Fascinating how much effort Amazon puts into screwing their customers. And impressive how people manage to circumvent that anyway.
But I still think the better option is to never give any money to Amazon.
How I bypassed Amazon's Kindle web DRM
241–250 of 538 posts
Re: How I bypassed Amazon's Kindle web DRM
#242Can't Amazon be sued for false advertising by having "buy" on the button when it is actually "rent"? #justasking genuine question on interpretation of the term in USA.
And while you’re at it, do you expect to sue Steam, and the App Stores, and most other digital marketplaces owned by billionaire corporations? You’re not going to win those lawsuits with such a flimsy argument. They could just as well argue that you are not buying the book, but a license to access it under certain conditions. A movie theatre is a comparable example: You say you bought a ticket, not that you rented ac…
A movie theatre is a bad comparison. Nowhere does it say “Buy the movie” and it’s clear to the purchaser that they’re purchasing a one time viewing. That’s not the case with an Amazon eBook where the marketing and reasonable expectation of the average consumer is they’re buying the eBook itself.
Not that I necessarily agree with the other comment either.
Re: How I bypassed Amazon's Kindle web DRM
#243Last time (couple of months ago) I could still claw the book back from my physical kindle device and then deDRM it but the whole process changes from year to year and it's always a great frustration for me (it's backup time! oh no). Looked around what alternatives are there, but I don't want to trade one DRM process for another (even if it's easier to do on a Kobo branded device).
Here in Eastern Europe the local ebooks have no DRM (just a "please don't steal this" message or something similar), but my cynical side says we have like 10 contemporary writers and maybe 20 readers, it's not a big business to begin with. Physical books are heavy, hard to store/pack/move and are quite expensive to ship here - I guess I can't have a cake and eat it as well (for cheap, low effort baking at least).
Re: How I bypassed Amazon's Kindle web DRM
#244I’ve been using https://readest.com and very much enjoying it. I just wish there were a “lifetime purchase” option.
What are you paying for? I see no mention of paid features anywhere (play store, GitHub readme, website, in-app settings). If the app isn't entirely free, this send pretty misleading...
Re: How I bypassed Amazon's Kindle web DRM
#245Fun fact: this is one of the few situations in the US where a prosecutor could claim that this is criminal speech (though I hope and trust they would not, and if it did it would get thrown out by any court respecting the First Amendment). Not a civil issue, like libel or fraud, but the sort of talk that can get a policeman to come and drag you off to jail. If you've ever wondered why DRM is so roundly hated by engine…
OTOH this is not DRM nor copy protection. It is just obfuscation.
And that can be your legal argument while you await sentencing!
Re: How I bypassed Amazon's Kindle web DRM
#246Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is this the code? https://github.com/gudvardur/amazon_book_downloader
Yes. FWIW, as of a few minutes ago when I cloned this one, all the non-git files have the same hashes as the copy of the original I cloned when it was still up. (to clarify, I wasn't talking about any git-specific hashes, just regular sha2/blake2b hashes of python, json, and font files. However, the two sha1 commit hashes in the git history match as well.)
This is a weird thing with how GitHub forks work. All the objects within a fork network are stored within a global namespace, so you can change the repository name in the URL and find objects that appear to belong to one repository despite being unique to a fork.
Re: How I bypassed Amazon's Kindle web DRM
#247Earlier quoted context omitted.
Might as well send the author the money directly, instead of spending it all on publishers and middlemen that you’re specifically trying to avoid. When you do, include a note on how their chosen method of sale is most hostile to legitimate consumers and recommend some DRM-free book stores.
Here is a breakdown of how much money the author gets (from Fabien Sanglard): https://fabiensanglard.net/gebbdoom/ When I upload the PDF on Amazon, a minimal price is automatically calculated. In the case of the DOOM, Amazon sets the minimal price at $51.35. There is a slider which authors can use in order to add their "share" on top of Amazon price. I have added $3.88 which Amazon also takes a cut on. The result is…
The hell...
Re: How I bypassed Amazon's Kindle web DRM
#248Earlier quoted context omitted.
That law should be changed. If you distribute your intellectual property with DRM, that work should forever be exempt from copyright protection. You get to choose one or the other, but never both, because DRM effectively removes the work from the public domain in perpetuity. Even accidentally releasing a demo or preview with DRM should invalidate copyright on that software/movie/book/whatever.
> because DRM effectively removes the work from the public domain in perpetuity. This doesn't make for a good anti-DRM argument because the concern can simply be addressed by requiring a DRM-free copy to be deposited at the library of congress (or similar[1]) so it can be released in 150 years (or whatever) it actually becomes public domain. Moreover how would you even define what "DRM" is? Is spotify refusing to pro…
> Moreover how would you even define what "DRM" is? Is spotify refusing to provide a .mp3 file download for their streaming service a "DRM"?
This is a nonsensical complaint, because the actually existing DMCA already conditions legal consequences on whether DRM is present.
Re: How I bypassed Amazon's Kindle web DRM
#249Earlier quoted context omitted.
You could support your local bookstore. Bookstores are closing down all over the world. Most authors do not support a way to pay them directly. For example, traditionally published authors have all of their royalties handled via their agents. For a non-trivial amount of sales, direct donation would be an accounting headache for individual writers.
> Most authors do not support a way to pay them directly. I think this is the problem that should be addressed. Musicians went through a similar process in reverse order: first Napster ("piracy") then streaming services (analogous to Kindle/Amazon, where a huge 3rd party inserts themselves between content creator & consumer). Eventually some musicians twigged that they were getting screwed every way, so they set up w…
As with music, the final product you consume involves a lot more work/expertise/people than just “writing it“. You can see the quality differences when you compare self-published print on demand to quality publishing.
Re: How I bypassed Amazon's Kindle web DRM
#250Earlier quoted context omitted.
Might as well send the author the money directly, instead of spending it all on publishers and middlemen that you’re specifically trying to avoid. When you do, include a note on how their chosen method of sale is most hostile to legitimate consumers and recommend some DRM-free book stores.
Here is a breakdown of how much money the author gets (from Fabien Sanglard): https://fabiensanglard.net/gebbdoom/ When I upload the PDF on Amazon, a minimal price is automatically calculated. In the case of the DOOM, Amazon sets the minimal price at $51.35. There is a slider which authors can use in order to add their "share" on top of Amazon price. I have added $3.88 which Amazon also takes a cut on. The result is…
Isn't he talking about the print copy?