Such events are rare, but the reality remains: readers have few rights when it comes to reading digital books. It could be argued that our current misinformation epidemic makes access to books more important than ever. But eBook publishers and distributors are arbitrarily restricting access and the corporate benefits of eBook restrictions are dubious.
Ebooks have taken a different path than other small media formats such as music. Without getting into a comparative analysis, I’ll broadly assert that digital music files are generally distributed in a more open format than eBooks. Ebooks from Amazon, the largest retailer in the market, are saddled with digital rights management (DRM). These reader-hostile measures have not translated into adoption.Meanwhile, digital music streaming is booming at the expense of paid music downloading. While downloads are shrinking on platforms like iTunes and Amazon, independent artists are seeing significant growth on sites like Bandcamp. Listeners have a fair choice. They are not locked into an ecosystem. If they choose to buy music, they can listen to it without restriction.