Q&A: Why eBook DRM is a necessary evil
By Stuart Turton
Posted on 3 Sep 2009 at 14:10
Interead's debut into the eBook market was marked by a flash of neon colours and a rash of positive reviews for its Cool-er reader. Now a deal with Google means the start-up is about to open the largest eBook shop in the UK. We chat with Interead's head of marketing, Phil Wood, to find out what the future holds for eBooks, DRM and why he isn't concerned by the impending arrival of Amazon's Kindle.
Q EBooks have been around for a decade or so, but it's only recently that we've seen manufacturers and publishers take an interest. Why is that?
A The technology is driving the market now. People are realising there are devices out there that can mimic their paper-like reading experience, but can hold hundreds of books.
There are people who read a book a day, or are travelling and don't want to carry that weight. It's a niche market compared to digital music sales, but it's still substantial and figures claim it's going to grow 100% over the next couple of years. Faced with that, publishers, magazines and newspapers don't really have a choice but to take an interest.
Q We're fans of eBook readers, but the price is a sticking point. Can we expect them to get cheaper?
A Like all consumer electronics we have to go through the economies of scale. At the moment we're an emerging market, but once countries like Russia, China and India catch up you'll see readers coming down to £150, and in the next couple of years £100.
In a couple of years we'll have a better way of dealing with copyright protection on books. At the moment's it's a necessary evil
Q And what about eBooks themselves? It's still baffling that they cost the same as paperbacks, despite there being no physical book.
A It's one of those myths that there's no overheads in publishing an eBook. The only overhead that's been lost is the cost of the paper. The publisher still charges the same 50% of the retail price of the book on average, there's still royalty fees and distribution deals with booksellers, whether they're physical or electronic.
Q The music industry is busy stripping DRM off music in response to consumer anger. Why are eBook publishers persisting with it?
A As with all technology, there's always a better way around the corner and I'm sure in a couple of years we'll have a better way of dealing with copyright protection on books. At the moment's it's a necessary evil. At least with ePub you can buy one eBook and share it a further five times with friends or your bookclub.
Q Amazon's Kindle uses a proprietary format, do you believe that will harm it?
A There's niches for everybody. You can share ePub books, but the Kindle won't let you do that. People will be trapped in Amazon's eBook format and they'll see through that, and I expect that will help us.
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"The only overhead that's been lost is the cost of the paper"?
Utter nonsense. Printing, binding, transportation and shelf space / shipping are all very real costs borne by various parties in the process of producing and retailing physical books. Not to put too fine a point on it, it seems the fledgling eBook industry is seeking the same relationship with its potential customers as the movie and music providers. What a shame.
By DarienGS on 4 Sep 2009 
@DarienGS
Quite right; every single cost that this muppet is mentioning is one that the industry is choosing to impose - for instance, the publishers get 50% of retail do they? That doesn't mean that the retail that they get 50% of has to be the same as a paper book.
By nichomach1 on 4 Sep 2009
DRM a necessary evil? No its not, it's an un-necessary expense. DRM has never prevented a single book from being pirated. How can I say that? Simple it's physically impossible. I can buy, borrow or steal a paper book, scan it into my computer and upload it into onto the internet completely bypassing any DRM. Think it doesn't happen? Oh yes it does just ask JK Rowling. Her last Harry Potter book did not have an ebook edition, yet within eight hours of the book going on sale there was a pirated version online. All DRM does is add cost to the process to put ebooks out nothing more. If you really want to find out about DRM and how it effects the literary world go ask Cory Doctrow or Eric Flint both bestselling authors that release there works for free online and they are not heading for the unemployment office.
By Boballab on 4 Sep 2009
DRM a necessary evil? No its not, it's an un-necessary expense. DRM has never prevented a single book from being pirated. How can I say that? Simple it's physically impossible. I can buy, borrow or steal a paper book, scan it into my computer and upload it into onto the internet completely bypassing any DRM. Think it doesn't happen? Oh yes it does just ask JK Rowling. Her last Harry Potter book did not have an ebook edition, yet within eight hours of the book going on sale there was a pirated version online. All DRM does is add cost to the process to put ebooks out nothing more. If you really want to find out about DRM and how it effects the literary world go ask Cory Doctrow or Eric Flint both bestselling authors that release there works for free online and they are not heading for the unemployment office.
By Boballab on 4 Sep 2009
Digital Rights
DRM would have benefits if it were managed in a sensible manner rather than a cash cow.
The more expensive something is, someone will see it as worthwhile to steal or replicate for gain in piracy.
By lenmontieth on 4 Sep 2009
waffle, waffle, waffle
The interviewee has evidently been given the opportunity to answer these questions in consultation with everyone at his/her company; the answers to the questions are just waffle. If publishers would only realise that they would get a lot of customers if they offered the right product at the right time at the right price. The right price is not the same as the price of the physical product (book, CD) as the customer would rather wait and have that other product in their hand. Whilst they are waiting, they might forget their impulse, and not buy that physical product, or look around and see that the non-physical product, i. e. the download, is available for free elsewhere. Wake up publishers, make the product instantly available at the right price and you will definitely profit.
By ramjam on 4 Sep 2009
If O'Reilly can do it...
Counter to the claim that DRM is a _necessary_ evil, O'Reilly publish all of their e-books as PDFs without DRM.
Do some of their books get copied illegally? Probably. Do they lose any significant amount through this? Probably not. The people who read the illegal copies probably wouldn't have bought them anyway.
Wrox, on the other hand, mangle all of their e-books with DRM. Do they lose anything through this? Yes, my custom at least. As a Linux user, I refuse to install Windows so that I can install Adobe Digital Editions to read e-books on Linux.
By robhogg on 5 Sep 2009
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