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Amazon will allow ePub and PDF downloads for DRM-free eBooks

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Re: Amazon will allow ePub and PDF downloads for DRM-free eBooks

#141

Post by zelphirkalt »

wrxd wrote: post #39

This was unexpected. They lost me as a customer when they stopped allowing me to download books I bought and I'm in the Kobo (+ BookLore) side now and I am not coming back. I wonder how many books are actually DRM-free and are going to be affected by this change. I suspect relatively few, but I would be happy to be wrong

But Kobo is bad too. Try refunding a book. Their website sent me in neverending circles and still I could not find a way to refund. Their stuff requires some specific reader or so. I don't quite remember the details, but I bought a book, thinking to avoid Amazon shit. Then I realized that their stuff sucks and I don't want to buy their blessed device or install special reader software. Also not DRM-free. So I wanted to refund, but couldn't. It is a very bad user experience. The only good experience you get from them is, if you go all in on their software/devices.

Since I couldn't refund, I had to pirate the book as epub/pdf from elsewhere. I decided to never again buy anything from Kobo.

Re: Amazon will allow ePub and PDF downloads for DRM-free eBooks

#142

Post by wrxd »

1970-01-01 wrote: post #138

This is all very interesting news. From a sales standpoint, they're nearly admitting they cannot manage DRM properly and at Amazon scale. From a copyright standpoint, antipiracy will be extremely hard to enforce. The only middle ground is targeting honest buyers, and we all know how well that works. We should not expect this to be a permanent change. Perhaps it will be more of a very short, DRM-free golden age until…

This is not about making all books DRM-free. It's about allowing downloads for the ones that are already DRM-free, if the publishers opt-in

Re: Amazon will allow ePub and PDF downloads for DRM-free eBooks

#143

Post by ay »

ashton314 wrote: post #132
ay wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have bought more than 600 books over a decade or so; But after they decided the ebooks were actually just license to read, I did exactly the same as you, and now rather than happily buying from them, actively discourage everyone in my social circle from using kindle. I am not going back, whoever they decide to blame.

What do you do now? I’ve been buying physical books off of Abe Books—not a bad thing at all—but I’d like to use my jailbroken kindle again because the form factor is so convenient.

I try to buy physical books, and make an effort to buy it elsewhere, with AMZN being the reluctant last resort if I truly can’t find it. I don’t have a specific go to place anymore.

Also, I reduced the buying pace - owning physical books takes up space, so the bar for getting something into the library is now much higher than before.

Re: Amazon will allow ePub and PDF downloads for DRM-free eBooks

#144

Post by yupyupyups »

al_borland wrote: post #107
icqFDR wrote: post #44

I’d advise anyone buying e-books on Amazon to think it through carefully. My account was banned recently because, years ago, I ordered two paper books that Amazon said would be split into two shipments. Both books arrived without any issues, but later Amazon refunded me for one of them, claiming that one package never arrived. This happened 4–5 years ago. Apparently, during a recent review, they decided this counted…

Banning long-time customers in otherwise good-standing for a mistake they made years ago, which would already be settled financially and such a minor cost is wild. I can imagine something like this has happened to almost everyone. So much for being the world’s most customer-centric company. That mission is dead.

>the world’s most customer-centric company.

Those are big words Amazon certainly doesn't earn.

Re: Amazon will allow ePub and PDF downloads for DRM-free eBooks

#145

Post by RobotToaster »

andylynch wrote: post #77
kshacker wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder just like retailers are required to account for local sales taxes (I know it is not that clear cut), there should be some enforcement mechanism to settle disputes locally. Setup an agency which "legally" provides support for google, Amazon, and all those unreachable entities. Provides local jobs as well as quick grievance redressal. Maybe something like consumer protection agency but not federal, maybe at le…

I can't speak for how effective the process is, but this is the idea behind the EU/UK GPSR's Authorised Representative framework - though not exactly local (that would be excessive, since GPSR also applies to much smaller sellers too)

I hope it works better than the EU DSA dispute resolution, which I've heard multiple accounts of youtube just ignoring.

Re: Amazon will allow ePub and PDF downloads for DRM-free eBooks

#147

Post by m01 »

jwalton wrote: post #38
strawhatdev wrote: post #18

I wonder if this is in response to Bookshop.org's DRM free e-book shop. I buy a lot of e-books and have completely switched over because of that feature.

Bookshop.org has a DRM free section? Where do I find such a thing?

It's at least available as a search filter. On the book listing it seems to show "Type: Ebook (DRM-free)". Maybe there's a better way.

Re: Amazon will allow ePub and PDF downloads for DRM-free eBooks

#148

Post by exe34 »

ashton314 wrote: post #132
ay wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have bought more than 600 books over a decade or so; But after they decided the ebooks were actually just license to read, I did exactly the same as you, and now rather than happily buying from them, actively discourage everyone in my social circle from using kindle. I am not going back, whoever they decide to blame.

What do you do now? I’ve been buying physical books off of Abe Books—not a bad thing at all—but I’d like to use my jailbroken kindle again because the form factor is so convenient.

If you already bought them, just download them off anna's archive.

Re: Amazon will allow ePub and PDF downloads for DRM-free eBooks

#149

Post by m01 »

asplake wrote: post #47

As the author of five books (and my most recent one entirely self-published), I haven't yet worked out how I feel about this or how to respond. My current compromise is to charge more on the DRM-free LeanPub.

Another possible compromise might be to use watermarking-based DRM. Amazon doesn't seem to support it, but other e-bookstores do. In any case, thank you for offering the LeanPub option!

Re: Amazon will allow ePub and PDF downloads for DRM-free eBooks

#150

Post by asplake »

freedomben wrote: post #122
asplake wrote: post #47

As the author of five books (and my most recent one entirely self-published), I haven't yet worked out how I feel about this or how to respond. My current compromise is to charge more on the DRM-free LeanPub.

Genuine questions here, not rhetorical or trying to imply anything with them. Why charge more on a DRM free site? Do you think people buying from there are doing so that they can share the book illegally? If someone wants to share the book illegally, I would imagine they'll just download it from one of the pirate mirrors out there and not bother paying you at all. My guess is you're probably just reducing the number…

Where possible, I try not to focus on negative motives. Quite simply, if people see a benefit in DRM-free, why not expect them to pay for it? And there are other platforms beside the two I mentioned – it’s not a choice between DRM-free and (for better or for worse) Amazon.
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