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DRM Rage: Hulk Smash Puny Encryption
Feb. 6th, 2010 04:44 pmAgainst my better judgment, I was so tempted by Norse Code and Boneshaker (sci-fi vikings in Rangarok LA, and gold-rush steampunk zombies respectively) that I bought some DRM'd ebooks from the lovely BooksOnBoard.com. You can tell this won't end well, can't you?
The executive summary: Buy books, download books, move books to reader. Book-managey software says it needs an update: comply. Books no longer work, managey-software no longer sees reader, books on reader say "no". Sundry reinstalls and re-registration does nothing.
Gamma flash, rampage!
From a customer viewpoint, I just spent good book money on broken things. I have been ripped off. I am angry.
If I'd downloaded skeezy ripoffs from Bittorrent, I would have got working books. It's like the publishers are giving their products to an idiot child and asking me to trust that they'll get here and not get used for toilet paper. Ignoring the insult implicit in publisher's use of DRM ("We think you're a thief, just shut up and pay us"), this is an enormous amount of trust. It's the publisher and the retailer that get my anger because it is them with whom I have dealings. Adobe's just some crap I need to makey worky.
As it happens, Adobe Digital Editions - the sinner in this little play - has junk key management and there have been DRM-cracking scripts available for months. A bit of nerdy hoop jumping and lo, I have un-DRM'd versions of both books, and that is good.
So please, Random House, Barnes & Noble, ditch the DRM, it hurts paying customers. BooksOnBoard, and the rest of the industry, put some pressure up the pipe to get rid of the DRM, because I'm not buying any more when I have to go through all this frakkin' hassle.
The executive summary: Buy books, download books, move books to reader. Book-managey software says it needs an update: comply. Books no longer work, managey-software no longer sees reader, books on reader say "no". Sundry reinstalls and re-registration does nothing.
Gamma flash, rampage!
From a customer viewpoint, I just spent good book money on broken things. I have been ripped off. I am angry.
If I'd downloaded skeezy ripoffs from Bittorrent, I would have got working books. It's like the publishers are giving their products to an idiot child and asking me to trust that they'll get here and not get used for toilet paper. Ignoring the insult implicit in publisher's use of DRM ("We think you're a thief, just shut up and pay us"), this is an enormous amount of trust. It's the publisher and the retailer that get my anger because it is them with whom I have dealings. Adobe's just some crap I need to makey worky.
As it happens, Adobe Digital Editions - the sinner in this little play - has junk key management and there have been DRM-cracking scripts available for months. A bit of nerdy hoop jumping and lo, I have un-DRM'd versions of both books, and that is good.
So please, Random House, Barnes & Noble, ditch the DRM, it hurts paying customers. BooksOnBoard, and the rest of the industry, put some pressure up the pipe to get rid of the DRM, because I'm not buying any more when I have to go through all this frakkin' hassle.
