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So much for DRM as a protector of e-books. The latest Harry Potter was pirated off paper and uploaded into Microsoft Reader format. Talk about tunnel vision by the e-book business. So what’s ahead? Perhaps scanner-proof paper? Or, as some joke, cops dispatched to homes to keep readers in line? Whoops. In the era of Orwellian Hatch, humor can always become reality.

Needless to say, well-stocked national digital library systems would be one way to help reduce the incentives for piracy. Meanwhile the e-book industry should stop letting DRM considerations get in the way of a standardized consumer-level format. Have DRM if big publishers are still hooked on it, but don’t be obnoxious about it. The large houses’ use of even DRM Lite might actually give a break to smaller publishers, which, by avoiding all DRM, could compete better against the giants.

(Potter item found on MSNBC via eBookAd.)

 
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