On Slashdot there is an interesting story from CNN about some US libraries using Microsoft Media DRM to automatically return audiobooks that are overdue.
Essentially a patron borrows the title for 3 weeks or whatever the standard borrow time is. After 3 weeks, when the book is due, the patron must renew it or return it. If the book is not renewed or returned, the audiobook is unreadable because the encrypted file is no longer playable.
Here’s the CNN story.
Just yesterday James and I were talking about distribution models in a digital era and how technology is or will be used to protect copyright. (There are lots of things I’d like to say on copyright, but for the moment, let’s assume that we do want to protect copyright.)
The conversation came up in part because I came across this blog Freedom to Tinker, which had a link to a Princeton student’s thesis on the affect of filesharing on the music industry.
PDF: Music Sales in the Age of File Sharing
I haven’t had a chance to read all 73 pages, but the abstract notes that although filesharing had a negative affect on sales by the 15-24 age group, there was a positive affect on sales by older age groups, which resulted in an overall positive affect.
So what does this mean for books? Should we give away content? Should the above librarians not worry about encrypting audiobooks?
I sit on both sides of the fence at the moment.