How do I let a customer download a PDF file????

[Handover]

Hi there,

If you are still interested into securing your publications there is pretty serious method to control what the end user does with the content he purchased.
For instance you can decide to tie the publication display to a single computer; meaning that the end use could only view it from one and only one computer. He/she can't move it to other device(s) without your knowledge/approval...

It sounds very very restrictive but it efficient.

Here is basically how it works :
1 you purchase a software that will lock (say) your .pdf file and puts in somewhere on a third party server (the vendor of that application you will be using)
2 your customer buys a copy of the book
3 you deliver him with an unlocking code + downloading link
4 he/she opens the book using your code. This will launch a registration process of that Ebook on the secure server.
5 anytime the user opens the book, there will be a verification against the server.

If the user uninstalls/deletes/formats his Os/drive, then the registration will be gone, even if he/she happens to have a backup copy of the file.
You will need to reissue an activation key.

I experienced such a Ebook, 3 times activation reset !!

A link

All the best.

[bjornkn]

And :
6. You're sure to never sell again to that unhappy customer that have to cope with all that protection

Seriously, I would have to really want that publication badly to accept such terms, especially #5.
And it doesn't stop those that don't want to pay anyway.

[jon404]

I sell e-books ... in PDF format ... from my website at http://jon404.com ... I use Regsoft for order fulfillment. Regsoft takes your credit card and downloads you the PDF. Other good services are Paypal, Kagi, and Plimus. I sell my stuff unsecured ... once you buy my product, it's yours ... no DRM. For e-books, copy-protection schemes like Adobe Editions really reduce PDF features, like the 6400% zoom in free Acrobat Reader, or interactive Flash/Actionscript that works perfectly in Reader but not in iPads, Nooks, Kindles... the proprietary protected formats.

[Handover]

And :
6. You're sure to never sell again to that unhappy customer that have to cope with all that protection

Seriously, I would have to really want that publication badly to accept such terms, especially #5.
And it doesn't stop those that don't want to pay anyway.

Yes it is "cumbersome", but at the end the merchant marketing strategies will play a crucial role in the end user appreciation/satisfaction about the usage of the acquired item.
Say for instance the merchant will grant 3 activations with no reset limitation.
There will be little room left for complaints (as far as im concerned ). I see it as using an application (ex Acrobat Pro) tied to a single device and with no activation limitations, provided that one follows the procedure from Adobe.
The strategies may vary according to the products, needs...

Regarding the "unstoppable free leecher" i must agree that one can hardly know about all the tricks around to circumvent the security layers put in place.
However, it's really pain in the back trying to have for free those secured Ebooks.

[bjornkn]

The problem is that all this protection stuff makes it cumbersome for the paying reader, rather than for the pirates.
I once had a legit program that had such terrible/cumbersome protection scheme that I actually downloaded a pirated version (the same version) that I used instead.
If it can be printed, it can very easily be converted into a protection free PDF.
Try that with an application like Acrobat Pro or Xara

[Handover]

It indeed looks cumbersome (reason why i initially put the word between " ") but as i said, one can compare the entire process (registration/validation against the server) to those that we experience with other softwares like Adobe CS suites or any other single application we have a valid registration key for. They all (almost) contact the developer remote server for various reasons : update checking, validation request, etc... and they do so in a transparent way that is barely noticeable from the user point of view. Of course when there is a pop up notifying us about a new version, we know (or not ?) that something must have taken place in the background.
This do not stop people from buying legit copies of those applications.

But its rather a good news to patch the system, is it ? The main thing here being the silent communications between the application and some remote servers.

If it can be printed, it can very easily be converted into a protection free PDF.

The vendor can disable printing all together.
One thing that can be done is screen captures. A few pages book might be easy to handle. However, those around 100+ will put off a lot of people, i think.
The trouble to hack it is way over the purchasing value, most of the time. Trying to hack such a stuff for the sake of hacking (and not for usage) could prove an excellent motivation in a learning curve.

PS: keeping in mind that those secured Ebooks are not installed locally, but might yet be possible to hack.

[Oakes89]

Thanks for all the input guys,

Starting to go a little over my head but sure I can work around it. Erm are there other ways of restricting copywrite? Like I have an Interlectuall Property advisor who will help me get copywrite etc on the PDF's, but I personally have used PDF's which you can download and transfer to one computer to another...but you couldn't copy and paste it. I mean I doubt somebody will take the time to either hand write or type the entire PDF, as they will mainly be a diet for athletes.

I've been doing some more research recently now I'm coming to the end of my degree, and I've seen on xara.com the e-commence widget. And I only briefly read the page, but it said about a Google Spreadsheet, where by you can sell digital products, set the price etc....would this work better than using a 3rd party ftp?

Cheers for the help guys, much appreciated