Comments on: The Kindle and DRM

By: marcel

marcel — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 15:20:32 +0000

I own a Kindle, but I don`t like that I do not really own the book and can do what I want. and if I want to be able to read my book in the future I remain dependent on a third party: Amazon. Similar situation with music already happened, people spent money for buying music, but were not able to play anymore after a year.
Everybody says that DRM is necessary to protect the writers, but is this not the same situation as with music?. Pricing of “Kindle books” imho is very high considering the fact that distribution is easy and printing is not required. What will happen if pricing drops to let's say avg $5 per book and no DRM. I expect the turnover will be huge and the majority of people with just buy it legally.
In Europe there have been a few websites which offered music for very low prices, they were shut down due to legal action of the record companies, but the sold a lot of music.
The majority of people are willing to pay, but but probably not too mushc for something you do not really own after buying.

By: marcel

marcel — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 15:20:32 +0000

I own a Kindle, but I don`t like that I do not really own the book and can do what I want. and if I want to be able to read my book in the future I remain dependent on a third party: Amazon. Similar situation with music already happened, people spent money for buying music, but were not able to play anymore after a year.
Everybody says that DRM is necessary to protect the writers, but is this not the same situation as with music?. Pricing of "Kindle books" imho is very high considering the fact that distribution is easy and printing is not required. What will happen if pricing drops to let's say avg $5 per book and no DRM. I expect the turnover will be huge and the majority of people with just buy it legally.
In Europe there have been a few websites which offered music for very low prices, they were shut down due to legal action of the record companies, but the sold a lot of music.
The majority of people are willing to pay, but but probably not too mushc for something you do not really own after buying.

By: Brad Feld

Brad Feld — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 13:00:07 +0000

I completely agree. I expect Sony and/or some of the other electronic book publishers that are starting to emerge will put pressure on this.

By: Stefen Roebke

Stefen Roebke — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 12:57:17 +0000

Just the option to "Gift" one of your books to another kindle account would be cool. You lose the rights to download it, and the other user gains it. Simple, easy, no need for any change in File formats or kindle firmware.

I don't see a need to limit the number of times the book can be gifted. In the world of used books, a book can be _sold_ and _resold_ any number of times with no money seen by the publisher or author. If its gifted, its just like giving a book you no longer will read to a friend.

By: Brad Feld

Brad Feld — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 20:28:05 +0000

I haven’t run into this yet but I expect I will soon as I’m on Kindle #4.

By: Keith Martin

Keith Martin — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 19:34:30 +0000

I just wanted to update everyone. Now that I have multiple kindle devices (original, 2 and DX – with multiple ipods (touch and iphone) – the ugly DRM monster has raised its head. I am unable to download books more than 3, 4 or 5 times (set by the publisher). I called Amazon and I told them that this is underhanded – that when you search for DRM on their Kindle site – they never mention anything about this limitation.

Where this hurts is when you replace devices (like defective ones). The book will always download to the device that purchased it – but not to others once you pass the limit. So if you replace a device or a device is defective – you are beat..

On the the phone with Amazon for the past hour trying to fix this issue…

By: Catherine M. Wilson

Catherine M. Wilson — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 21:01:18 +0000

Doesn't sharing an Amazon account also mean sharing a credit card? I can see how that would work between family members, but I don't give even my closest friends my credit card number. Catherine M. Wilson http://www.whenwomenwerewarriors.com/ http://www.catherine-m-wilson.com/

By: steve_bergs2127

steve_bergs2127 — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:55:58 +0000

I think that Brad's point is that he should be able to transfer a book from his Kindle to his Amazon account and then transfer it from the Amazon account to Amy's Kindle (at which point it would no longer be available in his Amazon account). This would protect the author and allow Brad reasonable freedom with the copy of the book he "owns" or licenses.

My library does basically just this with audiobooks. I can checkout an audiobook for a limited amount of time and listen to it on my DRM-capable MP3 player. Durng this time, no one else my check the book out of the library. Eventually, my checkout expires and my ability to use the book ends but a new library patron can check it out.

By: Keith Martin

Keith Martin — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:55:56 +0000

Brad – I am confused about something.

Why wouldn't having both devices on the same account work for you? When you purchase the book on-line – you can select which device the book gets downloaded to. It is not like you would have books that you don't want on your device…

Or is it that you are worried that selecting those books on your Amazon account will mess up the suggestions for you?

By: Joe Van Overberghe

Joe Van Overberghe — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:55:56 +0000

Why would he want to share his account with someone else. Amy isn't necessarily even related to him, she may be a friend, a co-worker, or someone off the street who showed an interest in reading the book. In those instances sharing an account is nearly impossible. And then Amy giving it to her friend to read would also be totally impossible.