Microsoft Shuts Down DRM Servers: Purchased eBooks from Microsoft Store No Longer Accessible
Purchasing and using eBooks comes with a number of advantages over traditional books. From their lighter weight to adjustable font styles, and generally lower prices. However, where there is light, there is also shadow. eBooks do have a few drawbacks as well. One of the biggest disadvantages is the fact that you usually acquire only a license to use and not ownership.
This usage license is often tied to hard or soft digital rights management (DRM) to prevent uncontrolled copying and distribution of eBooks. The desire of rights holders to prevent the illegal copying of a digital book is understandable and legitimate. However, using hard DRM, which requires authentication on an external server, is problematic not only for data protection reasons.
As the recent end of eBook sales in the Microsoft Store shows, the whole DRM dilemma can also become a headache over time.
Microsoft Pulls Out
The software giant already removed the eBook section from their own store in April 2019. The official reason given was a streamlining of their offerings. Speculation from various quarters suggested that the real reason was linked to the transition of the Edge browser, which will be based on Chromium in the future. Until now, the browser was also optimized for eBook use.
From a customer perspective, the sales halt is more of a nuisance but not particularly problematic. What was already irritating back then was the announcement that eBooks already purchased would no longer be usable as of July 2019.
And so it happened. Microsoft shut down the DRM servers in July, making eBooks bought from the Microsoft Store unusable. At least the company promises to refund the purchase price to the original payment method or as a store credit.
This once again shows that the size of a company is no guarantee that you can actually use your purchased eBooks forever. Therefore, it’s not surprising that many buyers, without any criminal intent, choose to remove the DRM from their eBooks or look for soft DRM when buying.
