Thread: The Kobo DRM-free epub fiasco
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Old 02-04-2015, 07:13 PM   #29
davidfor
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Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Sydney, Australia
Device: Kobo:Touch,Glo, AuraH2O, GloHD,AuraONE, ClaraHD, Libra H2O; tolinoepos
Quote:
Originally Posted by DiapDealer View Post
No, I didn't ask them what was going on. Because it's pretty clear what's going on. It's not a mistake, it's a tactic. All they would offer is a refund if I complained. Then I could take that refund to B&N and be in the same boat--there's NO download button there. Working or otherwise. I want the book not the money.
Sorry, but that's bullshit. If there is a button to download the file and it doesn't work, there is a bug. They deserve the opportunity to fix the problem. And the only way they can know, without testing every single link from every single browser and operating system and language and lots of other things that are different, is if the person who discovers the problem tells them.
Quote:
No idea. I grew tired of obok being the red-headed stepchild of drm removal tools and stopped bothering trying to track down updates for it. It's like it's too cool to hang out with the other kids or something. Not to mention that the idea of needing a DRM removal tool to make retrieving a drm-free epub easier is fairly offensive to me in the first place.
Obok was developed by a different person than the other DRM removal tools, so it is quite reasonable for it not to be in the same place.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DiapDealer View Post
Clearly you need to buy a Windows PC (with every retailer's desktop software you can find installed) and one ereader device from each of the major players just to ensure that you can retrieve/read any ebook that the publisher/author was kind enough to release without DRM for our "convenience."

Seriously. What right do retailers have to re-complicate and obfuscate what a publisher like Tor has gone out of their way to make so simple? In the case of Kobo ... there's little difference between a DRM-free kepub and an encrypted epub, in practice. Both are buried so deep into a portion of the OS that's invisible by default as to make them unattainable for the average user.

Tor has entrusted me with a file without Digital Rights Management so that I may copy it to my personal devices and format shift if necessary. Get out of their (Tor's) way please Mr Retailer Man.
So it is wrong for Kobo to develop their application to follow Microsoft's standards? Yes, you can make an argument that they should be in the documents directory, but where they are is a valid place for data that is only to be used by the one application. The DRM protected books fit into that category and it would make no sense to separate them. The issue is not how these books are downloaded using the Kobo application or even the need to use the application. The issue is that Kobo have a problem preventing the book from being downloaded from their web site when clearly it is intended that they should be. When Kobo fix that, the problem goes away. And if this is important to you, Kobo is already ahead of Amazon as they do offer direct download links for DRM free books. Personally, I have never had a problem when I went to download books I have purchased from Kobo.
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