Apple & Audiobook Firms Insist On DRM
from the this-never-ends dept
We've been discussing the trouble that's been going on in the world of ebooks, as publishers are still coming to terms with the ebook era, and it seems that there are similar problems in the older world of audiobooks. TorrentFreak points us to an article by Cory Doctorow at Publisher's Weekly, where he discusses the difficulty he has had in publishing a DRM-free audiobook. Even once his publisher got on board, there were problems. First it was with Audible, the main audiobook seller -- who flat out refused. Yet on a more recent book, Audible was willing to go DRM-free, but Apple turned them down. Yes, Apple. The company that at one point claimed DRM was bad and should be ditched, and convinced the record labels to ditch DRM. Yet, as we've noted in the past, outside of music, Apple is still a huge DRM supporter. So it is with audiobooks apparently. When Doctorow, his publisher and Audible all told Apple they wanted to put a DRM-free copy of his audiobook in iTunes, he was told no. Other audiobook publishers are just as bad, if not worse, apparently requiring ridiculous license agreements, DRM and even software downloads. One of these days, the audiobook world is going to have to come to terms with what pretty much every other digital content provider has realized: making life more difficult for customers is not a way to succeed long term.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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Filed Under: audiobooks, books, cory doctorow, drm
Companies: apple, audible
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The hell?
Why the hell not?
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Just a thought about YouTube
Someone should start a revolution, I would, but I"m too lazy.
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Business Opportunity
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Re: Business Opportunity
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Re: Business Opportunity
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Maybe
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Why not publish it on
Why do people always think you have to go to Apple or some other Cooperate solution to get what you want?
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Re: Why not publish it on
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and what stops me from recording myself reading a book
and ill give it away if you drm stuff and ill make sure at least one blind person gets it each time
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This isn't about DRM
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Re: This isn't about DRM
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Re: Re: This isn't about DRM
DRM is the soap scum left behind after you toss the bathwater.
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"Apple & Audiobook Firms Insist On DRM"
It's DRM-free products all the way. ;)
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Apple did not convince the majors to go DRM-free
Jobs wrote his "Thoughts on Music" missive on 2/6/07, in which he said the music biz would be better off without DRM. EMI announced they were ditching DRM on 4/2/07. Jobs was present in London at the EMI announcement.
Things don't happen that fast in big companies. When Jobs wrote his letter, He ALREADY KNEW what EMI was going to do. The letter was meant to PRETEND that he cared about customers.
Expect another letter at some point from Apple recommending that the movie industry ditch DRM. When that happens, you can be sure that Disney will make an announcement a month of so later. Apple uses DRM to lock competitors out and customers in. They'll only move away from it when it suits their interests, not their customers'.
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Podiobooks.com ?
And as Cory releases a lot of his own book in serialized audio form already. It would be a good fit, I'd say.
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Stupidity
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Not yours but ours
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Reselling content over and over and over
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I had the same problem with iTunes
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I had the same problem with iTunes
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DRM, APPLE
Apparently nobody told the industry that some of us like to donate our books so others not so fortunate might have access to them.
This still needs to be addressed. We have a for-profit industry effectively cutting off a significant level of donations. What's next, excess food being burned so we can't feed the homeless?
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