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ZLibrary domains have been seized by the United States Postal Inspection Service

3lib.net

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Re: ZLibrary domains have been seized by the United States Postal Inspection Service

#251
post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who works in the ebook sector, I'll say that no one loves Adobe's DRM, whether it be the publisher, vendor or user. It's implemented by apps and such because of the network effect - other apps support it, and users want to be able to read Adobe DRMed content without trouble, and it was also the first big solution to the "problem" of ebook DRM. However, because people have to pay a fee to Adobe per license,…

Hadn't heard of LCP before. Based on some skimming of the website… how does it improve on Adobe's DRM other than cost? It's still limited to applications that explicitly support it. Maybe there will be a wider ecosystem than Adobe's. But my current preferred reader apps all either have built-in storefronts (Kindle, Apple Books) or are open source (Calibre and Google Chrome, so I can use a Japanese dictionary extensio…

It improves on it because the barrier to entry is much lower for apps to integrate it, and the ecosystem for LCP is arguably already much larger than for Adobe Adept. There are multiple mobile apps, the thorium reader on desktop, and more.

As for LCP being around in 10-20 yrs, the idea with LCP (excluding loans, of course) is that you don't need to be online or require a remote server to validate/access ebooks you've downloaded. You just have your "password", that is used to decrypt the book content through LCP, so as long as you still have any app that supports LCP, you still have access to the publication. I think it's the best compromise that will exist in reality for publishers that still want DRM. The entire system is open-source except a small key derivation function.

Re: ZLibrary domains have been seized by the United States Postal Inspection Service

#252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It'll depend on where you live and what your goals are. If you have free-time to tinker and enjoy that kind of thing, you can build something very fast and reliable and prevent e-waste by building your own storage server with used parts on the cheap. If you're in the United States, electricity is cheap enough that you can pick up much older SAS drives for really low $/TB cost and have it be worthwhile. For example, I…

I'm one of the two ZFSBootMenu authors - it's great seeing people using it in the wild. I'm not sure if this is something you're doing already, but don't forget that if you zfs send a snapshot to your storage pool, you can boot from that snapshot in a pinch. We also (this past week) added a modifier to zbm.prefer - !!. If you specify zbm.prefer=zroot!! on the KCL, it'll only import the zroot pool. This might help you…

Oh, interesting, cool! I appreciate the advice -- I am definitely not making use of all of the features.

And thanks for the software! I've been using it on all of my non-Apple devices for a while now. And my mom has been using it on their computer for a fair bit as well. It's been a total lifesaver on a couple of occasions and streamlined a lot.

Re: ZLibrary domains have been seized by the United States Postal Inspection Service

#253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It'll depend on where you live and what your goals are. If you have free-time to tinker and enjoy that kind of thing, you can build something very fast and reliable and prevent e-waste by building your own storage server with used parts on the cheap. If you're in the United States, electricity is cheap enough that you can pick up much older SAS drives for really low $/TB cost and have it be worthwhile. For example, I…

I really like your writeup and I like how you shared some lessons learned and other stuff that didn't quite work out. Buying hardware can be a real adventure and it's a skill that for some of us is underdeveloped. I'd encourage you to write more of this technical content!

Thank you, really! Maybe I am just in a weird mood, but that made my day, as strange as it might sound.

I don't think people, in general, are anywhere near as vocal and explicit about the things they appreciate compared to the things they actively hate or that frustrate them. And I think this applies even more so in careers and hobbies like tech where people don't seem to think of the things you make as consumable or creative in the same way they do with others (e.g., movies, videos, music, and other art); my personal experience has been that if someone is reaching out, it's—more often than not—to let you know about an issue or complaint.

So, thanks, it felt nice! And thanks for the reminder; I should let others know the same more often too.

Re: ZLibrary domains have been seized by the United States Postal Inspection Service

#254

Purchased ebooks are like ebooks except you can only read them in Adobe's shitty app, you can't share them with your kids, and you are guaranteed to lose access to them in 10 years or tomorrow. I want to purchase ebooks, but I want to own what I purchase!

As someone who works in the ebook sector, I'll say that no one loves Adobe's DRM, whether it be the publisher, vendor or user. It's implemented by apps and such because of the network effect - other apps support it, and users want to be able to read Adobe DRMed content without trouble, and it was also the first big solution to the "problem" of ebook DRM. However, because people have to pay a fee to Adobe per license,…

GP lists some concrete deal breakers with existing DRM:

- you can only read them in [publisher-approved apps]

- you can't share them with your kids

- you are guaranteed to lose access to them in 10 years or tomorrow

Does LCP solve any of these problems?

Re: ZLibrary domains have been seized by the United States Postal Inspection Service

#255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

DRM-free eBooks do exist, don't lump them all together!

Yes they do but it's extremely hard to find drm free books.

We keep trying to push publishers to allow us to sell their ebooks DRM-free, it really is a win-win. Less customer support for us, more sales for them, no vendor lock-in for the customer. We offer completely DRM-free or watermarked content: https://www.ebooks.com/drm-free/. I wish every publisher would embrace it.

Re: ZLibrary domains have been seized by the United States Postal Inspection Service

#258

At least there is still tor. loginzlib2vrak5zzpcocc3ouizykn6k5qecgj2tzlnab5wcbqhembyd .onion Update: The z-library wikipedia article ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z-Library ) lists the following zlib onion domain which doesn't require a login: zlibrary24tuxziyiyfr7zd46ytefdqbqd2axkmxm4o5374ptpc52fad.onion

i can sign up fine in tor but the actual downloads directed me to zlibcdn.com/dtoken/ which is also down and the tor book preview doesn't work either.

Re: ZLibrary domains have been seized by the United States Postal Inspection Service

#259
post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personally, I use libgen to check if I actually want a given book, and if I do, I buy it (a physical copy, if possible). So, for me, it's a kind of a virtual bookshop.

That's great of you to buy the book as well, major kudos. I would bet most are not as altruistic as you. Do not traditional libraries and their ebook lending systems, however inconvenient, provide the same service? All one needs to do is be patient until the book you are interested in becomes available. In the meantime, maybe you can check out a different book that is available that you might not have discovered othe…

What is the difference between me waiting for a single book at my library to be passed between 5 people, and me just reading it online?

Re: ZLibrary domains have been seized by the United States Postal Inspection Service

#260
post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because digital copyright is artificial scarcity.

What is wrong with that, especially as it facilitates the creator's being able to earn income from their irreplaceable work?

One could argue that the whole purpose of society is to get rid of scarcity.

Creators being unable to earn income is a problem - but artificial scarcity is not a good solution, as it benefits the few at the expense of many. Imagine if everyone was prohibited from sharing news over internet because "free distribution of news harms the journalists who rely on newspaper sales" - that'd be absurd, wouldn't it?

Old-school copyright relied on the natural scarcity of paper and other distribution resources - digital age has lowered the distribution cost to zero, so the old model does not work anymore. Another model of rewarding authors is needed, one that does not rely on restriction of distribution.

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