the way with the stick, as has happened to the record companies. Ridiculously crippled goods do not a good business make.

Well it isn’t dumb IF you can explain why possessing a US address/credit card somehow magically enables some DRM-free binary digits to be deliverable, but not having a US address/credit card renders those same DRM-free binary digits somehow undeliverable.

Sounds a bit like these particular bits are not “free” of something (whatever it is) that is a bit like DRM in character. Heading straight back to dumbness, surely?

I wrote Amazon and told that the file was useless to me. They refunded my purchase almost immediately. It was only $3.99, but still: I bought the damn thing, and wanted to be able to do what I wanted with the data I purchased.

Still, I suppose it’s for the best. There is a vast black market for counterfeit psychology texts. I could’ve printed the whole book out, made photocopies, and sold thousands of copies of it.