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

#41

Post by Finnucane »

Some years ago, I wrote the code specification for our ebook conversions. I made a priority of specifying good semantic structure, employ ARIA tags where needed, etc. I work for a university and there was yet no mandate for it, but it seemed only a matter of time. In the long run being a little ahead of the curve aid paid off, but now I need to go through and revise things to account for changing standards, and my own improved (I hope) understanding of what's needed.

I'm also reminded of an incident years ago when I was working in a New York, and an agent (for a popular, well-paid writer) called our contract department from my desk phone to insist they remove the clause allowing the LOC to make audiobooks for the blind. As agent crimes go, it might not be the worst, but it always struck me for how egregiously petty it was.

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

#42

Post by criddell »

salamandersauce wrote: post #15
causi wrote: 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.

That workaround gets you the text but it's missing a lot of the recent typographic improvements. It's fine for extracting text for TTS, but isn't ideal if what you are trying to do is maintain a DRM free archive of books you've purchased.

It's like saying you can break BluRay DRM by recording the screen with your phone camera.

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

#43

Post by [deleted] »

helloworld11 wrote: post #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…

[deleted]

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

#44

Post by slightwinder »

laserlight wrote: post #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 p…

Nobody really cares what people do locally on their own. But companies do care when people share this local work with others. And any tool for accessibility can be used for this in one way or another.

This is simply a problem of two opposing forced where both have legitimated reasons for their demand. And so far the weak side is losing. It would be better to find some compromise. Having tools and readers with official support for blind people should be the obvious solution. Why do they even need to fight against the publishers, instead of working with them together?

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

#45

Post by sbst32 »

criddell wrote: post #42
salamandersauce wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

That workaround gets you the text but it's missing a lot of the recent typographic improvements. It's fine for extracting text for TTS, but isn't ideal if what you are trying to do is maintain a DRM free archive of books you've purchased. It's like saying you can break BluRay DRM by recording the screen with your phone camera.

What kind of typographic improvements do you have in mind?

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

#46

Post by cabalamat »

laserlight wrote: post #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 p…

> Breaking DRM for personal use should not and cannot be illegal

Agreed, including fro other people's personal use.

Companies should be allowed to protect data by copyright or DRM, but not both, i.e. encasing something in DRM would remove its copyright.

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

#47

Post by Jiro »

AdmiralAsshat wrote: post #20
salamandersauce wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 my…

You can get the missing certificate from the links in https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=342186&uid... .

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

#48

Post by vageli »

patrec wrote: post #23
helloworld11 wrote: post #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…

> but if I buy ebooks, i'll just go ahead and strip their DRM without giving a damn who says no Yeah, dream on. How long do you think this option will stay available to you? I sometimes get the impression that intelligent technical people on HN can't see ahead 5 minutes into the future, because being a peon without rights is something that conflicts with their self image as some technical sophisticate not subject to…

As long as the content is presented to a human for consumption, I think it will be possible to duplicate it, even if it is just recording the screen with a camera or something.

Even "unpublished" works can be recreated by those with talent, like Mozart and Allegri’s Miserere.

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

#49

Post by criddell »

sbst32 wrote: post #45
criddell wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That workaround gets you the text but it's missing a lot of the recent typographic improvements. It's fine for extracting text for TTS, but isn't ideal if what you are trying to do is maintain a DRM free archive of books you've purchased. It's like saying you can break BluRay DRM by recording the screen with your phone camera.

What kind of typographic improvements do you have in mind?

Stuff like drop caps, kerning that isn't terrible, hyphenation, and better word spacing. None of it matters if you are feeding the text to a speech synthesizer, but it can make a difference when reading.

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

#50

Post by ptudan »

cabalamat wrote: post #46
laserlight wrote: post #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 p…

> Breaking DRM for personal use should not and cannot be illegal Agreed, including fro other people's personal use. Companies should be allowed to protect data by copyright or DRM, but not both, i.e. encasing something in DRM would remove its copyright.

I don't really track this argument. DRM generally exists to make it easier to protect copyright, no? They go hand in hand.
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