Hell has frozen over..DriveThruRPG selling non-DRM books

[GMSkarka]

Of course, the problem with the watermarking software that they're using:

http://www.verypdf.com/pdfstamp/index.htm

...is that it's Windows-only. If you're running a Linux server, you're out of luck. Don't expect to see this in use at RPGNow, as a result.

In my opinion (I'll emphasize that: MY opinion, not the opinion of RPGNow), this is nothing more than yet more hand-holding for nervous print publishers who are still scared of the whole piracy issue. They have yet to figure out that customers are customers, and pirates are pirates, and there is very little cross-over.

Trust me on this. I know a little something about pirates.

 

[Staffan]

In my opinion (I'll emphasize that: MY opinion, not the opinion of RPGNow), this is nothing more than yet more hand-holding for nervous print publishers who are still scared of the whole piracy issue.

Yeah, but this is a form of hand-holding that doesn't appreciably limit the ways the customer can use his PDF in, unlike DRM.

 

[Starglim]

I have a few other problems with DriveThru and White Wolf besides DRM, but I'll look at the site again to see what's been converted to the new format.

 

[Elephant]

I was actually talking about failing to patch known holes in the system. Though looking at my prior post I can see I wasn't clear about that. You should be responsible if you allow your computer to become owned if there was something you could have done about it ahead of time. (And to beat my car analogy to death, just because a trained thief can hotwire your car is no reason to just leave the keys in it and make it easy to do so.)

Security patches are notorious for breaking existing applications. If I have to choose between, say, XP Service Pack 2 and playing World of Warcraft, I'd choose World of Warcraft.

And I'm both computer literate and security conscious. How much worse is it for those who buy expensive new computers based on ads with no clue how to use them (beyond trivial basics, that is)?

 

[ssampier]

Security patches are notorious for breaking existing applications. If I have to choose between, say, XP Service Pack 2 and playing World of Warcraft, I'd choose World of Warcraft.

And I'm both computer literate and security conscious. How much worse is it for those who buy expensive new computers based on ads with no clue how to use them (beyond trivial basics, that is)?

Or the more low-tech example of I buy a PDF, I burn a CD-R copy for myself (since we know OSs can crash, etc). I moved, but I manage to lose the CD-R I created for myself. Kid X finds my CD (on the street corners or in my old couch cushions), runs the CD-R and decides to share the file with 3,000 of his P2P friends. I get in serious legal trouble for a slight mishap.

I applaud DT for their innovative use of non-DRM technology. In this case, such technology is not a magic bullet; it won't stop a majority of copyright theft, just a majority of the "casual" piracy (give a CD-R to friend X, who shares with friend Y, who shares with friend Z...)

Granted, in my simple example I could have encrypted my CD. Most people don't take the extra time involved, or in my case, bother with a propriety format that I may not be able to read later on.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

In my opinion (I'll emphasize that: MY opinion, not the opinion of RPGNow), this is nothing more than yet more hand-holding for nervous print publishers who are still scared of the whole piracy issue. They have yet to figure out that customers are customers, and pirates are pirates, and there is very little cross-over.

Trust me on this. I know a little something about pirates.

Shhh, they'll hear you!

If hand holding means being able to get my hands on PDFs from larger companies then I am all for DTRPG helping them across the street.

I whined enough about DRM protection that I almost have to support the change to watermarking, and I really kind of like the idea of my name on the bottom of each page - I have lost too many books at conventions to mind that.

The Auld Grump

 

[devilish]

I'm glad DtRPG finally did this and that I can finally buy some stuff that I've been
meaning to get ..... I just hope it doesn't do a lot of damage to rpgnow who's been there
for us all this time ( and taken a lot of my money away.)

 

[TheAuldGrump]

I got this week's free download from them to try out the watermark system.

The watermark is very unobtrusive, small print in the corner margin. The example has my name and the words 'free product', in about a 6 point font.

It also seemed to download faster, though they may also have upgraded their servers at the same time.

The Auld Grump