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Comment by criddell | Hacker News Reader

As we all know, a DRM free version is available (or will be soon) from ahem other sources. I personally don't have any ethical problems with buying a paper copy then downloading the DRM free version.

It would be nice though to be able to buy it in an unrestricted format in the first place.

I sometimes wonder if DRM is more successful at turning potential thieves into customers or turning away potential customers.

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He gets nearly no money from the dead tree version (4%) and about 35% from the eBook.

I hate drm but I want to put money into things I want more of. So I held my nose and paid for the eBook. I hope drm free emerges later though.

Source https://twitter.com/fabynou/status/905856105003155457 and https://twitter.com/fabynou/status/905857276174413824

> I hate drm but I want to put money into things I want more of.

So you seriously want more of DRM? Buying something despite DRM gives the market a clear signal that DRM is not so bad after all.

It's not clear cut. You have to decide if you want to support the author or avoid DRM. In this case, it's hard to do both.

I dislike DRM as well, but as long as I could easily remove it I was okay with it.

I've bought a lot of ebooks from Amazon for my Kindle. Now that their most recent DRM scheme (KFX) has been uncracked for a long time, I'm having second thoughts about ebooks.

> It's not clear cut. You have to decide if you want to support the author or avoid DRM. In this case, it's hard to do both.

Tell the author that you despise DRM. And as soon as a DRM-free version appears, buy. This sends a clear signal to the market.

On the other hand: As long as the author only sells a DRM-tainted electronic version, he gives a clear signal to the world that he abhors customers who are against DRM. Why should I give him my money then (or more money than necessary)?

It turns away more potential customers. The DRM has helped absolutely nothing to protect against copying. The book is already out there on the net as a now "DRM-free" PDF. It's a shame that illegally downloading it is currently the only way to get the format that many customers would be happy to pay for. If I were the author I'd hurry up and quickly put a DRM-free version on a service like Leanpub.

Absolutely. There are even studies [1, plus another recent one I can't find atm] suggesting that piracy can increase overall revenue due to larger exposure.

[1] https://poseidon01.ssrn.com/delivery.php?ID=5550640311191070...

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