Adobe DRM Hassles? Naw...
From DriveThruRPG's website:
The DRM features of Acrobat 7 have not been implemented by Adobe.
If you upgrade to 7, you will be unable to access your e-books. Please wait
until Adobe posts a corrected version. We will announce it here.
I recall seeing in webforum discussions that various concerns people had were essentially dismissed by DriveThruRPG when they first announced they were using DRM. One in particular was the longevity of the PDFs - that is, how long would people be able to open the PDFs into the future. Despite the fact that one of the DRM apologists claimed that most of the gaming books he's owned he's tossed after a few years or so, this is a very valid concern (for instance, I - like many others - still crack open my 1st Edition DMG from time-to-time, and that book is over 25 years old).
Now, I'm not sure what the deal is above since I just tried opening some of the PDFs I've gotten from DTRPG in Acrobat 7 and it worked just fine - though it did require me to re-register Acrobat through Adobe again, which was a big of a pain. This isn't a major issue, but it does turn on a brighter warning light, in my opinion.
Another interesting issue concerning this: it sounds like Microsoft is going to be giving up on its "Passport" system. This is the same system you use to register Acrobat with Adobe for DRM. Now, I'm sure something else will replace it, but it will no doubt involve more hassles for people who simply want to use PDFs they have legitimately purchased and downloaded. I'm all for protecting the rights of producers and artists, but at some point these guys have to realize that all they're doing is making life harder for the people that are their true audience, since the thieves and pirates are always going to find a way around their "protection" schemes.
Seems to me the best use of DTRPG is to get material you couldn't otherwise get in print (whether due to shipping issues or for things that are out-of-print, etc.), and then print it off so you know you at least will always have something to show for the cash you shelled out.
The DRM features of Acrobat 7 have not been implemented by Adobe.
If you upgrade to 7, you will be unable to access your e-books. Please wait
until Adobe posts a corrected version. We will announce it here.
I recall seeing in webforum discussions that various concerns people had were essentially dismissed by DriveThruRPG when they first announced they were using DRM. One in particular was the longevity of the PDFs - that is, how long would people be able to open the PDFs into the future. Despite the fact that one of the DRM apologists claimed that most of the gaming books he's owned he's tossed after a few years or so, this is a very valid concern (for instance, I - like many others - still crack open my 1st Edition DMG from time-to-time, and that book is over 25 years old).
Now, I'm not sure what the deal is above since I just tried opening some of the PDFs I've gotten from DTRPG in Acrobat 7 and it worked just fine - though it did require me to re-register Acrobat through Adobe again, which was a big of a pain. This isn't a major issue, but it does turn on a brighter warning light, in my opinion.
Another interesting issue concerning this: it sounds like Microsoft is going to be giving up on its "Passport" system. This is the same system you use to register Acrobat with Adobe for DRM. Now, I'm sure something else will replace it, but it will no doubt involve more hassles for people who simply want to use PDFs they have legitimately purchased and downloaded. I'm all for protecting the rights of producers and artists, but at some point these guys have to realize that all they're doing is making life harder for the people that are their true audience, since the thieves and pirates are always going to find a way around their "protection" schemes.
Seems to me the best use of DTRPG is to get material you couldn't otherwise get in print (whether due to shipping issues or for things that are out-of-print, etc.), and then print it off so you know you at least will always have something to show for the cash you shelled out.
Labels: publishers, RPG
1 Comments:
As far i can see, disabling DRM Features is not a bug in Acrobat 7. If you pay for enabling your DRM Plugin, it will work in Acrobat 7 as well - just take around 40.000 US$...
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