DRM

From MobileRead

DRM means Digital Rights Management and it both a mechanism and an idea. It generally intends to enforce a restriction on a user in what they can do with a particular file. It is supposed to protect the author and publisher of eBooks or eMusic (and other electronic media) from pirating and other illegal activities. Some opponents call it Digital Restriction Management and claims it goes far beyond illegal activity and restricts items that are both legal and reasonable use.

[edit] Overview

DRM as applied to eBooks is generally a code that must be present in order for the reader to be able to open an eBook. The code may be locked to a particular device, or may be locked to a range of multiple devices. In other cases it is locked to a user. There is no standard implementation for DRM.

Some eBook formats do not support DRM and even if a format supports it there may be eBooks in that format that are not controlled by DRM.

[edit] Library Use

DRM is often used by libraries that loan eBooks and in this case the DRM offers a time limited license to the person checking out the book. The library monitors the number of licenses it purchased and controls checkout just like a physical book except that there is no need to return the book since it will expire.

Current eBook formats that support time limited checkout include PDF and MOBI. Audio formats that support time limited checkout include WMA.

See EBook Lending Libraries for a list of Libraries.

[edit] Impact on TTS

Visually impaired readers often use a TTS (Text To Speech) engine to read the text on the page for the reader. This ability is also used by readers who are attempting to read a book that is not in their native tongue to help learn the language. However DRM can have an impact on the use of TTS since it may block external applications from being able to use the data. For more information see http://www.daisy.org/publications/docs/soundproof/sound_proof_book.html