Tor will continue to fight ebook piracy 'as robustly' as it did before going DRM-free, promised Trevathan. So the idea that my readers will, after July, 'buy once, keep anywhere,' makes me happy.' The books of mine they have bought have been chained to a single e-reader, which means if that e-reader becomes obsolete or the retailer goes under (or otherwise arbitrarily changes their user agreement), my readers risk losing the works of mine they've bought. 'Meanwhile, the people who do spend money to support me and my writing have been penalised for playing by the rules. 'DRM hasn't stopped my books from being out there on the dark side of the internet,' said science fiction author John Scalzi. He also argued that smaller retailers will be able to compete more effectively in the ebook marketplace.ĭoctorow predicted that 'this might be the watershed for ebook DRM, the turning point that marks the moment at which all ebooks end up DRM-free. Science fiction author Charlie Stross described the move as groundbreaking it means, he said, that even if particular e-readers become obsolete, the ebooks purchased for those devices will still be available. Trevathan said the news had been received 'very positively' by writers and agents, while retailers have also been upbeat.

The evidence from there seems to be that in fact piracy has gone down.'

'It's partly prompted by the launch of Pottermore, which JK Rowling has made completely DRM-free. 'The pressure to do it has come from readers and authors,' agreed Jeremy Trevathan, publisher at Tor UK's parent Pan Macmillan. It prevents them from using legitimately-purchased ebooks in perfectly legal ways, like moving them from one kind of ereader to another.' 'They're a technically sophisticated bunch, and DRM is a constant annoyance to them. 'Our authors and readers have been asking for this for a long time,' said president and publisher Tom Doherty. The decision will cover Tor, Forge, Orb, Starscape and Tor Teen ebooks from July 2012, the publisher said, as well as Tor UK titles. DRM is the way publishers currently protect their ebooks from piracy it limits the sharing of titles between electronic devices.

Tor books moves