DRM Free

I hate DRM.

For the uninitiated, Digital Rights Management is a catchall term for technology that restricts usage of something a customer buys.

For example, let's say a person buys an ebook and wants to make a copy of it, or change the format, or use it on more than one device. DRM prevents them from doing that.

This annoys customers, me included. If I legally purchase a print book, I can do what I want with it. But if I buy an ebook, I'm stuck with using it on one specific device forever. I can't lend it out. I can't make a back-up copy. I can't put it on a different ereading device.

Companies try to explain their limitations by stating that users don't actually own the ebook they bought. They simply own a license to use it it.

Yeah, that explanation sounds fishy to me as well. Why should I have any restrictions at all on something I bought? Especially if the format changes?

I've bought the same movie as many as four times in different formats. VHS, laserdisk, DVD, and BluRay. I don't want to do the same with ebooks.

And I'm not the only one. A lot of customers fear--justifiably so--that if they buy the wrong ereader, the ebooks they buy for it will be worthless. HD DVD anyone?

So the thing for publishers to do, to encourage ebooks and ereaders and satisfy their customers, is to get rid of DRM.

I approached Amazon, the publisher for Shaken, about this issue. I really wanted this book to be released at a low price, and without DRM.

They listened to me about the low price. Shaken is coming out as an ebook for $2.99.

And they also listened about DRM.

I'm proud to say that Shaken will be DRM-free.

This is a very big deal. It's also the way of the future.