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Blind people won the right to break eBook DRM, but they'll have to do it again

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11–20 of 72 posts

Re: Blind people won the right to break eBook DRM, but they'll have to do it again

#11
post #5

Where can I get these DRM free eBooks?

The Calibre ebook managemet app has plugins available that can strip both Amazon and Adobe DRM.

Also does a very good job of metadata management and format conversion. I don't know of a better solution. With Calibre you can buy wherever you like and maintain the format and metadata system you prefer.

Re: Blind people won the right to break eBook DRM, but they'll have to do it again

#12

This is terrible, and while IANAL I’m confused why it doesn’t fall under ADA requirements to provide accessible versions of materials - especially school materials. Also, can people really claim with a straight face that running a book through text-to-speech is the same as a real audiobook (that’s often a voice actor, right?)?

for books popular enough to get that treatment sure, I used to do volunteer reading to make audiobooks but had to quit when someone handed me the most pseudoscientific rubbish to read - it really felt like taking advantage - some book selling a lifestyle advice thing that would lead to immortality!!

Re: Blind people won the right to break eBook DRM, but they'll have to do it again

#13
> Although the exemption protects people who circumvent digital copyright protections for the sake of accessibility — by using third-party programs to lift text and save it in a different file format, for example — that it's even necessary strikes many as a fundamental injustice.

This is not only an injustice, but also a stupidity. What I do with something I paid for should concern only me as long as it's within my personal bounds (no redistribution, no profit, no business, etc.) Breaking DRM for personal use should not and cannot be illegal.

Re: Blind people won the right to break eBook DRM, but they'll have to do it again

#14
post #5

Where can I get these DRM free eBooks?

The Calibre ebook managemet app has plugins available that can strip both Amazon and Adobe DRM.

Or it used to. Last time I tried it wasn't able to do Amazon anymore.

Re: Blind people won the right to break eBook DRM, but they'll have to do it again

#15
post #14
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Calibre ebook managemet app has plugins available that can strip both Amazon and Adobe DRM.

Or it used to. Last time I tried it wasn't able to do Amazon anymore.

It still works for Amazon but it doesn't really work for books in their newer KFX format. It's best to use an older version of Kindle for PC or use their download and transfer to USB if you have a physical eInk Kindle to get an AZW3 file which should unlock no problem.

Re: Blind people won the right to break eBook DRM, but they'll have to do it again

#16

This is terrible, and while IANAL I’m confused why it doesn’t fall under ADA requirements to provide accessible versions of materials - especially school materials. Also, can people really claim with a straight face that running a book through text-to-speech is the same as a real audiobook (that’s often a voice actor, right?)?

> Also, can people really claim with a straight face that running a book through text-to-speech is the same as a real audiobook (that’s often a voice actor, right?)?

TTS is quickly improving. While it's not quite there yet, there are already ways to have any text read with anyones voice.

There also comes a point where even if it isn't perfect, it doesn't matter to the consumer who just wants the book read to them. Meanwhile, the publishers want the revenue from selling both versions of the book.

Re: Blind people won the right to break eBook DRM, but they'll have to do it again

#17
Fuck having to ask for the "right". If they bought their digital books, they should absolutely be free to do whatever they like with them for personal usability. I can understand the legal rights position here, revolving around bringing attention to the issue of these idiotic rules, but if I buy ebooks, i'll just go ahead and strip their DRM without giving a damn who says no. The absurdity of DRM laws is really made visible again.

Re: Blind people won the right to break eBook DRM, but they'll have to do it again

#18
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the pirate bay & friends.

libgen for books. The pirate bay theoretically covers everything, but good luck finding books there.

Libgen is great for older literature and non-fiction books of all kinds, but for modern fiction it sucks.

Re: Blind people won the right to break eBook DRM, but they'll have to do it again

#19

Fuck having to ask for the "right". If they bought their digital books, they should absolutely be free to do whatever they like with them for personal usability. I can understand the legal rights position here, revolving around bringing attention to the issue of these idiotic rules, but if I buy ebooks, i'll just go ahead and strip their DRM without giving a damn who says no. The absurdity of DRM laws is really made…

Indeed. What an indignity. People "buy" books only to be forced to beg authorities for access to the items they paid for. It should be the other way around. It should be illegal to prevent this access.

Re: Blind people won the right to break eBook DRM, but they'll have to do it again

#20
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or it used to. Last time I tried it wasn't able to do Amazon anymore.

It still works for Amazon but it doesn't really work for books in their newer KFX format. It's best to use an older version of Kindle for PC or use their download and transfer to USB if you have a physical eInk Kindle to get an AZW3 file which should unlock no problem.

Installers for older versions are becoming increasingly elusive, I've found. Anything newer than Kindle for PC v1.26 and DeDRM can't break the encryption. Installers for v1.17 or v1.19 can still be found, but on Linux those versions can't connect to Amazon because one of the SSL certs used by the app has expired.

That leaves v1.21 as the "sweet spot", but most of the sites that used to host that installer EXE have mysteriously disappeared.

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