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Don't read this article
By David Chisnall | 18 Jan 2007
The word (well, abbreviation) of the week is DRM (digital rights management). Linus Torvalds, author of the Linux kernel, said in an interview that he thinks DRM is irrelevant, and a representative of the Motion Picture Association of America told a BBC reporter that DRM was about controlling the legitimate uses of media, not about piracy. Meanwhile a bill is going before Congress to make it illegal for internet radio stations to operate in America without DRM.
So, what is DRM? Depending on who you ask, the acronym stands for digital rights management or digital restrictions management. It is the technology that attempts to restrict the uses of a particular piece of content. One of the most widespread forms of DRM is region coding on DVDs, which prevents users from watching purchased DVDs unless they buy a player from the same country. I found this limitation particularly irritating when I recently spent a few months in America, since it meant I couldn't buy or rent any DVDs and watch them on my laptop.
I have a book coming out later this year, and I am starting to feel a little left out of the whole DRM thing. It seems like the print industry should start taking the hint from the motion picture and recording industries.
My first proposal is that the cover of each book have a fingerprint reader and a lock fitted. When you buy the book, you will register your fingerprints with it, allowing you to open it. In order that this be fair, I would suggest that you be allowed to register a small number of other fingerprints, perhaps five, so other people could read it. Obviously this would come at a slightly higher cost, but I'm sure people would be willing to pay it. After all, no one complains about similar restrictions from online music stores.
The next suggestion I have is that the standard printers' ink be replaced by ink that doesn't show up when the document is exposed to very bright light. This would prevent it from being scanned or photocopied, helping to reduce piracy. Of course, this would remove some fair-use rights, since people would not be able to photocopy short extracts, and it would probably also mean that it would be impossible to read the book outside, but I think it's worth it. After all, no one complains about similar restrictions on music from online music stores.
Now, I suspect my publisher might want to sell the book at a lower cost in some developing markets. This would, of course, pose a problem if the market in developed countries became flooded with the cheap versions (obviously I'd be upset; I'd get reduced royalties). I therefore propose that a GPS receiver be incorporated into the lock, so it can only be opened in the country in which it was bought. Sure, this would drive up the price a bit, but no one complained much about similar restrictions in DVDs.
Actually, there is another way we can keep the price down. You see, some people might want to read the book at night, under artificial light. Unfortunately, the special ink only shows up under some wavelengths of light, so normal lamps won't work. The publisher can make some more money to help cover the other expenses by selling a special lamp that lets people read it in the dark. It might be a bit unpopular, but no one complains about needing an iPod, Zune, or PlaysForSure player to play the music they bought online while mobile, and the principle's the same.
With all of the rights properly managed (mine, obviously, not those of the customer), I can see this being a big success. There's only one slight problem I can foresee. If someone does work out a way of getting around these restrictions, perhaps by using a special scanner built using one of the publisher's special lamps, then they can distribute copies of the book which people can read anywhere, lend to their friends, and even photocopy extracts from. If this happens, I can't see many people choosing to buy the official copy. I guess I'll have to pop down to London to lobby for laws making possession of the copied version punishable by life imprisonment. That should solve the problem.
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