[Jennifer R P]

Not only that, but I have the Kindle app on my desktop and also on my phone. I don't want to be dinged for some kind of "device abuse" if I go overseas and connect my phone to wi-fi.

Going after piracy too excessively, especially by using means that penalize perfectly legitimate customers, actually makes people pirate books and software more.

I know many, many people who have admitted to me to pirating software they would otherwise have bought because the pirated copy didn't have always-online DRM or something else obnoxious. It's hard to compete with free. It's even harder when the free version is actually worth more to the customer.

 

[Jennifer R P]

I have books I've read six, eight, even ten times. Maybe not "on different devices" but the implication that no legitimate reader is going to read a book more than twice bothers me.

I see four kinds of pirates:

1. People who have some kind of moral objection to paying for stuff. I actually once knew somebody who thought copyright should be abolished and who said that copying a book was "as much work" as writing one. I told her to try it then. You'll never make a sale to these people.

2. People who can't afford to buy anything right now. And before you say "But it's a $2.99 ebook" I *personally* know people so poor they scrounge food from dumpsters. If somebody can't afford food, they can't afford an ebook. These people may turn into paying customers when their circumstances improve. Libraries are the only thing that reduces this kind of piracy.

3. People who want a free sample - which is why providing a few things for free is a good idea. I always make sure there's stuff linked to my website readers don't have to pay for. Free samples are good, but in electronic goods, if you don't provide them people will steal them.

4. People who just want a DRM-free copy.

You'll never stop 1. You can't help 2. 3 will go away if you provide them with a legal way to get a sample. 4 will go away if you give them the DRM-free copy.

If there's DRM on anything I wrote, then a publisher or distributor put it there. Some distributors do insist on putting DRM on all books regardless of the wishes of the publisher. I do not like DRM.

As for device limits. Nah. People will get around that in five seconds and you never know when somebody lending a book to their friends might lead to sales.

I'm not saying I don't think piracy is "a big deal". I'm saying more that the current methods for stopping it actually breed more of it. And that I don't worry about it that much.