Why Password Protect A PDF Document?

Among the few newsletters that I actually read is Dr. Andy Williams’ EzSEO Newsletter. In this week’s edition — which just came out (he should have it online in a couple of days) — he talks about an ebook that he recently purchased.

The ebook, which he downloaded from the seller’s website, is in PDF format and is password protected. He claims that the password is simply not necessary and further states that anybody passing along the ebook would also pass along the password.

He has a valid point. In this case, I think all that the only purpose the password serves is to inconvenience the legitimate customer. In my case, whenever I get a password protected ebook, I edit the name of it to include the password so that I can always remember it (it’s a part of my system). What about the person who does not have a system?

I can see where you might want to password protect an ebook on physical media. Let’s say that you have a CD that you’re selling for shipping costs (a common way to generate leads in a market). You could include other documents on that CD and password protect them, then send the password to the user once they upgrade. BOOM — instant gratification and your materials are still (at least somewhat) protected.

You might also want to use it on self-generated stuff that’s highly sensitive that you don’t plan on sharing or will only share with a few others. It’s not 100% bulletproof (there are programs that will crack those passwords), but it’s still MUCH better than no protection.

How about it, blog readers? Any comments about password protected documents? Note that I’m not talking about stuff where only you know the password; I’m talking about a “one size fits all” type of password on an ebook. I may be overlooking something, but I agree with Dr. Andy on this one; a password protected ebook that’s downloaded from a web site doesn’t really offer any protection and only serves to annoy and inconvenience the legitimate customer.

–Tom