The conclusion that DRM could be good is based on the assumption that a DRM'd textbook would be priced at $25 compared to $209.95. The same article that draws this conclusion says the current price for a DRM'd e-book version is $109.99. It's also worth mentioning that the title of the article is "Textbooks next to try DRM - raises prices for students by a lot!". What the heck is the author trying to say? The title and conclusion are polar opposites. Furthermore, the conclusion is based on completely made up information. This is simply ludicrous.
I suppose in some fantasy world where DRM is used to allow for per-semester rentals of textbooks at a drastically reduced price it would be a good thing, but we all need to understand this will never happen. The entire point of DRM as it's used now- and how the textbook publishers propose to use it- is to enforce old and broken business models, not to enable new ones. As markets change and as new technologies become available the value to price ratio of certain goods will fluctuate. A low value to price ratio promotes piracy. DRM is only a means to avoid adjusting to these changes.
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[ 3.3 ms ] story [ 18.3 ms ] threadIf DRM is priced competitively to the cost of "renting" a used book, then DRM could work.
I suppose in some fantasy world where DRM is used to allow for per-semester rentals of textbooks at a drastically reduced price it would be a good thing, but we all need to understand this will never happen. The entire point of DRM as it's used now- and how the textbook publishers propose to use it- is to enforce old and broken business models, not to enable new ones. As markets change and as new technologies become available the value to price ratio of certain goods will fluctuate. A low value to price ratio promotes piracy. DRM is only a means to avoid adjusting to these changes.