Does anyone have any experience of copy protection, passwords etc in Adobe Acrobat? I found it very hard to investigate this on their website, although I did come across a list of third party software houses which seem to offer functionality, eg File Open. They also seem very expensive (File Open, the personal edition, for example, is 199 usd).
What does the team think about this?
Thanks, John
Posted on: 6:27 pm on October 15, 2002
ebookpro
Hi John,
You can check out two different services that may be more affordable. Clicklocker.com charges a monthly fee and RoyaltyLock.com requires you to use their services as your payment system. I haven't used either yet, so I wouldn't be able to comment on their reliability though.
Just thought they might come in handy!
Eva :-)
Posted on: 8:03 pm on October 28, 2002
JRSnottingham
Many thanks, I will investigate these two.
John
Posted on: 6:18 am on October 29, 2002
tettettester
copy protection is extremely easy and very secure. You set it at the save-file page, I believe there is a "options" button. Then you select what level of security, etc. Another thing to do is set up digital signature. I wish I can figure out Activ that easily <g>
Posted on: 1:33 pm on December 24, 2002
JRSnottingham
Thanks for that.
John
Posted on: 6:17 pm on December 24, 2002
ebookpro
Don't forget that this doesn't stop people from passing on your ebook to someone else -- but at least they won't be able to edit it on you.
Eva
Posted on: 7:11 am on December 26, 2002
tettettester
It is still a lot better than not being able to print the document, the most serious problem which eliminates activ-ebook ffrom most competition. Who wants to have their customers spend an hour clicking each page of a 100 page doc? Forget it.
Posted on: 1:06 pm on January 4, 2003
ShawnP
The Virtual Vault fromhttp://www.CBProtect.comlocks your PDF ebooks and totally secures them from theft. People cannot distribute them after the fact, and freebie seekers cannot ask for a refund and keep your product (you can simply revoke access remotely). And it costs a small fraction of what the folks at File Open charge.
Try it out for a month.
Thanks!
Shawn Pringle
Posted on: 12:22 am on March 19, 2004
Storyman
John,
If you are thinking of creating secured PDF ebooks like the type you buy at Amazon it takes a little more than what has been indicated in this thread.
To do it yourself requires you to have your own server and a copy of a $5,000 Adobe program that registers your ebook with the Acrobat Reader installed on the user's machine.
There are a few sites that will make your PDF ebook downloadable and registered with the user's Adobe Reader. Of course they charge handsomely for the privelge.
E-Book compression programs are a reasonable way to go. One of my initial concerns was that all of the programs are for Window based machines, but guess what, less than 0.1% of the visitors to my sites are on Mac machines and over 98% of the visitors use IE. Kinda blows the need for cross platforming out of the water.
Personally, I think that a lot of us are reacting to the paranoia that the recording industry has promoted in the past couple of years. Recently a two universities studies bring into question the validity of the recording industry's claim regarding theft through the internet. Basically, what the studies found was that when the CD sales were tracked in relation to the IP addresses for people downloading particular albums from the internet that at most sales were impacted by 1 or 2%.
Call me optimistic, but I think most people will pay for what they feel is of value to them. A lot of people who hack programs are doing to because it presents a challenge, like a crossword presents a challenge. I even know a guy who has copied over a thousand DVD titles. When I asked him why bother he said it was a hobby and he didn't do anything with them once he copied them. He doesn't even watch that many movies and wouldn't think of distributing copies to friends. Bizarre yes, unusual no.
I'd like to hear from someone who has had an e-book hacked and then suffered financial damage because of the hacking. So far, I just haven't seen the evidence other than what the e-book compiler industry promotes.
Don't get me wrong, I do think programs like Activ E-Book is a must have program. My point is that we don't need to create Fort Knox to feel safe.
Richard
Posted on: 6:31 am on April 19, 2004
Anthony Ellis
I don't think the problem with ebook security is "hackers". That may be an issue with software, but not ebooks. There is no benefit from breaking into an encrypted ebook. Just pass it around.
The issue with ebooks are primarily pass-around theft and chargeback/refunds. For the most part you don't want your document being passed around or distributed without your consent and you don't want chargeback or refunders to have further access. Nothing irritates me more!
Posted on: 11:25 pm on February 14, 2005
Ebook Architect
I agree with the last post. I have only been had "pass around" theft with my ebooks and to be honest I found out accidently after someone told me they saw my ebook on a P2P network. Although it bothered me to know my ebook was being ripped off, I noticed no decrease in sales from my site!
Posted on: 8:24 pm on July 5, 2005
Storyman
Is it possible that the reason the sales haven't been hurt by the illegal posting of your PDF ebook is because the web site has a poor ranking? Just asking.
Have you considered inserting a notice into the PDF ebook saying something effect that payment is appreciated, then provide a link for payment?
I really don't have an idea of how well that will work. Most people are honest and willing to pay for things that provide a benefit--especially when the price is reasonable.
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