Microsoft's eBook Apocalypse Shows the Dark Side of DRM • Hacker News Board

Re: Microsoft's eBook Apocalypse Shows the Dark Side of DRM

#141

Post by pbhjpbhj » Mon, Jul 01, 2019, 2:58 PM UTC

lsc wrote: post #133

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Encouraging creation is part of the deal, preserving culture, and enabling wider education were also parts of the deal -- Queen Anne (or her advisers) seem to have really valued the availability of literature for the people (or at least the priveleged people with access to the BL and Uni libraries).

eh, but copyright as it stands now, decreases the availability of literature (I mean, aside from how it encourages creating it, which is super important, of course.) so those things couldn't have been reasons for creating copyright law as it stands in the US. (an interesting side effect, as a person willing to spend money on books? It's a lot easier to get a good e-book of something still under copyright than of some…

>those things couldn't have been reasons for creating copyright law as it stands in the US //

I don't think your analysis stands, there was a deposit system in USA too so that all copyright books were deposited at the Library of Congress. In order to get your copyright you had to place on deposit two copies that people could, with access to the library, view and which would be preserved even if your work only had a short run and other copies were lost.

https://www.loc.gov/wiseguide/jan04/deposit.html

Everything else I thinkg I can agree with. Particularly the problems with Amazon's review and ratings system -- I guess it must work to bring more money to Amazon, but it's really annoying.

Re: Microsoft's eBook Apocalypse Shows the Dark Side of DRM

#142

Post by zaroth » Mon, Jul 01, 2019, 8:29 PM UTC

darkpuma wrote: post #122

zaroth wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The actual answer appears to be that you can sell add-on digital content which is licensed only for sale with the physical item, and that’s OK. But you cannot add license terms to the physical book itself, the book can be resold freely. That’s recently been affirmed by the Supreme Court.

Hypothetically if they had the technology to create a paperback book that self-destructs when anybody but you opens it, would that business model be illegal? As far as I know, SCOTUS said companies can't use the legal system to prevent resale of their books. But did they say that technical solutions are also banned?

If you buy a product which is designed for a single use, knowing that it’s a single use product, and obviously this is something that would have to fail gracefully and safely, I really don’t see a problem with that.

Obviously companies (and therefore customers) should be paying for the ecological impact of their waste product.

Re: Microsoft's eBook Apocalypse Shows the Dark Side of DRM

#143

Post by dang » Mon, Jul 01, 2019, 9:44 PM UTC

rbmktechik wrote: post #10

nathantotten wrote: post #2

> Microsoft will refund customers in full for what they paid, plus an extra $25 if they made annotations or mark-ups. Doesn’t seem all that nefarious. Get your money back, order the paperbacks. No DRM issues again.

How dare you take away my right to be outraged at tech giants....

Please don't post unsubstantive comments to HN.

Re: Microsoft's eBook Apocalypse Shows the Dark Side of DRM

#144

Post by lsc » Tue, Jul 02, 2019, 5:48 AM UTC

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #141

lsc wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

eh, but copyright as it stands now, decreases the availability of literature (I mean, aside from how it encourages creating it, which is super important, of course.) so those things couldn't have been reasons for creating copyright law as it stands in the US. (an interesting side effect, as a person willing to spend money on books? It's a lot easier to get a good e-book of something still under copyright than of some…

>those things couldn't have been reasons for creating copyright law as it stands in the US // I don't think your analysis stands, there was a deposit system in USA too so that all copyright books were deposited at the Library of Congress. In order to get your copyright you had to place on deposit two copies that people could, with access to the library, view and which would be preserved even if your work only had a s…

Ah, perhaps I misunderstood. I thought you meant availability to the general public; I mean, two archival copies of a work doesn't do a lot to ensure I can read it; as I understand, if you can't find the rightsholder, that still doesn't let you print copies until copyright is up.

>Everything else I thinkg I can agree with. Particularly the problems with Amazon's review and ratings system -- I guess it must work to bring more money to Amazon, but it's really annoying.

I personally think it's amazon's biggest problem; some of their products are distinctly premium; The kindle experience is way more expensive than just buying used books... and for in copyright books, it's a premium I'm happy to pay. I spend a lot more on books now that I have a kindle (I read a little more... but I also pay more per book)

The same goes for goods. Like, I'm happy to pay extra for something that arrives fast and that is what it says on the tin. I mostly (but not always) get that from major brand goods that sell a lot, but for unbranded stuff? I might as well go to aliexpress or something; the reviews don't match the product quite often.

I personally think that this is amazon's biggest problem; at least it's amazon's biggest problem when it comes to getting more of the money I spend. I don't know how representative I am.