Comments on: Digital Rights Management 101

By: Hugh Ashton

Hugh Ashton — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:49:05 +0000

Nick, I agree with you. There actually was a demand from some people for protection of the PDF ebooks. I believe the DRM *option* (note that it is an option) is a response to this. Providing the ability to impose DRM is not an endorsement, just an acknowledgement of some Lulu customers’ wishes.

I’ve chosen to make my ebook open, though.

By: Nick Popio

Nick Popio — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:14:06 +0000

Christian,
I think we may have to agree to disagree on this. We see a difference between requiring everyone to use DRM and allowing authors to choose whether they want to use DRM.

By: Christian Monsieur

Christian Monsieur — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:16:36 +0000

Nick,

Saying that Lulu DRM is not an endorsement of DRM is clearly a big lie from you and a big shame.

I hope this helps clarify things…blah blah

Christian

By: Nick Popio

Nick Popio — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:46:38 +0000

Christian,
Lulu is not saying that DRM is the choice for authors. Nor are we advocating DRM for all books or even most books. Rather, we believe that individual authors should be able to make the choice for themselves.

I hope this helps clarify things, but as I said to LB, if you have any further questions or concerns, then I am happy to try to address them.

By: Christian Monsieur

Christian Monsieur — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:19:48 +0000

Nick,

Lulu was the promise of something better. You have failed us all by endorsing DRM. This blog post is an embarrassment and you should be ashamed of taking Lulu down this path. Saying that this is the choice for authors is an endorsement for depriving the world of access to human knowledge and creative work. It was within the power of Lulu to take a stand for community and you capitiulated. What was the price?

I remove my support for Lulu and encourage all FLOSS and Free Culture supporters how helped build Lulu to do likewise.

Christian

By: Nick Popio

Nick Popio — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:26:06 +0000

LB,
I can certainly understand where you’re coming from, which is why DRM is an option. If an author wants to apply it, they can. If your don’t think it’s worth it, then we’re not going to try to convince you that you do. If you have any additional questions or concerns, I’m happy to discuss them with you.

By: LB

LB — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:47:11 +0000

I’m no expert by any means. I’m just an indie author trying to scratch some recognition and sell a few copies, but in my humble opinion, DRM is pointless. It does not prevent piracy, it does not prevent copying. Computer literate school children can crack DRM code and if they can do it, a determined ‘pirate’ certainly can. In most cases, so I believe, DRM is simply a source of annoyance and frustration to those very creatures we wish to attract i.e. the plain everyday reader. The new Lulu e-book, to my mind, is bad news all round. It doesn’t seem worth my while to publish e-books or indeed anything on Lulu anymore. I might as well just give my stuff away, or give up writing. Have to re-think my strategy.

Sadly,