How to do pay per .pdf

August 6, 2008 1:30 PM

How can I set up pay per .pdf on our website?

We currently sell items on our website using Paypal and are contemplating selling digital instructions via .pdf files that a customer could download after purchasing. I would prefer something that is easy to implement since I'm not a programmer.

I've found Payloadz.com which seems to fit the bill but I'd like to learn more. Is there anyone else that offers this service so I can compare? How hard would it be to set up myself? Is there a good web reference / tutorial that can educate me on how this works?

Finally, is there any way to prevent unauthorized copying and selling besides a stern warning?

posted by jabo to computers & internet (7 comments total)

Second question, simplest case: Imagine me hitting print-screen every few seconds.
posted by cmiller at 1:42 PM on August 6, 2008

I used to sell knitting patterns via Payloadz. The service is convenient, but somewhat unreliable (I'd have days with dozens of people emailing me to ask why their download link didn't work), and fairly expensive, especially at volume. The customer service isn't great. It's nice if you've got Paypal in place already, though.

There's also (e-junkie, which I think has fulfillment systems in place so you can sell your physical goods with the same system. Works with Paypal also.
posted by peachfuzz at 2:02 PM on August 6, 2008

Finally, is there any way to prevent unauthorized copying and selling besides a stern warning?

The search term you are looking for is "Enterprise Rights Management" (and yes, there are products that prevent people from hitting print screen every few seconds).
posted by phoenixy at 2:07 PM on August 6, 2008

As a consumer, I've paid for software and digital content by using Kagi. it was convenient and fast. No idea what it's like for a seller to use.
posted by jaimev at 2:24 PM on August 6, 2008

is there any way to prevent unauthorized copying and selling besides a stern warning?

You can make it difficult for non-technical users until the hacker community make point-n-click software to break as it now is with DVDs, Blu-Ray/HD-DVD ripping, e-Book/PDF ripping (Dmitri Sklyarov) etc. Highly technical users will be able to bypass your protection very quickly.

This is easily provable... name a single bit of software or media that isn't available on a torrent online.

Regarding taking screenshots... there are hardware devices that sit between computers and monitors... taking PNGs of video signals when you press a button. They have USB plugs so you just plug it back into your computer and use the PNGs, easy.

There's a lot of money in pretending that these technical protection measures work but history has taught us that they're selling snake oil.

Further, there are "fair-use" provisions in copyright law in most countries (eg, it's ok to copy small parts of the text for educational uses, or to quote parts to write a review) so you would be restricting this. It's legal to use software restrictions but it's generally not appreciated by those who want to exercise these rights. As InternetNZ says: "TPMs [Technical Protection Measures] are a blunt instrument. A TPM system cannot by itself identify what is legitimate and what is infringing. Many TPM systems require registration online or regular contact with a copyright owner’s server for verification. What happens if the server is down or the provider goes out of business or simply decides not to support that version anymore? Also, TPMs can be harmful. The Sony rootkit example is well known but there are other similar occurrences where TPMs have interfered with user’s systems. This should be expected – TPMs by their nature are complex."

I suggesting doing what Rifftrax does. On their site they say: "In order to make the Riffing process as easy and fun as possible we offer our commentaries as convenient MP3s, as opposed to any format encumbered by Digital Rights Management. The point is, we realize there are times when you may find yourself in possession of a RiffTrax that you didn’t pay for (hey, it’s the internet – it happens.) All we ask is that you do the right thing so that we can keep bringing you quality riffing for years to come."

And that kind of thing appeals to human nature, it's respectful to the users, and as the copyright holder you still have all the same legal rights that you did without the DRM/TPM should you find a person infringing copyright.
posted by holloway at 3:05 PM on August 6, 2008 [1 favorite]

Er... just to make it clear by saying "doing what Rifftrax does" I mean have a donation box on your website for people who get your PDFs illegally and link to that in all your PDFs.
posted by holloway at 4:11 PM on August 6, 2008 [1 favorite]

All DRM is fundamentally flawed. One has no assurance that some set of instructions you hand someone (usually called "software") will actually be followed as you want. The DRM software can think it's all-powerful master of its domain, when it's really a cartesian brain-in-a-jar being fed senses that lie to it. Or resident in The Matrix, if you prefer. Or, (e.g.) reimplementation of Windows' API, with stuff I control underneath. Or a more mundane virtual machine. You can never know if you're on ring-zero.
posted by cmiller at 12:23 PM on August 7, 2008