As I have worked with a number of coaches that create and market their eBook product or products, not one of them considered that when someone purchases their E-Book, that it may be potentially distributed without them knowing about it. That means someone is getting their E-book for F*REE! You’re losing money here!
If you are using a digital download platform, like 1ShoppingCart, where you also can have a purchaser process their payment for the E-Book, it will allow them to download it within 24 hours. After that, the download link will no longer be active. Even when the purchaser does download the product and save it to their hard drive, it’s no longer protected. It can still be distributed illegally. So even 1SC’s secure download feature is not full-proof.
After researching a large number of digital product protection platforms, I narrowed it down to two options that you can consider:
- BookGuardPro.com – http://www.bookguardpro.com/home.php
- SecureEBook.com – http://www.secure-ebook.com/ebook_security_marketing.jsp?gclid=CJ3Oz6XSjZQCFReenAod2TAxWw
Both of these platforms support 1ShoppingCart and the merchant accounts most everyone I know uses (and that’s Authorize.net). How it works is that when the product is purchased, the software captures the IP addresses of the computers that the product is downloaded on. So if someone decides they want to email your product to someone else which is considered theft, the product will not open on the other computer it is sent to. This eliminates those thieves trying to get access your product for F*REE.
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Now it depends on how many of these products get sold each month that will determine the cost. Book Guard Pro starts with a trial of $2.87 for 30 days and then a charge of $17 per month is charged to your account. With Secure Ebook, you get a 30-day trial, then you purchase the software for less than $15, but then you have to purchase a pack of activations, depending on the number of books you think you will sell. Both products look like they will serve you well, but when you look at it on a cost standpoint, Book Guard Pro may be the most viable option. I must caution you, though. Book Guard Pro does have on occasional download glitch, but could be avoided if the purchaser has been provided adequate download instructions.
So stop losing money on your products that you worked so hard to develop! Protect them online and make the sales you REALLY deserve.
About the Author: Aletha McManama is a Virtual Assistant to Coaches, Authors and Speakers and the owner of DC Virtual Office Solutions.
She specializes in areas of web design and maintenance, shopping cart development and integration, blog design and maintenance, eBook compilation and packaging, ezine and newsletter development, article submission and more.
Visit Aletha on the web: www.dcvirtualoffice.com
Thanks for the information. I have a few follow up questions. 1.
Can the ebook which has been purchased be read when not connected
to the internet? 2. Can the ebook which has been purchased be read
using a machine which was not used to purchase it (e.g., if the
machine is replaced)? 3. Can the ebook which has been purchased be
read when the machine is connected to a different location? 3. Can
the ebook which has been purchased be read when the user replaces
his/her machine? 4. Do you have an example of a proper legal
disclosure statement that would properly disclose these
limitations? 5. It appears that some of these restrictions may be
considered restrictions on first sale rights (e.g., the right to
give away your copy to someone else, see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-sale_doctrine). Are you aware of
any court cases over this particular issue? Thank you so much for
your work for new coaches. I appreciate it. James S. Huggins
http://www.JamesSHuggins.com http://www.MyEphemerae.com
http://www.EclecticPower.com …