DBW12

Anobii is a UK company backed by

HMV, Random House, Penguin and HarperCollins

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED IN THIS PRESENTATION ARE MINE AND NOT OF THE COMPANY NOR OF THE SHAREHOLDERS

If you don't like what I say, take it up with me. On the other hand, if you do please write and tweet about it

1. DRM in the cloud is not necessary. Access is controlled via online means (iOS/Android/HTML5)

2. WATERMARK downloadable ebooks with:

• VISIBLE personal information of the buyer on the ebook
• INVISIBLE personal information hidden in the file

3. Apply DRM only on library ebooks or in selected cases

BENEFITS

• Allows copyright holders to trace to source if distributed
• Discourages good guys from sharing (remember, bad guys already have the cracked version!)
• As complex(or simple) as removing strong DRM (bad guys strip anything off)
• Fosters competition and innovation

Thank you for your attention!

(the most valuable thing these days)

Help me socialise this idea @matteoberlucchi matteo@anobii.com

• "Hey, there's an elephant in the room!"

• Of the 1.3 million ereaders sold in the UK over Christmas 2011, 92% were Kindle (I have not mistyped, it's really 92%)

• Options: "Own cloud" (silos) or "Not-really-inter-operable solution"

An idea on how to adopt a solution based on Digital Rights Morality

The challenges for an ebook retailer

What about the customers?

If ebooks were paper books...

• Device choice locks you in

• Most popular services licence rather than sell ebooks (no ownership)

• ebook functionality inferior to pbook

1. You are not buying this book but licensing access to it

2. Access can be revoked at any time for no reason and with no notice

3. You can't read this in hotels (we want you to read it at home, don't ask why)

4. You can't resell this book or give it to your favourite charity

5. You can't give it to a friend

6. You can't photocopy it (even for research or academic reasons)

7. If you need reading glasses, you can only read this book with glasses supplied by us

8. Yes, we think you are delinquent so behave or will revoke access to your (actually our) book

A new approach to DRM:

Digital Rights Morality

Morality: the quality of being in accord with standards of right or good conduct

"TRUST THE GOOD GUYS"

A closer look at DRM

A truly interoperable solution would...

• Help the publishing industry break and prevent silos and monopolies

• Offer more value to end users as ebooks become more portable

• Open competition: anyone could sell ebooks to Kindle users (and vice-versa)

• Protect the copyright owner from potential losses of value/revenue by limiting what can be done with the ebook

• Main purpose is to prevent the ebook from being publicly distributed, ie giving an ebook to a lot of people without paying for it

• An important weapon to fight digital piracy

Or why

Dr.Batty's

Asthma

Cigarettes

didn't

actually

cure

asthma

Anything to learn from music?

• Apr 2007 - EMI is the first to drop DRM on MP3

• Sept 2007 - Amazon launches DRM-Free downloads

• Jan 2008 (9 months after EMI & 4 years ago!) Sony BMG is the last to drop DRM

• Today is normal to buy and own your music (you can even import your songs into a competitor's platform via cloud services)

Semi-random

thoughts on ebooks, DRM & how to increase competition & innovation

in an incumbent dominated market

"... DRM helps perpetuate Apple's quasi-monopoly in the portable digital-music-player market..."

Time Magazine, May 2007

Could DRM be like Dr Batty's

Asthma Cigarettes?

• It creates and protects silos (kills inter-operability)
• DRM is what makes the ebook inferior to its paper counterpart
• Penalises the 'good guys' as the 'bad guys' strip it & would not buy ebooks anyway
• You never really own a DRM'ed ebook

Credit Crunch

When music DRM was dropped

DRM R.I.P.

• Evidence seems to indicate that DRM is not useful to fight piracy

• The best ways to fight piracy are:
• Educating the public
• Fighting the bad guys (in court!)

• Hadopi in France is having good results

DRM R.I.P.

DRM is not the cure