Direct Links to Kobo Firmware

[HarryT]

Moderator Notice
Distribution of copyrighted software without the permission of the copyright holder is copyright infringement. If you have posted links to any such unauthorised distributions, please delete them immediately. MobileRead takes the issue of copyright infringement extremely seriously.

Thank you.

[DNSB]

The link for the 2.8.1 firmware here was:http://download.kobobooks.com/firmwa...date-2.8.1.zip


Edit: I tried the usual Kobo4/Kobo3 and there does not seem to be a Kobo3 version.

Edit Gen2: This should be for the Aura/Glo/Mini/new Touch (N905C) though I have only tested it on an Aura.

Regards,
David

Originally Posted by DNSB

The link for the 2.8.1 firmware here was:

Thank-you. You may want to add that this for the Aura/Glo/Mini/late-Touch.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by BWinmill

Thank-you. You may want to add that this for the Aura/Glo/Mini/late-Touch.

Thanks for the suggestion. I added a second edit with that information.

Regards,
David

[Anak]

Does this mean the old Touch is EOL?

I just updated from 2.5.1. to 2.8.1 on an old Touch (N905 Mark3). Installs smootly.

@Kobo development team: thank you very much for decreasing the top header! Great job!

[rayhigh]

I have installed 2.8.1 on an Aura, a Glo, and a Mini successfully this afternoon. Italics at last!

Originally Posted by Anak

Does this mean the old Touch is EOL?

I just updated from 2.5.1. to 2.8.1 on an old Touch (N905 Mark3). Installs smootly.

No idea, but they have had separate releases for the Mark3 in the past so it's best to give people a heads up to avoid potential problems in the future. Then again, a merger of the update files would be a welcome change since it would avoid confusion amongst those of us who do things manually.

[jackastor]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

I'd guess he mentioned it since posting copyrighted materials here is frowned upon. I know I got smacked by a mod once for posting a link to some free software once.

yet this whole thread has numerous links to the same copyrighted firmware

[PeterT]

The difference is this thread points to the VENDORS OFFICIAL location, and not to a private copy.

** To clarify: Originally a link was posted to a NON Kobo source for this file. That post has since been edited to reflect the official location.

[Anak]

Originally Posted by jackastor

yet this whole thread has numerous links to the same copyrighted firmware

But you link to the source and copyright owner: Kobo. It is not pirated firmware. Just a moderator that sees a firmware/software link and promptly posts a standard warning without any quick, basic investigation.

If Kobo doesn't want it then they should change/remove the link.

[murg]

Originally Posted by jackastor

yet this whole thread has numerous links to the same copyrighted firmware

The links being posting are the copyright owner's own links to the firmware. The copyright owner has stated, on this forum, that it knows people are sideloading the firmware. Other than warnings that this mechanism may not work at some point in the future, the copyright owner has not stated that doing such is considered to be a copyright violation. Nor has the copyright owner put any mechanism in to prevent the side-downloading of the firmware (give me a minute and I can come up with at least five easy methods to prevent side-downloading).

In addition, the copyrighted material is only good for being loaded into the copyright owner's hardware and the copyright owner gives the firmware away for free (yes, I know this doesn't affect their ownership).

As far as I know, the copyright owner is not claiming that by using the direct links their copyright is being violated. If they are claiming this, a simple email to the management of the forum will resolve this issue once and for all. Or even a simple post.

These are not books that are being linked to, nor generic software.

Additionally, as everything is copyrighted nowadays, any external link is, by definition, a link to copyrighted material.

[murg]

Originally Posted by PeterT

The difference is this thread points to the VENDORS OFFICIAL location, and not to a private copy.

** To clarify: Originally a link was posted to a NON Kobo source for this file. That post has since been edited to reflect the official location.

Now the warning makes sense.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Anak

But you link to the source and copyright owner: Kobo. It is not pirated firmware. Just a moderator that sees a firmware/software link and promptly posts a standard warning without any quick, basic investigation.

If Kobo doesn't want it then they should change/remove the link.

No, the reason for the mod notice was that links to unathorised copies of the firmware had been posted. Ie someone had uploaded a copy of the firmware to some other site without Kobo's permission and posted a link to that.

Linking to Kobo's official download site is of course absolutely fine.

Originally Posted by jackastor

yet this whole thread has numerous links to the same copyrighted firmware

From the vendor's website, yes. Since you are sending an HTTP request for the file from the copyright holder's server and they are honouring that request, it is doubtful that copyright law has been violated in any respect.

[murg]

Originally Posted by BWinmill

From the vendor's website, yes. Since you are sending an HTTP request for the file from the copyright holder's server and they are honouring that request, it is doubtful that copyright law has been violated in any respect.

Good point. Why didn't I think of this?