A question for computer genius'

RYAN LOUDMUSIC JENKINS

RYAN LOUDMUSIC JENKINS

Sophomore
Jan 11, 2011
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Surface of the sun, Its hot here!
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A buddy of mine published a book and I sell it on one of my websites since he does not sell to the public.



We feel that there is demand for the book to be available in whole or in sections as a .pdf or similar file. I would love to be able to offer this but we want to make it a secure file. Maybe something where they can access the file from a disk and print pages as they wish but we want to keep them from copying or changing the file.



Even if there were a way for us to burn a DVD with copy protection and yet have the ability to print pages which is very important for this book.



Any ideas on how to do this.



Thanks, Ryan
 
Re: A question for computer genius'

DRM does little to prevent files from being copied, but instead prevents said copies from being read by an ''unauthorized'' device.



Copying files on a computer filesystem is impossible to prevent if the user has read permissions to the file in question and write permissions on the filesystem. And with CDs and DVDs, it's trivially easy to create a bit-for-bit duplicate of a disk, copy protection and all.



You may have some luck with a web-based solution, where the content is online behind a login.
 
Re: A question for computer genius'

Rob Timmerman wrote on Sun said:
DRM does little to prevent files from being copied, but instead prevents said copies from being read by an ''unauthorized'' device.



Copying files on a computer filesystem is impossible to prevent if the user has read permissions to the file in question and write permissions on the filesystem. And with CDs and DVDs, it's trivially easy to create a bit-for-bit duplicate of a disk, copy protection and all.



You may have some luck with a web-based solution, where the content is online behind a login.
Click to expand...



Absolutely not true.



Aside from ''hacking'' DRM can place user specific, temporal specific, or machine/device specific restrictions on a file. In most computer systems (windows based for sure) this is largely based on the software that reads the file. I'm not certain how Adobe enforces it, but to the OP, if you have a full license to Adobe Acrobat (what produces PDF files) you can definitely restrict who can read this book and who can't .



 
Re: A question for computer genius'

We definitely have a full capy of Acrobat in our CS4. So I am sure I can figure out something in there, maybe. I am not to worried about it being completely hacker proof. We just want it to be enough of a pain that they have to have the disk in the computer to read it or print it so it is harder to share the content with friends. They could just as easily print a couple copies to hand to thier friends and there is no stopping them from doing that now with the hard copy of the book. Just a little bit of difficulty for them would be nice.



I think the best possible solution for us would be a DVD or CD with some sort of auto run that lets them access the content but not store it on the hard drive if that is possible.



We are also looking into distribution for Kindle, etc.
 
Re: A question for computer genius'

Ryan Lantzy wrote on Sun said:
Rob Timmerman wrote on Sun said:
DRM does little to prevent files from being copied, but instead prevents said copies from being read by an ''unauthorized'' device.



Copying files on a computer filesystem is impossible to prevent if the user has read permissions to the file in question and write permissions on the filesystem. And with CDs and DVDs, it's trivially easy to create a bit-for-bit duplicate of a disk, copy protection and all.



You may have some luck with a web-based solution, where the content is online behind a login.
Click to expand...



Absolutely not true.



Aside from ''hacking'' DRM can place user specific, temporal specific, or machine/device specific restrictions on a file. In most computer systems (windows based for sure) this is largely based on the software that reads the file. I'm not certain how Adobe enforces it, but to the OP, if you have a full license to Adobe Acrobat (what produces PDF files) you can definitely restrict who can read this book and who can't .
Click to expand...



How does not being able to read the contents of a file prevent someone from making a bit-for-bit copy?

 
Re: A question for computer genius'

Get a book printed or a website with a secure section.





Anything electronic can be cracked and it only needs to be cracked once before everybody gets free copies. (Ask MPAA, RIAA, Sony, Microsoft, even SMAART got cracked... Even hardware decoding chips get cracked eventually.)



The more restrictive you make it, the more time one of your guys is going to waste time helping PAYING customers who can't read what they *bought* from you for some reason (bugs, bad config, screw ups, multiple computers).



 
Re: A question for computer genius'

I saw your question earlier and thought about this some. I would suggest that the book remain only as a printed volume. Unless the book appeals to addicts of some sort, or achieves some strange underground cult following, then I would suspect that the paying public would far outweigh the non-paying public.





 
Re: A question for computer genius'

Chris Davis wrote on Sun said:
I saw your question earlier and thought about this some. I would suggest that the book remain only as a printed volume. Unless the book appeals to addicts of some sort, or achieves some strange underground cult following, then I would suspect that the paying public would far outweigh the non-paying public.
Click to expand...



The book is a book of maps to over 700 sites in Arizona that would be used by hunters, wildlife photographers and bird-watchers. So it may be some sort of a cult following. We just don't want to worry about a bunch of hunters spreading the book around by just copying the files to a buddies computer and then sharing it some more to other friends. If there is a way to make it so that they hav to have the disk in the computer then it is essentially no different than the book form. They can still copy it but it is a little more of a pain in the ass for them.
 
Re: A question for computer genius'

It sounds like the eBook publishers who have already figured out a DRM solution would be his best option. Kindle, etc. Apps for devices like iPad/iPhone would also seem to allow for someone buying the ''app/book,'' downloading it onto their computer and device, but would not allow them to share it.
 
Re: A question for computer genius'

Jeff Wheeler wrote on Mon said:
It sounds like the eBook publishers who have already figured out a DRM solution would be his best option. Kindle, etc. Apps for devices like iPad/iPhone would also seem to allow for someone buying the ''app/book,'' downloading it onto their computer and device, but would not allow them to share it.
Click to expand...

I would think along those lines, use an existing DRM system like Apple's or Amazon's.
 
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