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Sci-Fi Publisher Tor Ditches DRM For E-Books

Posted by timothy on from the thought-tor-was-some-kinda-darknet dept.

First time accepted submitter FBeans writes "'Science fiction publisher Tor UK is dropping digital rights management from its e-books alongside a similar move by its U.S. partners. ... Tor UK, Tor Books and Forge are divisions of Pan Macmillan, which said it viewed the move as an "experiment."' With experiments, come results. Now users can finally read their books across multiple devices such as Amazon's Kindle, Sony Reader, Kobo eReader and Apple's iBooks. Perhaps we will see the *increase* of sales, because the new unrestricted format outweighs the decrease caused by piracy?"

14 of 280 comments (clear)

  1. It's about time by NabisOne · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Now we can hope the other publisher's will follow this trend.

    1. Re:It's about time by Junta · · Score: 5, Informative

      No, I buy media that is not DRM protected. I refrain from purchasing DRM encumbered content for the most part. I've passed on many a movie or ebook simply because of DRM.

      The DRM mechanisms are frequently useless anyway. ePub drm can be stripped away instantly (I used some promotional credit to acquire a DRM encumbered epub and stripped the DRM in short order).

      --
      XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
    2. Re:It's about time by allcar · · Score: 5, Informative

      That's not it at all. I'm not prepared to pay for content that is inconvenient to use. I am much more likely to buy content if it is DRM free. This is great publicity for Tor. More power to them.

    3. Re:It's about time by Chris+Burke · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Too stingy yo pay for your media?

      What I find hilarious is that you apparently think people who are too stingy to pay for their media will grudgingly do so anyway when piracy is made slightly more inconvenient, rather than continuing to be stingy and finding a torrent, or just not acquiring the media in question in the first place.

      This is like thinking you can cure a man of his heroin addiction by putting a "No Junkies!" sign on the front of your country club.

      --

      The enemies of Democracy are
    4. Re:It's about time by Albanach · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Too stingy yo pay for your media?

      Let me tell you about my first Kindle purchase. I paid $12 for a novel that retailed on Amazon at $13.

      I read the book, thoroughly enjoyed it and told a friend a couple of days later. She responded by saying she'd love to borrow it. I had to explain that wasn't possible.

      So, I saved a dollar.

      The publisher saved the cost of printing a paperback book, physically transporting it to Amazon. Amazon saved having the physically store the book in a warehouse and didn't have to pay UPS to deliver it to me.

      Once I had read the book, I couldn't lend it or sell it. The bits were used and might as werll be deleted. The publisher and Amazon win again, as there's no second hand market for that purchase.

      I have made Kindle purchases since, but I'm much more selective. Typically I'll only do it where I need a book now, or I can be sure it's a book I won't want to share.

      It's not because I'm too stingly - I'm still buying books. What I don't want is to lose the rights I have through the first sale doctrine simply because I purchased bits and bytes rather than tree pulp.

    5. Re:It's about time by Quiet_Desperation · · Score: 5, Funny

      This is the beginning of the end of quality writing.

      Awesome! Now is my chance to get published!

    6. Re:It's about time by cpu6502 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      For those saying you would now buy ebooks from Tor..... do you buy the Sci-Fi magazines? That is where most young authors get their start. If they die out (they lose about 1000 subscribers/year), so too does the paid outlet for future talent. And most of the mags are DRM free too:

      http://www.fictionwise.com/eBooks/dellmagazineauthorseBooks.htm?cache

      .

      --
      My AC stalker: " I personally agree with your posts most of the time, but that won't keep me from modding you troll"
  2. About Time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    and for some reason this makes me want to purchase every Tor book they offer,

    1. Re:About Time by Junta · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The implication being that DRM somehow encumbers piracy. The simple fact is it is completely ineffectual at slowing piracy down. You can find pirated copies of every piece of music, video, and publication you want despite the draconian DRM that is so prevalent in the industry.

      --
      XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
    2. Re:About Time by elsurexiste · · Score: 5, Interesting

      The implication being that DRM somehow encumbers piracy. The simple fact is it is completely ineffectual at slowing piracy down.

      That's actually wrong. It indeed slows initial piracy spreading. Numbers, sadly, are in the industry and not in academia.

      You can find pirated copies of every piece of music, video, and publication you want despite the draconian DRM that is so prevalent in the industry.

      That's a popular confusion about the purpose of DRM schemes. Here's the real deal: the purpose is to slow down initial piracy enough to make a profit from people who would choose the pirated, free version if they can find it. People willing to pay only $0 will pay exactly that. Fans will pay you nicely regardless of DRM. The group that DRM targets is the big crowd that can pay your price, but won't give you a dime if they can get it for free.

      I recall the people behind "The Witcher" put DRM on their files and removed it after the product was delivered. Other people won't bother, but they can do it with exactly the same results in their profits. Because, indeed, DRM is not a piracy-stopper but an initial-piracy-slower.

      --
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  3. Re:hmm by Asic+Eng · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Why should I care if my eBook is multi-platform if I'm only ever going to read it on one platform?

    Are you absolutely certain you will only use one platform, and will only buy books from one supplier for the next twenty years? You don't think within this time frame some new device will come out - similar to e.g. the iPad did - and you'll get this device and will want to have the content you already paid for available on it?

    Don't you think at the speed new devices are developed these days, some company will introduce something to the market with an entirely new display technology - much better than e-ink, super-amoled and retina display together? Are you sure it will be your currently preferred vendor who'll pioneer that new device?

  4. Re:Sure thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Tor has Charles Stross and Vernor Vinge.
    No true geek should pass them.

    I'd also look at Steven Erikson myself.
    I think a lot of Windling's crew are at Tor too, for the early urban fantasy.

    That's off the top of my head, with no access to my dead-tree books right now.

  5. DRM works! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm using the ultimate DRM for my latest book - I keep it all in my head and I've never even thought the whole thing through.

    And it works perfectly! Not one person has an unpaid copy of it.

    Success? Indeed!

    1. Re:DRM works! by Dinghy · · Score: 5, Funny

      The question is, does anyone have a paid copy of it? Maybe if you removed your DRM, you'd have more paying customers!

      This is not the first time I've seen beheadings suggested as a way to respond to DRM.