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List of DRM-Free Bookshops

libreture.com

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Re: List of DRM-Free Bookshops

#51

Post by cafeinux »

southernplaces7 wrote: post #49
Kelvin506 wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also worth noting that such sites technically are piracy. I am not making any moral or ethical assertions about it, but people need to know that so they can make an informed decision before doing so. And no, it's not inherently obvious to everyone. Libgen, Anna's Archive, et al do however provide a valuable service in maintaining access to works out of distribution or blocked by censorship.

Oh gosh, I had no idea! I'm not an absolutist on piracy in either direction, but when X or Y megacorp and all its affiliates can claim to "sell" you goods and then whimsically restrict access to them in such a way that further, future whimsies let them take away your purchased products, i'd hardly blame anyone for pirating. Also, a company like Meta can pirate over 80 fucking TB of ebook content for indirectly commer…

Don't get so hung up and sarcastic.

They were stating a fact that some people may not know yet need to be informed of when using these services (for various and personal reasons, not all linked to feeling guilty). As they said, they're not making any moral or ethical assertions about it.

These websites are piracy, and I've used them in the past, still use them, and will probably keep using them. No fuss.

Re: List of DRM-Free Bookshops

#52

Post by reidrac »

southernplaces7 wrote: post #49
Kelvin506 wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also worth noting that such sites technically are piracy. I am not making any moral or ethical assertions about it, but people need to know that so they can make an informed decision before doing so. And no, it's not inherently obvious to everyone. Libgen, Anna's Archive, et al do however provide a valuable service in maintaining access to works out of distribution or blocked by censorship.

Oh gosh, I had no idea! I'm not an absolutist on piracy in either direction, but when X or Y megacorp and all its affiliates can claim to "sell" you goods and then whimsically restrict access to them in such a way that further, future whimsies let them take away your purchased products, i'd hardly blame anyone for pirating. Also, a company like Meta can pirate over 80 fucking TB of ebook content for indirectly commer…

Also consider checking your local public library services.

You can request physical books (inter-library loans) and they often offer ebooks as well, although the service is likely to be cumbersome and hard to use because DRM (but if is too complicated you can still borrow the ebook legally in your phone and read a copy from "piracy" sites anywhere you want, with the benefit that the author will get royalties).

It isn't perfect, as in you may not find what you want to read or when you want to read it, but if it works for me, it may work for you as well.

Re: List of DRM-Free Bookshops

#53

Post by internet_points »

plorg wrote: post #5

After the recent press for Bookshop.org I saw an author I like had a new book and thought I'd try out the service - I am okay with paying slightly more for a book if the money is going to someone other than Amazon. But I should have looked twice, because Bookshop ebooks are not DRM free unless the publisher explicitly opts for it, and DRM encumbered books can only be read on their website or in their app. I know that…

> Oh, and so far as I can tell they don't label which books are DRM free.

Anyone who cares enough to comment about this on hn would do well to comment on it to the people whose paychecks depend on what you think about them:

https://uk-support.bookshop.org/en/support/tickets/new

Re: List of DRM-Free Bookshops

#54

Post by hofrogs »

mdp2021 wrote: post #50
southernplaces7 wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh gosh, I had no idea! I'm not an absolutist on piracy in either direction, but when X or Y megacorp and all its affiliates can claim to "sell" you goods and then whimsically restrict access to them in such a way that further, future whimsies let them take away your purchased products, i'd hardly blame anyone for pirating. Also, a company like Meta can pirate over 80 fucking TB of ebook content for indirectly commer…

Some people are more concerned about a world so dumb or in such bad faith that can make and tolerate confusion between "questionable possession" and "theft". Which, paradoxically, calls for the need for more and more intellectual practice, which is a key purpose in the access to culture we have valued for millennia. (Similar confusion is in that mentioned idea of Meta having done something wrong in processing texts -…

Either Meta did nothing wrong and therefore individuals who pirate ebooks do nothing wrong as well and the concept of piracy should not exist/not be illegal;

Or piracy is actually theft (as it supposedly is when individuals do it) and Meta did millions of counts of it and therefore should pay trillions in damages, be dissolved, have Zuck go to jail, or all three.

Re: List of DRM-Free Bookshops

#55

Post by homebrewer »

agnishom wrote: post #44
idunnoman1222 wrote: post #7

Just email the author five dollars and then grab their book from AA

I like this idea. I do it when the author has a Patreon. How do you email random people five dollars?

Check if there's a PayPal account tied to that email. Often there is. PayPal is a shit company, but no worse than Patreon.

Re: List of DRM-Free Bookshops

#57

Post by dwedge »

macNchz wrote: post #29
_benj wrote: post #12

I hadn’t really paid attention to DMR because I was so cozy inside the kindle bubble. That notification that Amazon was going to take away the ability to download books was a very strong wake up call… When ok buys a book for kindle, it seems that one supposedly doesn’t own the book? One “owns” it at the “goodwill” of Amazon? I put my kindle on eBay today and I think going forward I’ll consider buying physical books a…

I've been saying for a while now that I'd love to see rules restricting the use of the term "Buy" such that it can only apply to digital products when they are DRM-free and fully downloadable. Anything where the seller retains the right to claw back their product post-sale is more of an indefinite lease or purchase of rights rather than "buying" the product itself. I think a relatively small proportion of people buyi…

Under content and devices Amazon list ebooks by "date acquired" not date bought. It seemed a very specific choice of language.

Re: List of DRM-Free Bookshops

#59

Post by yason »

southernplaces7 wrote: post #49
Kelvin506 wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also worth noting that such sites technically are piracy. I am not making any moral or ethical assertions about it, but people need to know that so they can make an informed decision before doing so. And no, it's not inherently obvious to everyone. Libgen, Anna's Archive, et al do however provide a valuable service in maintaining access to works out of distribution or blocked by censorship.

Oh gosh, I had no idea! I'm not an absolutist on piracy in either direction, but when X or Y megacorp and all its affiliates can claim to "sell" you goods and then whimsically restrict access to them in such a way that further, future whimsies let them take away your purchased products, i'd hardly blame anyone for pirating. Also, a company like Meta can pirate over 80 fucking TB of ebook content for indirectly commer…

We just need money that can be made to disappear from the seller and return to the buyer when the product that was "bought" is withdrawn and no longer exists...

Re: List of DRM-Free Bookshops

#60

Post by bluebarbet »

plorg wrote: post #41
bluebarbet wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The desktop web-app reader is interesting in that it's a DRM-free legal way to access otherwise DRM-encumbered e-books. Last I checked the EME DRM browser sandbox was still not required. Personally I'm fine with this compromise solution. I've read whole books in the Kindle desktop web interface. The usual line is that it's somehow bad on the eyes, but I figure that I already spend my days reading documents and articl…

There is no EME DRM, but they actually go through some means to prevent the user from downloading the ebooks. That includes anti-devtools mitigations and storing much of the ebook contents encrypted in the cloud.

Yes yes I understand. My point is that I personally find it easy to read text in a desktop web browser, and this is the unique way of consuming rights-encumbered content without needing to install black-box spyware.
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