Random House and other leading book publishers have announced that they are dropping DRM for their audiobook sales. Random House experimented with DRM-free audiobooks in the fall on eMusic and could not find a single instance where a DRM-free book later appeared on a P2P system.
Publishers Dropping DRM for Audiobooks
2 Comments
Recent Posts
Back-of-the-Napkin Cultural Policy: The Government’s $600 Million Streaming Plan Copies the CRTC Decision It Killed at More Than Double the Cost 
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 282: Udbhav Tiwari on Why Signal May Exit Canada Over Bill C-22’s Encryption and Metadata Retention Rules 
From Making Web Giants Pay to Paying Media Giants: Budget 2026 Replaces the Government’s Internet Platform Strategy With $1.5 Billion in Taxpayer Dollars for Culture and News 
Has the Government Read Its Own Bill? What Three Days of House Debate Revealed About Bill C-34 Before the Committee Hearings Begin 
Surveillance By Design: Government Officials Say Lawful Access Could Reach Gaming Platforms, Daycares and AI Services
That’s good news. It’s understandable that the publishers had been whipped into a panic by the music industry, but to see them looking into the facts for themselves and drawing a conclusion that supports their customers better is really heartening.
I’ll admit to being moderately surprised by the specific finding that they couldn’t find any watermarked mp3s, the broader finding (that removing DRM doesn’t change piracy levels) fits right in with what I’d expect. How hard is it to remove a watermark, anyways? Is it any more challenging/time-consuming than removing their drm?