Sharing can be prevented by using simple password protection. But anyone selling ebooks for a living will not be happy about their ebooks being redistributed with others so easily when passwords can be shared. Yes, password protection is claimed to be DRM, but it is not effective in preventing sharing like proper DRM that uses unique computer identification. Only with unique computer identification can an author be assured that his subscribers are those that were intended.
Unique computer identification can be based on MAC address, which is derived from the network connection of each network device, or it can be based on hard drive serial number, both of which require system level interaction which most PDF protection software does not have due to security limitations imposed by the various operating systems. For example on amusement devices like mobile phones, apps are very limited in what they can do.
Most of the PDF protection software that uses DRM sophisticated enough to cater for all scenarios and not be exploitable are extremely expensive, with some being quoted at minimum prices of $80/month plus $1.80 for every time that a subscriber opens your PDF document. Of course by paying $500/month the usage rate can drop dramatically, but who wants to pay those prices, especially when the service managing your DRM rights is not under your control and could disappear overnight?
Disappear you say? DRM services for PDF are becoming more common with new startups emerging from all parts of the world. Sustaining DRM services and support can be costly and one only has to look at how many startups have appeared in the copy protection industry only to disappear just as abruptly a short time later. Some entrepreneurs (as they call themselves) see copy protection and DRM services advertised online and when they see the phenomenal rates that they charge, hire programmers to duplicate what they see. Most of those entrepreneurs may already know that the industry is just not that profitable, yet still seek to profit from investor involvement.
So it is very “buyer be wary” because the first thing that any new startup does is create a web site based on information scraped from their competitor’s web sites, and use that information and features list to promote their own offering, whether it does work or not. At least it may impress their potential investors.
At the end of the day, you may stumble upon CopySafe PDF Protection which provides the most secure PDF protection software at the most reasonable price. A one-time license fee of only $295 gets you a lifetime software license that includes free support and upgrades for life, plus the most sophisticated DRM service for PDF ever imagined. CopySafe software has been around for more than twenty years which is an obvious tell of who copies and imitates who.
DRM is most useful to prevent redistribution of PDF published for desktop reading, and if you prefer to publish PDF on web pages and let your CMS (like WordPress) manage membership access, then you will find that CopySafe PDF caters for that scenario as well.
CopySafe solutions cater for all types of media including web pages, images, PDF and video. They can be used for both desktop reading and online reading from any website. If you have a dedicated or virtual server then the ArtistScope Site Protection System (ASPS) can be used to copy protect almost any media that can be displayed on web pages. ASPS provides the most secure site protection software ever imagined.
Artist Scope 