I read the article posted on April 20th, 2009 – “Who benefits from DRM?” (http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/04/doctorows-law)
While I agree with the article in principle, I’m not convinced that DRM is all “bad.” I do, however, believe the underlying philosophy behind DRM and how DRM solutions are sold is seriously flawed.
The facts:
- Publishers and distributors of electronic content have the right to protect their IP and their profits.
- Readers of electronic content have the right to own what they purchase and enjoy a hassle-free experience.
The problem:
- The “all-or-nothing” approach to DRM.
- The lack of thought leadership in this space.
- The dishonesty and lack of disclosure.
The solution:
- Seek less intrusive alternatives. If you distribute electronic content, it doesn’t have to be all-or-nothing i.e. hardcore DRM versus no DRM at all. You don’t need to tie yourself down to certain file format or even a certain rendering device. There are other solutions that provide a happy medium such as Vitrium’s protectedpdf (selfish plug – sorry).
- Be a leader. If you are a DRM solution provider you need to:
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- Clearly identify the benefits of your solution and be completely honest with your clients about the associated risks:
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- Can the security solution be circumvented?
- What can the reader expect when they receive protected files?
- What happens to the protected files if the protection service is discontinued? I wonder if Fiction wise knew what would happen before they pulled the plug on their DRM solution or if they set the proper expectations with their clients.
- Recommend alternatives. Distributing electronic content offers obvious benefits to both the reader and the publisher so there are areas were some sacrifice can be made and even expected.
For instance, by distributing content electronically the publisher and reader benefit from faster delivery and reduced fees. As a publisher, if you plan to use a DRM solution, why not enforce a shelf-life on protected files? Who said an e-Book or a Newsletter should live for ever?
From a reader’s perspective, maybe they are ok paying a little less for an electronic copy because of a truncated shelf-life, 2-3 years for example. Heck, the publisher might even allow them to print a copy for reference before the document expires.
This approach allows the publisher to maintain their margins, they don’t have to have a life-long subscription to a DRM service, and the readers are fully aware that the document will expire. This may not work in every situation, but neither does DRM (smile).
- Be prepared to say no. If the client and reader requirements are not a match, do not force them to buy your solution.
I know there is a little Sales 101 mixed into my suggestions, but sometimes we lose sight of the basics.
Anyways, great article. I hope you can appreciate a difference of opinion even if I have a vested interest in DRM succeeding.
One more selfish plug…you can see our solution in action at www.protectedpdf.com.
Posted by keith on May 01st, 2009
Tags: Deeplink, drm, eBook, ePublishing, fictionwise, Hugh D'Andrade, O'Reilly, PDF DRM, pdf protection, pdf security, Tools of Change
For those of us who build software, creating a new software product is usually fun and exciting. There are new challenges, the opportunity to use new tools and techniques, and there is a special thrill of seeing something work for the first time. But unless you have the luxury of building software solely for your own entertainment, once you’ve got that great new product built, you have to figure out how to get it to your customers. At Vitrium, much of the software that we build is web-based, so the issue of delivering software to our users is really just one of ensuring browser compatibility.
But if you work at a company that delivers software for the desktop, you typically have to build an installer — a second piece of software whose job is to get your actual software successfully running on the users’ machines. There is no joy in writing in installers. I’ve worked at companies where we had to build installers for our software, and it’s amazing how much time and effort was required to build and maintain them.
The reason for that is that the installer is a piece of software whose primary responsibility is to deal with the idiosyncrasies of the millions of computers out there. Different operating systems, different utilities, firewalls, proxy servers, pieces of software that have been removed or modified by the user — the list goes on. These are all things that could potentially cause your software not to work on a given computer. So the installer has to identify and, where possible, resolve these problems. And no matter how hard you try, there will always be a steady stream of issues that come up: combinations of software that the installer doesn’t handle, configurations that have never been seen before, software versions that behave in subtly different ways, even gracefully handling upgrading from previous versions of your own software.
That’s why, at Vitrium, it has always been our goal to produce software that doesn’t need installers. Our applications are delivered over the web. The PDF’s produced by our products use standard Adobe software that already exists on almost every computer on the planet. The result is that we have essentially no support costs related to getting our products onto people’s computers. And that is good for us, and for our customers.
For those of us who build software, creating a new software product is usually fun and exciting. There are new challenges, the opportunity to use new tools and techniques, and there is a special thrill of seeing something work for the first time. But unless you have the luxury of building software solely for your own entertainment, once you’ve got that great new product built, you have to figure out how to get it to your customers. At Vitrium, much of the software that we build is web-based, so the issue of delivering software to our users is really just one of ensuring browser compatibility.
But if you work at a company that delivers software for the desktop, you typically have to build an installer — a second piece of software whose job is to get your actual software successfully running on the users’ machines. There is no joy in writing in installers. I’ve worked at companies where we had to build installers for our software, and it’s amazing how much time and effort was required to build and maintain them.
The reason for that is that the installer is a piece of software whose primary responsibility is to deal with the idiosyncrasies of the millions of computers out there. Different operating systems, different utilities, firewalls, proxy servers, pieces of software that have been removed or modified by the user — the list goes on. These are all things that could potentially cause your software not to work on a given computer. So the installer has to identify and, where possible, resolve these problems. And no matter how hard you try, there will always be a steady stream of issues that come up: combinations of software that the installer doesn’t handle, configurations that have never been seen before, software versions that behave in subtly different ways, even gracefully handling upgrading from previous versions of your own software.
That’s why, at Vitrium, it has always been our goal to produce software that doesn’t need installers. Our applications are delivered over the web. The PDF’s produced by our products use standard Adobe software that already exists on almost every computer on the planet. The result is that we have essentially no support costs related to getting our products onto people’s computers. And that is good for us, and for our customers.
Vitrium has made significant traction in the digital rights management (DRM) space with protectedpdf and the benefits of its new SaaS version are clear. Cadalyst Magazine’s Kenneth Wong had the opportunity to preview SBE at the Adobe Max Show in San Francisco last November and immediately marveled about not needing to own or install any software. “You implement the security features you want — disabling printing and copying , for example — by uploading your file to the protectedpdf portal, specifying the rights you want to grant, then downloading the tagged file back to your own local drive,” he explains.
Perhaps the coolest feature, “you can modify or revoke the rights previously granted after the document has been published and distributed,” notes Wong. SBE features include: auto-unlock files; modify and revoke reader permissions; limit the number of computers a reader may access documents from; disable text copying and document printing; display customized system data when printed or displayed onscreen; and even protect multiple PDFs simultaneously or automate the protection process.
This DRM solution is a SaaS offering built on the Microsoft SharePoint platform is great news for all Microsoft SharePoint users who have PDF’s they would like to protect from unauthorized redistribution.
If PDF is your preferred medium for issuing requests for quotes (RFQs) and requests for proposals (RFPs), you can now remotely control what the recipients can and cannot do with the file you send. Check out the article, An Arguement for SaaS: A look at on-demand project management and digital rights management services. Kenneth Wong showcases protectedpdf’s new Small Business Edition in Cadalyst Magazine!
A lot of people hate DRM. This can be a hard fact to face up to for those of us who happen to make a living in the Digital Rights Management software industry. If we’re going to provide our clients and their paying customers with DRM technology that really works, we will have to face up to the antipathy many people feel towards DRM.
The way I see it, that attitude is both instructive and unnecessary. That is to say, if more people in the DRM industry listened to their detractors, those detractors would have far fewer reasons to complain. While DRM companies and anti-DRM commentators may seem to have little common ground, there are some points we can all agree on.
For me, the key area of agreement is that a lot of DRM software makes life unnecessarily hard for legitimate users. In trying to protect their intellectual property rights and revenues, digital content providers often make access to content significantly more complex for their loyal, paying customers.
It should be the first rule of DRM that good content protection software doesn’t alienate legitimate users. Vitrium’s experience suggests that content providers already know this. It’s time for the DRM industry to catch on and start creating solutions that provide value to content providers and consumers alike.
