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I am a writer and want to sell my ebooks on the web. But recently there are many bad buyers who remove the protection, modify the contents, and share them on the web.

My related question: Is it true that strongly-password-protected PDF can be cracked?

I want something that can prevent someone from removing the security protection (permission to print, edit, making comments, etc) in my ebooks. I also want to assign a unique identifier for each buyer so I can trace who shares the book (when I get the copy on the web).

How to accomplish my scenario with minimal hassle?

My ebooks are sold in PDF format.

Community
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Display Name
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    I don't think you can just protect it "more" than other guys selling ebooks. I bet they will remove the unique identifiers somehow... – sinni800 Jul 07 '11 at 10:30
  • You may have a look at the amazon.com ebook market, they seem to have a system for this. Unfortunately there is no real way to protect your ebooks from being copied, because you can easily copy the whole text and paste it into a new pdf or where ever you want and spread it on the web. – Michael K Jul 07 '11 at 10:31
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    You really don't want to annoy honest buyers with all kinds of protection methods. Just give them a PDF they can read, print, do whatever they like with. Add a footer that says, "This copy is for Firstname Lastname only." -- this alone might stop people from forwarding their copies. – slhck Jul 07 '11 at 10:33
  • @slhck: But how to make sure the FirstName LastName only mark cannot be removed? – Display Name Jul 07 '11 at 10:38
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    @xport You can't, but given the nature of sharing -- if it's too much of a hassle to remove it, people won't do it. If I'm not mistaken, you'd have to remove the footer from every single page manually using a PDF editor. – slhck Jul 07 '11 at 10:41
  • @slhck: But I heard that removing the mark on the footer/header can be done using a batch script for automation that is usually provided on the Adobe products. Should I put the mark at random position to prevent others from removing them automatically? – Display Name Jul 07 '11 at 10:44
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    @xport I haven't heard that yet, but it might be true. Think about it: People would have to get hold of Acrobat Pro first (unless they haven't already). Then they'd need to write a script for removing the footer. At that point, don't you think those people would find a way to share an eBook encrypted with any other method as well? If you make a book readable to a person, they can always copy the content they see. – slhck Jul 07 '11 at 10:47
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    There's no such thing as un-crackable DRM. End of story. As a self-publishing author your main concern is going to be encouraging people to actually read your books in the first place, not worrying about people stealing them. –  Jul 07 '11 at 10:49
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    Baen Books (via webscription.net) makes their ebooks available with no DRM. They make money. Using DRM guarantees that, for instance, I won't be buying your book. Given a choice between being Baen and Sony, I would be Baen every time. – CarlF Jul 07 '11 at 12:25
  • +1 "Using DRM guarantees that, for instance, I won't be buying your book." – WernerCD Jul 07 '11 at 12:54

1 Answers1

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I have found several discussions, and most agree that using Guard Book Pro seems to be the best way (I have no connection with this company).

http://bookguardpro.com/protect-pdf-blog/139/best-way-to-protect-my-pdf-ebook/

Others have opined that maybe it is not the worst thing in the work if your book gets passed around, as that is free publicity. My own two cents would say that if it were a novel especially, this may be a great approach. Novelists usually get rich on their SECOND novel, only because the first one made them famous.

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Can-anybody-suggest-better-way-1515307.S.41251106

Lastly, if you want to keep if from spreading, I liked this last idea a lot too: Add the person’s Paypal name and address to every book you send out. That won’t stop everyone either, but it will stop the vast majority of ordinary users. Would you want that info to be passed around?

http://www.blackhatworld.com/blackhat-seo/black-hat-seo-tools/250227-want-protect-pdf-ebook.html

There is still no perfect way, but these will minimize your exposure...IF that is ultimately what you really want.

KCotreau
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  • Exactly what I said in the comment above. Having your personal name and e-mail address in a copy is probably the best way to prevent the book from being passed around. Imagine your name would pop up on warez sites. – slhck Jul 07 '11 at 10:36
  • @slhck Sorry, I had been composing that for a while...as soon as I told him to ask the question in his last question. Not copying. – KCotreau Jul 07 '11 at 10:37
  • Oh no offense at all! :) – slhck Jul 07 '11 at 10:37
  • @slhck OK thanks. Actually, you can see where I actually did get the idea from in the link. Great minds...? :) – KCotreau Jul 07 '11 at 10:38
  • @slhck: But how can we guarantee the marks cannot be removed? – Display Name Jul 07 '11 at 10:40
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    @xport You cannot be 100% guaranteed that your book will be safe, you can only do your best and hope that no hacker really wants to unlock your book. These methods will deter almost everyone, but nothing is 100%. – KCotreau Jul 07 '11 at 10:45