Helicon Books, an ebook technology and services company from Israel, announced a new service for publishers: Social DRM. Social DRM is a solution for publishers who wish to protect their ebooks and prevent copyright violation at reasonable prices.
The new Social DRM platform is going to be announced at the Frankfurt Bookfair in Germany in October and Good e-Reader will be live on the scene. The essence of this technology is that it stamps the book with the buyer’s name. The visual information can appear in text or an image, according to the publisher’s needs. One creative way to present Social DRM is through a personal dedication from the buyer to someone he wishes to give the ebook. The Social DRM is also hidden inside each chapter in the ebook. This hidden information can only be recognized by a software.
Social DRM intends to prevent end customers’ use of an ebook in an illegal manner. When the digital book is personalized and stamped with the customer’s name, this will discourage people from uploading their eBooks to torrent and file sharing websites.
What is the difference between watermarking and social DRM? Not much. Helicon is hyping the fact their technology is less obtrusive and their books are easier to share among users. They know people want to loan books out to their friends and Social DRM does not detract from the reading experience.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.