When You Buy an Ebook But Can’t Read It Again — The DRM Dilemma

I’ve heard a lot about DRM in the past, but up till now, I’d never had to deal with it first-hand.

I have nothing good to say about DRM and everyone in cahoots with it.

(..to be continued)

On 3 August 2018 I bought an e-book on Takealot, *Douglas Kruger’s *Own Your Industry: How to Position Yourself as an Expert. **It was an informative read, and I finished it within just a few days. I have since read a few more of the author’s books — though in different formats since then.

A good book is never read just once. Naturally, I wanted to revisit the book — but I ran into an unexpected obstacle. The device I had downloaded it on when I bought it had since been stolen, and for some strange reason it was a requirement that I have an Adobe Digital Editions account to access the book again on a different device. It seemed strange then, it still does today. Why was a copy of a book that I legally owned being kept so inaccessible from me, its supposed owner? DRM was the answer, as I would later learn. According to Fortinet, Digital Rights Management (DRM) refers to technologies used to control access to copyrighted digital content. It enables copyright holders to manage how users can use and distribute their content, often restricting copying, sharing, or modifying it.

I get it. Piracy has crippled many artists’ and creators’ careers. But here’s the thing: DRM isn’t solving piracy. If anything, it creates frustration for legitimate buyers. I can no longer access a book I paid for unless I install proprietary software that, in return, might harvest my data. That’s a steep price for wanting to re-read a legally purchased book. I believe DRM was created with good intentions. But its implementation exposes a more uncomfortable truth: buyers don’t truly “own” what they pay for in the digital world. DRM isn’t just about protecting rights; it’s about control. And in doing so, it inadvertently drives even honest consumers toward piracy, out of sheer necessity or convenience.

It makes you wonder — in the digital future DRM is shaping, who really owns the content?

You’ll own nothing and you’ll be happy.