media.april.org/.../20150506-ebookDRM.webm

This is a bookseller...

And this is a book.

When the bookseller sells a book to a customer,

he leaves the book shop with it

and does what he wants with it.

Normally, it looks something like this...

When he is done reading it, he usually does this.

But he could also do that.

He can either lend it, give it,

or sell it.

And he has the right to do whatever he wants with it.

It's his book.

More precisely, it is his own copy of the text,

the paper is his. He owns it.

This is an e-reader.

It is a device that makes it possible to read e-books.

Properly speaking, we should say, electonic books.

It isn't really possible

to show an electronic book to you

It neither has shape.

It is a digital file,

data that can travel on many different storage devices.

That's why we talk of intangibles

when it comes to the digital world.

Contrary to a book, a digital file can easily be duplicated,

without any loss of quality and at insignificant cost.

This means sharing it is really easy

When one is used to selling books,

this ease with which e-books can be shared raises a ton of questions.

A wrong answer was given to these questions.

It is called DRM, for Digital Rights Management

supposedly methods to protection.

What is protected from what or from whom is open to question.

DRM is also intangible.

If one wanted to represent it anyway,

it would look something like that.

The justification for DRM is

to make e-books behave like books.

DRM is supposed to prevent them

from being massively copied and shared,

without every single copy being bought.

That could seem right, but it isn't.

The first reason is that it simply goes against

how things work the natural order of things.

So it's complicated. And when things are complicated,
they don't work well.

So you have to buy a certain kind of e-reader,

and not others,

and you need to have the right software

and the right computer to make it all work.

Compatibility is not DRM's strong suit.

And once you have an e-reader,

for the hardware you bought

you still need the e-book you want to read

to be published specifically

And the day you want to change your e-reader or publisher,

your e-books won't work.

The second reason why DRM is a bad solution

is that it does more than prevent users from copying.

When you purchase an e-book with DRM,
you do not own the file.

Therefore, you can neither give it, nor lend it, nor resell it.

And there are tons of other terms of use

that do not exist for a real book.

You don't actually buy an e-book; at most you only rent a reading service.

The third reason is that DRM tracks you.

To know what you read, when,

at what speed, how many times,

what passages in particular and in what order.

When you read an e-book,

there is you, the text, and DRM monitoring your actions.

The fourth and last reason is probably the best.

DRM can remotely erase your e-books.

Yes, erase them. This isn't just theory.

Amazon has already done this several times with its Kindle.

E-books with DRM are not books.

The goal of DRM isn't to reestablish a balance

lost with the advent of the digital age

but to hoard all of its benefits

DRM purports to be a protection measure,

but it's actually digital handcuffs.

It takes from you, exploits you,
and treats you with contempt.

What is happening today with e-books can also be seen elsewhere,

in particular with video on demand or video games.

The law states that the consumers

states that the consumers must be informed

of the compatibility of what they are buying,

and this includes technological measures such as DRM.

Demand this information when you shop.

Learn to make the right choice.

Ban DRM from your life.