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Outlawed by Amazon DRM

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Re: Outlawed by Amazon DRM

#391

Post by hpguy »

jwr wrote: post #5

I treat all E-books purchased with DRM as rentals. When making a decision whether to buy or not, I look at the price and consider whether I'm willing to pay this much to rent the book for an indeterminate amount of time, possibly as little as 3 months. Quite often it turns out that the price is too high. But I never delude myself that I actually "own" any of the DRM-restricted content that I paid for.

Uhm, what? The button name is "Buy now with 1-click", not "Rent now with 1-click". If I buy something, I own it. Period.

Re: Outlawed by Amazon DRM

#392

Post by frobozz »

DanBC wrote: post #349
cloverich wrote: post #318

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's true that kindle books don't work like regular books, but being ignorant of that fact isn't an excuse. I very much doubt there's a plain english clause that goes a little something like: "If we think you have violated (our?) DRM policies, we will delete every book you've ever purchased, and close your current and future accounts. If you think this is done in error, you may not ask us why we closed the account.…

Here's what the License Agreement says: ( http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId... ) > Termination. Your rights under this Agreement will automatically terminate if you fail to comply with any term of this Agreement. In case of such termination, you must cease all use of the Software, and Amazon may immediately revoke your access to the Service or to Digital Content without refund of any fees.…

Individuals have the right to see any personal data that an organisation holds about them. If automated processing of such data leads to a legal or significant effect (e.g. you've violated our contract, so we're deleting everything you've bought from us, and you can't use our services ever again.), they also have the right to know what the logic was behind that processing.

Amazon may have the right to terminate accounts and ban users, but when challenged by the user, they do not have the right to respond with "because I said so, so there!"

Re: Outlawed by Amazon DRM

#393

Post by protomyth »

tjoff wrote: post #370
cletus wrote: post #335

The fact that Amazon can do this is obviously scary, particularly for those with extensive Kindle libraries. Personally I love the idea of ebooks but the publishers are doing their best to kill this market (eg Surface Detail in paperback is $6, as an ebook its $10 WTF?). Now I can't speak to the truth of these claims. I have no inside knowledge but I will say this: be skeptical of such stories. I have seen other stor…

Is there any conceivable scenario where this is in any way excusable? Deny continued service? Sure (though hardly in the way that is portrayed in the post, you must be able to know why and contest it). Remotely brick hardware and deletion of user data? Never, ever, ever. No - don't even think about thinking about it. NO.

The only thing I can think of would be something wrong with the credit card (fake, chargeback each book), but that would be a new account thing.

For a legitimate purchase, I can think of nothing.

Re: Outlawed by Amazon DRM

#394

Post by Lukeas14 »

run4yourlives wrote: post #300
Lukeas14 wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your reasons are very subjective and calling someone an idiot is always offensive whether you apologize in advance or not. Anyways, I like e-books because, for me, the mobility advantage is huge and I'm less concerned about lending them to friends. The only reason I buy them from Amazon, as opposed to torrenting, is to support the author. I wish I could do that without Amazon but they do provide a useful service allo…

First, you don't buy e-books, you rent them. The book doesn't really belong to you at all, as this article points out. Second, you not only pay more to support your behaviour, you break the law for it as well. (Note: I'm not a supporter of this law, but it is nonetheless true.) I'm sorry but I cannot see how the average person sees this as a net positive. You are by definition acting in an idiotic manner. Idiot: - a…

Once again, just because the benefits don't outweigh the costs for you does not mean it can't be a net positive for other people. eBooks have resulted in me reading twice the number of books I would've read otherwise and I've never bought an ebook that costs more than the physical copy. Explain to me how that is counterproductive or self-defeating.

Laws are simply the consequences you face if you get caught performing behavior deemed illegal. The chances of someone being punished for removing the DRM from an eBook are essentially nil (provided you're not sharing it).

Re: Outlawed by Amazon DRM

#395

Post by mayneack »

pnathan wrote: post #344
cletus wrote: post #335

The fact that Amazon can do this is obviously scary, particularly for those with extensive Kindle libraries. Personally I love the idea of ebooks but the publishers are doing their best to kill this market (eg Surface Detail in paperback is $6, as an ebook its $10 WTF?). Now I can't speak to the truth of these claims. I have no inside knowledge but I will say this: be skeptical of such stories. I have seen other stor…

Well, I figure when I get home, I'll rsync the kindle over to a local directory. :-)

Get rid of the DRM first. They'd be useless without an amazon account otherwise.

Re: Outlawed by Amazon DRM

#397

Post by guard-of-terra »

guard-of-terra wrote: post #359
VMG wrote: post #322

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't forget to share Hollywood blockbusters and AAA video games. The rebel alliance is counting on your support.

Hollywood blockbusters and AAA video games are disgusting as a concept; most are also lousy and boring as an implementation of that concept. So good news, I'm not pirating blockbusters, but bad news for you, I'm not paying for these either. No food for your thick sarcasm. What do I do? I support independent efforts while torrenting oldies and classics. You can say that latter is piracy, but I don't care and their aut…

I enjoy how my comments get a few upvotes and then slowly sink. It is somehow nice to "suffer" for truth.

Re: Outlawed by Amazon DRM

#398

Post by zobzu »

techsupporter wrote: post #56

Tangentially related, I am getting very, very tired of "customer service" departments using phrases like: "While we are unable to provide detailed information on how we link related accounts, please know that we have reviewed your account on the basis of the information provided and regret to inform you that it will not be reopened." This happens more frequently: Google says this all the time, based on posts here; Am…

Well, my credit card issuer (wells fargo) actually cant' tell me. They say its flagged, for a reason they don't know. (ofc, they do, they just wont tell).

Then they just unflag it after I answer 10 security questions and that's it.

Pisses me off every time.

Re: Outlawed by Amazon DRM

#399

Post by anigbrowl »

frobozz wrote: post #392
DanBC wrote: post #349

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's what the License Agreement says: ( http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId... ) > Termination. Your rights under this Agreement will automatically terminate if you fail to comply with any term of this Agreement. In case of such termination, you must cease all use of the Software, and Amazon may immediately revoke your access to the Service or to Digital Content without refund of any fees.…

Individuals have the right to see any personal data that an organisation holds about them. If automated processing of such data leads to a legal or significant effect (e.g. you've violated our contract, so we're deleting everything you've bought from us, and you can't use our services ever again.), they also have the right to know what the logic was behind that processing. Amazon may have the right to terminate accou…

Individuals have the right to see any personal data that an organisation holds about them.

Depends where the individual is. In the EU this is basically true. Norway, however, is not part of the EU. as for the US, consumers here do not have such rights. It seems you are talking about how you think things should be, rather than how they actually are.

Re: Outlawed by Amazon DRM

#400

Post by Turing_Machine »

ihsw wrote: post #387
Evbn wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which is a legal impossibility that sadly has not been fully tested yet.

Amazon et al. will be happy to spend quite a bit of money combating you, until you give up due to lack of funds.

That's the entire point of a class action.
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