In earlier blog entries I went on at length about how eBooks were going to change the book business and I puzzled over the role of Libraries providing their users with a pseudo-socialized way to “steal” books, mostly under the comic jab that Barnes & Noble should seek to shut down libraries because they eat into sales.
I also still think that downloading an eBook is virtually indistinguishable from going to the Library and borrowing a book. The destination I reached was a new principle called the Preservation of Inconvenience. That publishers need to maintain a certain basic level of “Being a Pain In The Ass”. To which, the link below points. It appears as though HarperCollins, in an effort to retain their basic level of “Being a Pain In The Ass” will count how many times a library lends out an eBook, and if it goes beyond 26 times, they’ll sell the eBook to the library AGAIN. Over and over.
So once again the old battle is joined. Consumers versus Producers, and the weapon of choice for the producers is Digital Rights Management. The best way to de-fang DRM is to only consume content in open formats. Accept nothing else.