Joseph Brower

I was discussing this topic with a friend of mine, and came to the realization that not only is DRM dangerous to the rights of consumers, but it is dangerous to the economy as well as overall literacy.  I’m not referring to the DRM that seems to get the most attention, that is, DRM for games, music, or movies.  My focus will be on e-books that are DRM enabled.

Economic Dangers

Real money used to be exchanged for real goods.  Sadly, that landscape is changing.  Money has turned into credit and real goods have turned into imaginary property.  Essentially, I see people purchasing imaginary property with imaginary money.  I could go into how credit based purchasing is crippling the economy, but I believe we all understand that.  Purchasing imaginary goods is just as crippling.  When someone “purchases” an e-book, the price is usually comparable to getting a physical copy.  It is definitely more expensive than going to a library and “renting” the book.  The problem is, the e-book is never purchased, it is just rented for an unspecified amount of time. Let’s look at what an e-book owner is losing by having purchased the e-book:

1) The expense is purely an expense.  It isn’t an asset.  This means that the book can’t be resold or even given to someone after purchase.  All value is lost after purchase.  How many people would buy a car if it’s resale value was immediately zero.  People see the problem with large purchases, but sadly, small purchases aren’t scrutinized nearly as much.

2) The purchase is volatile. E-book readers will fail, computers will fail.  That’s why people make backups.  However, you can’t readily backup and restore your e-books because of the DRM.  If your e-book reader is damaged, or replaced, or even upgraded, there is a good chance that all of your purchased e-books will disappear.

3) The purchase isn’t final.  We recently saw a case where a book was sold and the publisher changed their mind.  The book was then automatically removed from people’s machines.  This is the equivalent of someone selling you something, and then coming to your house and taking it back.  Sure, the money was returned, but obviously the buyers saw the book as more valuable than the money they had spent for it.

4) Censorship can run rampant.  I understand that censorship is a touchy topic.  Everyone always would like to see certain things removed, generally for their children.  I understand and can respect that.  I’ve also seen governments want to censor certain things.  If a government can simply remove all of the books from people’s homes, then there is a problem.  Memories can be changed and manipulated to support the current leadership, and honestly, that terrifies me.

Those are the direct problems for the buyer of DRM.  But lets look at a larger scale.  What happens if everyone goes to DRM enabled e-books?  How would that impact a global economy?  When real money goes into imaginary property, the production of goods decrease.  The overall value of a culture declines, wealth becomes more focused to the upper class, and people don’t really progress.  In other words, the economy as a whole will suffer, which leads to another set of problems.  If people are only owners of something until the seller determines otherwise, then we all become slaves to the sellers.  If we depend on that book (for example, if it is reference material for my work) then we will be willing to keep paying the ransom to keep the book.  Something is wrong with that picture.

Danger to Literacy

We see the problem or literacy that faces us today.  DRM is a catalyst for this problem and aids in its growth.  If I can’t share my book with someone, or lend it to them, then they simply don’t have the option of reading it.  I’ve lent many books to friends which they enjoyed.  If I was using a DRM protected e-book, then I couldn’t have done that.  As books are phased out in favor of e-books, we must be sure we don’t lose the ability to share.  Even small children understand the importance of this.  Why do we, as adults, accept the inability to share?

What Can be Done

We need to ensure that when we purchase something, we are purchasing real property.  In the case of e-books, we must ensure that our e-book device will reject DRM.  We need to ensure that books we purchase don’t contain DRM.  E-books are wonderful and very beneficial, but let’s make sure they don’t contain the pitfalls of DRM.  As consumers, we have rights that we must defend, or we will lose them.

So a few months ago I signed up for Dish Network.  They had a good deal, there was a local salesman, and a local retailer, so I figured why not get some more entertainment and support a local company and individuals.  I didn’t realise it would be this painful.  Here’s the epic story (thus far):

1)  We signed up.  They came to install it.  I noticed that the reciever (for the HD service I ordered) didn’t have any HD outputs.  When I brought that up with the technician doing the install, he realized that the incorrect reciever had been sent for him to install.  I told him it would be fine, as long as he could come and swap out the reciever with the proper one.  He said that he’d get that taken care of.  So far Dish was getting a 10/10 .  Sure, they made a mistake, but they were trying to fix it and were actually treating me like a good customer.

2) After a few days they came out and swapped the reciever.  All went well, and we were quite happy with the service. Still 10/10 for service.

3) I get a phone call saying that Dish will be sending me a box to send my old reciever to them in.  This was an automated recording, so I couldn’t actually talk to anyone, so I called the local retailer information to inform them that I didn’t have the reciever and that the tech had taken it with him.  I was told that they’d take care of it and I wouldn’t have to worry about. 9/10 now, since I couldn’t talk to anyone at Dish about the problem.

4) I receive the box to send the reciever (that I don’t have) back to Dish.  I call Dish and explain that I don’t have the reciever.  The phone rep asks me if I have evidence that the tech took the reciever.  I tell them that the reciever was exchanged, then I’m told that since I can’t provide proof that the tech took it, that I’m responsible. WHAT?  That’s right, they make a mistake, come replace the reciever, and I have to pay for the old one?  Something doesn’t seem right.  After calling the local retailer, I’m told that it would be taken care of. 8/10 now.

5) After the last conversation, I start to get uneasy and look to see if any other mistakes have been made.  Apparently, I was receiving HBO and such, which I didn’t ask for.  Oh well, we’ve enjoyed some movies, but it is another mistake that seems to be incredibly convenient for one of the parties involved, and it isn’t my family or myself. Still 8/10.

6) After another week or so, I get a letter saying that I am going to be charged because I didn’t return my reciever when I canceled my service.  First, I wasn’t aware that I had cancelled my service.  I was still being billed, and still paying, <sarcasm> but apparently people with cancelled service do that. </sarcasm>   So I call the local retailer and he checks and informs me that they simply haven’t submitted a service request which explains why I keep getting these letters threatening to charge my account because I’ve apparently stolen equipment or something.  He assures me that everything will be taken care of and that I won’t get charged.  I ask what to do if I do get charged, and rather than answer, I am told that this always solves the problem. I’m sceptical, but willing to let them try. 7/10

7) Today I was charged.  After calling repeatedly and being told it was all taken care of, I was charged.  Not only was I charged, but now I have all sorts of additional fees (overdrafts and such) because I only keep enough in the account to buy food and such.  I call the local retailer and explain what has happened and he calls Dish and we conference the call together.  I explain what happens and Dish claims they never charged me, until I tell them the exact amount, and now they suddenly are aware of the charge.  The local retail agent explains that they have the receiver and that I shouldn’t be charged for it.  Dish agrees to reverse the charge, but it will take a few days to process.  Again, WHAT?  They can instantly take my money, but they have no means of correcting the problem?  I find that oddly convenient again.  I ask about the other charges I’ve incurred because of their mistake and I’m told to take that up with the local retailer.  5/10 currently.

So we’ll see how the story ends.  Dish might make a comeback and improve their service and try to win back a customer that, outside of these issues, would be very happy with the service.  I’m not too hopeful, but I like to give the benefit of the doubt when possible.  Until then, we’ll cut back on driving, and try to eat less.  Since we’re coming up on the weekend and there is a holiday, I expect to see the funds come back early next week (if at all.)  I guess I’ll have to spend even more time on the phone if that fails.  Thus far, I’m up to about 4 hrs of time on the phone trying to get this resolved.  I’m considering pushing to get reimbursed for my time as well.  Like I said though, we’ll just have to see how well Dish handles things from here on out.