As an avid reader, I prefer my books in print be it paperback or hard cover. I love books for what they are, the texture of paper, the smell of old books. I love that feeling you get from leisurely flipping through the pages of a very old and very well-written piece of work. Sadly, the physical space I would need to accommodate all of my books is simply not available. Luckily, I also have a certain fondness for technology, the convenience and fun of using nifty gadgets.

It wasn’t such a great leap to consider purchasing novels in electronic format as an excellent alternative, until I realized how many restrictions some of these companies attach to a purchase. The mainstream publishing industry’s latest weapon against piracy (and readers alike) is Digital Rights Management (DRM). Basically, these are controls hard-coded into various technologies and software in order to tightly control the manner and frequency of a buyer’s access to the electronic media they purchased.

One company wanted me to use my credit card number as a password every single time I tried open their eReader software and nothing else would do! So not happening.

I for one, refuse to “buy” any product hampered by DRM. The whole concept of DRM bothers me to begin with and now these companies’ mercenary attitude is just a complete turn-off. I understand the need protect a writer’s rights to his/her work. If that were simply the case, I’d be there with bells on.

I don’t dispute that there needs to be some reasonable way to prevent piracy of works of fiction. For a writer, the possibility of making money from one’s writing is quite attractive. The prospect of getting tangible rewards for one’s work always is. Let’s face it; no one relishes the idea of being taken advantage of. It’s natural to be wary of those who would seek to profit unfairly or undermine those efforts by pirating and distributing our work without permission. That still doesn’t make it right to punish readers or treat them like cars on a never-ending gravy train. Should they really have to bend over backwards to just gain access to the written word?

Ease of access is what readers need. I–for one, will certainly not rent the right to read a book at what is often the same or more than the price of a paperback or hardcover book. I’ve never had the urge to pirate a book or magazine that I’ve purchased in electronic format but I do love the security that comes with knowing that what I’ve purchased is indeed, MINE. That’s not asking too much is it? I am not a thief – I just want to be able to keep what I paid for.

I’m sure that there’s a reasonable solution or middle ground out there. I sincerely hope that we find it before either taking unfair advantage of consumers or rampant piracy becomes the order of the day, once again.