10-10-2003, 07:56 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 33
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Don�t Lament for Convert LIT
Maybe it shouldn�t surprise me, but the eagerness and willingness for some people to justify (�fair use and all that�) using Convert LIT and lament its withdrawal from the public availability is disconcerting.
When an ebook is purchased, perhaps it is a wrong paradigm to believe it is something to be kept perpetually. It is something to be kept and used only while you hold the key, which for MS Reader is a valid Activation on specific devices.
If you were to rent a room for a weekend from a B&B, the innkeepers will give you a key, which you can use to enter and exit the room as much as you want for the duration of your stay. Do you think innkeepers would want you making an extra copy of the key so you could came back later? Do you think it would be okay if you only made a copy for your own �fair use� such as a key for me and a key for my wife? No matter how you try to justify it, I can�t imagine any innkeeper that would think it�s okay to make copies of the room key without their approval.
But perhaps that is not a good or clear example. If you buy a ticket to a movie, that gives you the right to see it once and its only good for one person in that theater. Even if it were technically possible, would any one believe that it would be okay make a copy of the ticket for you spouse so she could get in for free with you? If you wiggle and dance with your thoughts, some people might try to justify it with an idea like �Since we are married and we hold all property jointly, making a copy of the ticket for my wife is like making a copy for me, and that would be like letting me in, so that would be fair use since I have my ticket already.� Any one want to buy that bridge to Brooklyn?
When someone purchases a DRM LIT e-book, there are terms of use that apply, namely that you can only use it for devices with Activation for that specified purchaser. If you don�t agree to the terms of sale, don�t buy it. That means it would not be fair use to convert it to different format for my wife�s Clie. Sure, I could use Convert LIT, but that would be against the terms of sale. If she wanted to read a DRM LIT title I bought, she would have to borrow my PDA or one of the other devices with Activation. It would be like borrowing a paper bound book. A book is physical object that can be shared with other people, but it only was one existence; an ebook is, by its nature, is an intangible item, and only the device licensed to read it should be shared with others. If, for some reason, all the licensed devices were unavailable, the ebooks would become unavailable. If a paper bound book were to become unavailable (maybe you left it in the subway), you don�t get to go back where you bought it from and get a new copy.
If something were to happen to my current Activations and I had to start over with a new DRM passport, I wouldn�t like losing the ability to read what I�ve already bought, but that would be the legal option. So what would be so bad if I down converted my library to no encryption? Still my own fair use, right? Not by the terms of sale. That not to say I wouldn�t, it would be so easy, and very very easy to justify, even after all I�ve said. Now what happens if someone else wants to read the ebook? Do I let them borrow a device or just let them have a copy I've made?
I think the withdrawal of Convert LIT from the public is a good thing. The DRM is certainly fraught with difficulties and could be improved and made easier for honest users, but illegal conversions�even if only used for the buyer�s idea of �fair use��will unlikely result in better circumstances for everyone.
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