Comment on Amazon advertises DRM-free ebooks that have restrictive DRM 🤦

InternetCitizen2@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

• unwarlikeExtortion@lemmy.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  DRM creates artificial scarcity

  But does it?

  That being said, the cause of the profit-boostig effect is the walled garden effect, not artificial scarcity.

  Whether amazon sells DRM-free ebooks on their Kindles or not isn’t the point. The point is the ease of use.

  Most people will just stick with Amazon - even if they can migrate “legally”. People don’t like change. Of course, some always will.

  If it gets expensive, the share of those jump-shippers increases - would you rather pay 25% less for your books if you switch to a competitors. Migrating your (hypothetical) DRM-free library is a bit of a process, but something most anyone could do.

  ^ This is what they’re aftaid of. People being able to jump ship. Corporate not being in complete control. Customers not being fully dependant on their overlord.

  This is why DRM is a thing. This is why EULAs state “you own a single, non-transferrable, by us voidable at any time, free (for now) licence to use this software”. This is why most privacy policies ask way too many things.

  It’s pure greed. Why should I, as a bookseller, make it possible for you to hypothetically switch to someone else when I can do the exact opposite? Why should I not download all your contacts, just in case I need them? Why should I not use your IP/region for “tailored” pricing?

  Scarcity has nothing to do with it. There are ways of obtaining books online. DRM-free or not. Free or not. If consumers were so efficient in their consuming, Amazon’s book business would either sell books for pennies to today’s price in dollars, or they’d shut it down for their more profitable ventures.

  What they need as sick and greedy bastards is control.

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