Why you'll ask Apple for MORE DRM on ebooks
March 25, 2010
We already learned how easy it is to crack Apple's FairPlay DRM for eBooks (Thanks, Alexander!). Also, as of March 2009, all music in the iTunes store is sold DRM free...at Jobs' own behest (see the "Thoughts on Music" open letter Steve Jobs published on Apple's web site). So shouldn't Apple just give up and release eBooks DRM-free?
No. Remember that movies and TV shows are still DRM'd and for good reason. Besides appeasing the movie industry's paranoia of losing any nickel they could possibly make, it allows for rentals. Without DRM, Apple wouldn't be able to de-authorize a device from being able to play a movie when the rental period was over.
And this is what you ultimately want: the ability to rent and to borrow ebooks. It's nice to know that we will be getting NYT Best Sellers for $9.99. But how about the ability to rent them for $1.99 a week? If you're an avid reader, you can can probably whip through a few titles a week, easily, thereby saving a bundle.
The next issue is borrowing. Did you know that many public libraries offer tons of ebooks on their websites? For example, my local library offers over 5000 books in electronic format (not including audiobooks). These books have to have DRM on them so the library can de-authorize them when the loan period is over. With Apple using FairPlay on eBooks for the iBook app, it allows publishers to make deals with libraries to provide their patrons with more eBooks they can borrow.
With FairPlay, you'll be able to get books for free by stealing them. You be able to get them the way Apple and the publishers want you to by buying them. But (hopefully - this is all specualtion on my part from having watched the evolution of iTunes, NetFlix, Amazon, and libraries) you'll also be able to rent and borrow eBooks.
Now if Apple offered MORE types of DRM - like the one that Adobe puts on eBooks and that libraries already have ways in place to work with (like that will happen anytime soon) - we'd see more options for renting and borrowing. Cheap and free ways to read books....and legal.