Science Fiction Publisher Liberates Its E-Books

Tor/Forge, the rather libertarian science fiction publishing house I profiled in "Tor's World Without Death or Taxes," has decided to eliminate digital rights management from their e-books:

"Our authors and readers have been asking for this for a long time," said president and publisher Tom Doherty. "They're a technically sophisticated bunch, and DRM is a constant annoyance to them. It prevents them from using legitimately-purchased e-books in perfectly legal ways, like moving them from one kind of e-reader to another."

DRM-free titles from Tom Doherty Associates will be available from the same range of retailers that currently sell their e-books. In addition, the company expects to begin selling titles through retailers that sell only DRM-free books.

Via BoingBoing's Cory Doctorow, who says there will be "more to follow, I'm sure; I've had contact with very highly placed execs at two more of the big six publishers."