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Folks, this argument has carried us fairly far away from the initial issue -
protecting a TEXT-BASED document from piracy.
However, one important conclusion I've made us: you either give up on
protection so as not to alienate the users, or YOU NEED THE KIND OF
PROTECTION THAT DOES NOT ALIENTATE THEM. In other words, a
nuisance-factor-free protection.
Thanx everyone!
Lev
On 1/30/08, Samuel Wright <lykoszine -at- gmail -dot- com> wrote:
>
> Sam,
>
> I think Lech was actually comparing ease of use, not supporting theft.
>
> If you could pay $5 for the downloaded drm free torrent or the same $5
> for the drm ridden apple film there is no theft, and also no
> comparison in convenience for your paying user. So when you implement
> copy protection, what you end up doing is annoying your paying users
> with needless restrictions, whilst the people who do not pay do not
> suffer the same restrictions.
>
> S
>
> On Jan 30, 2008 4:28 PM, Sam Beard <sbeard -at- oico -dot- com> wrote:
> > Lech,
> >
> > What you fail to consider with your argument in favor of torrent
> > files is that this constitutes theft, particularly when they're
> > "available on the same day they're screened in the cinema". Theft of
> > this nature means that the artists involved (actors, screenwriters,
> > producers, directors, all of the support people involved in making the
> > movie, etc) don't get any recompense for that particular "purchase" of
> > the movie. In a barter system, that would be fine. However, the movie
> > (and book and music and ....) industry doesn't work that way. Without
> > the incentive of making a living by doing something that you love for
> > the enjoyment of other people, many people in those industries would no
> > longer produce the things they love for the enjoyment of the masses.
> > Some would still produce books, movies, etc, but only for the enjoyment
> > of a select few people near and dear to them. The system employed by
> > Apple through iTunes for the distribution of movies is currently the
> > best that's available. Personally, I would also prefer that the movie be
> > available for viewing for a longer period of time than 24 hours after
> > initially beginning to watch it. But at least there's a legal way out
> > there now whereas before there was only your way. And we won't even
> > begin to discuss the karmic related aspects of such actions! ;-P
> >
> > Samuel I. Beard, Jr.
> > Technical Writer
> > OI Analytical
> > 979 690-1711 Ext. 222
> > sbeard -at- oico -dot- com
> >
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: techwr-l-bounces+sbeard=oico -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> > [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+sbeard=oico -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On Behalf
> > Of Lech Rzedzicki
> > Sent: Wednesday, January 30, 2008 6:47 AM
> > To: Lev Abramov
> > Cc: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> > Subject: Re: [slightly OT] File protection from copying
> >
> > Unfortunately, yes you are being naive - there's always a way.
> >
> > On top of that you alienate and make it difficult for the very users
> > that are paying you money, whereas a 'pirate' will make his own DRM
> > -free copy.
> >
> > Compare the usage of a typical XVID from a torrent website vs Apple
> > Movie rental:
> >
> > You download a 700MB high quality file for free, watch it whenever you
> > want, keep for however long you want, download in any country, store
> > on on disk, stream to the other computer, it all works. The movies are
> > available on the sam day they're screened in cinemas.
> >
> > versus
> >
> > Pay $5 or so dollars for the movie, pay for AppleTV, pay for more
> > bandwith needed,press play, it doesn't work because your HDMI doesn't
> > recognize this a s legitimate, manage to to go around it by removing
> > all your films from Amazon, pres play, then you have to go to bed and
> > after 24hrs it disappears and you have to buy it again. The movies are
> > available about a year from cinema premiere. That is assuming that you
> > live in US, because it doesn't work anywhere else.
> >
> > And that's the best online movie rental service there is so far.
> >
> > So sorry for the off-topic rant, but why on earth would anyone want to
> > do the latter?
> >
> > Now apply this to your PDF scenario and think if your potential users
> > really need to go through this.
> >
> > Lech
> >
> >
> > On Jan 25, 2008 8:59 AM, Lev Abramov <lev -dot- abramov -at- gmail -dot- com> wrote:
> > > Hi All
> > >
> > > A friend has just completed writing a book which he wants to market
> > online
> > > as an e-book. He's looking for a file format which would ensure that
> > the
> > > e-book can only be used on one computer and not be circulated freely
> > in
> > > violation of copyright.
> > >
> > > MP3 files downloaded to an iPod cannot be transferred to another iPod.
> > >
> > > Is there any tool that would protect a text-based document in a
> > similar
> > > manner?
> > >
> > > Am I being naive?
> > >
> > > TIA -
> > >
> > > Lev
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