Copyright owners are trending towards removing Digital Rights Management (DRM) from their works

Three years ago Apple dropped DRM from iTunes music downloads.

JK Rowling now offers Harry Potter books from Pottermore without DRM.

Now the WSJ reports Tor UK, a Pan Macmillan imprint, will cease using DRM in July. Why the change?  Publishers feel strongly this is what authors and readers alike want, as readers want the freedom to legitimately move digital product from one medium to another.  The 600# gorilla?  Amazon.com.  The more locked into one e-Reader purchasers are, and Amazon’s Kindle is overwhelmingly the market leader, the stronger is Amazon’s negotiating position with publishers.