OpenContent.net: Glassbook Reader Paranoia

[ Thanks to Linh Ngo for
this link. ]

“The whole Net is abuzz with Stephen King’s release of his first
electronic book (actually a 66-page novella). Even the big
e-tailers like Barnes & Noble are having problems feeding the
frenzied public who are downloading the horror master’s book and
the software reader, Glassbook Reader, en masse. The real terror
lies in the reader itself.”

“With this new electronic book frontier bringing us improved
ease of use (searching, updates, etc.) and more features (the
for-fee ‘Plus Reader’ has a built-in dictionary and allows
annotations) comes perceived perils. Of course, illegal copying is
at the top of that list and copy-protection is built right into the
reader. But are they taking this too far and making the same
mistakes that the DIVX crowd made? Start up your favorite copy of
Glassbook Reader and take a gander at the Getting Started with the
Glassbook Reader document on page 11.”

“This harkens back to the good ole days of floppy-disk based
copy protection where you were only allowed to install one copy of
a software package. After the install completed, your floppy disk
was ‘marked’ and you wouldn’t be able to install again until you
deinstalled your software and the floppy ‘unmarked.’ This
sounds good in theory, but works against the law-abiding consumer.
What happens, as often does, when you lose that floppy or your dog
gets the floppy munchies? Yup, you’re screwed or severely
inconvenienced…”

Complete
Story