What books are allowed on the new Kobo & B&N readers?

[Miss Understood]

I have the original Nook, the Sony PRS-505 and the Sony PRS-350. I can read all of my Sony books on the Nook but I can not read any of my B&N Nook books on my Sony without removing the DRM.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by J. Strnad

Just skimming this thread makes my head spin. This is insanity. It's as if you bought a DVD that could only play on Sony players, or you bought a car that could only run on Exxon gasoline.

The industry needs to get over this proprietary DRM nonsense and standardize. Or better yet, dump DRM completely as a large number of indie authors have done.

Even if DRM was to go away, there would still be Amazon with a different format causing the same sort of problem.

[vaughnmr]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Even if DRM was to go away, there would still be Amazon with a different format causing the same sort of problem.

And of course, you've got Apple with their own version of "epub" standards.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by vaughnmr

And of course, you've got Apple with their own version of "epub" standards.

Most of those in the iBookstore should work as is. But yes, you are right about Apple and iBooks.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Even if DRM was to go away, there would still be Amazon with a different format causing the same sort of problem.

If there were no DRM everybody could add Mobi format support to their readers, plus there are any number of format conversion tools that can handle it easily.

Topaz, not so much.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by tomsem

If there were no DRM everybody could add Mobi format support to their readers, plus there are any number of format conversion tools that can handle it easily.

Topaz, not so much.

Why go backwards instead of forwards and who would it benefit but Amazon?

[Ken Maltby]

As this thread seems to be directed towards those who don't, can't, or feel it improper
to, disinfect their purchased ebooks. I would point to the Ectaco jetBook Lite which
(with the 0.16e firmware) allows reading ebooks inflicted with three of the DRM scams.

The Adobe DRM (.epub & .pdf), the Secure eReader DRM (.pdb), and the B&N DRM
(.epub).

Luck;
Ken

[Kitabi]

If memory serves right, the separate B&N DRM is a result of two things.

First is their eReader acquisition - much as Kindle's MOBI format is a result of Amazon buying out the owner of that format. It probably does save B&N royalties they would otherwise pay to Adobe but at the cost of incompatibility with other reader brands. They tried to mitigate this by reaching an agreement with Adobe to build B&N DRM into the Adobe's software. Not sure if Adobe is dragging its feet or if other vendors (Kobo, Sony...) don't care about giving that option to their customers.

Second, the issue with Adobe ADEPT is that it restricts the number of devices you can download a book to (used to be 5). To load the DRM'd book on more devices, you need to remove it from others first. B&N's social DRM gets rid of this limitation by using your encrypted credit card number as the unlock key for their DRM. There are issues with this approach too (what if you cancel and forget your CC#?). However, this was meant as a feature that removed ADEPT's limitation and not a restrictive policy to compete with other vendors.

[Kitabi]

As for those agonizing over the "why isn't this stuff standardized" question - IMHO the probability of this ever happening went through the floor with the Agency pricing model. The publishers simply removed all price competition by forcing their own prices. Now, what else can the vendors compete on? Features and policies can be copied (matched?) easily. Customer service requires money.

The only sure option of retaining customers appears to be lock-in formats and DRM. Unsuspecting customers buy into a format and by the time it is time to buy a different format they are stuck in the web.

[geertm]

Originally Posted by Kitabi

If memory serves right, the separate B&N DRM is a result of two things.

First is their eReader acquisition - much as Kindle's MOBI format is a result of Amazon buying out the owner of that format. It probably does save B&N royalties they would otherwise pay to Adobe but at the cost of incompatibility with other reader brands. They tried to mitigate this by reaching an agreement with Adobe to build B&N DRM into the Adobe's software. Not sure if Adobe is dragging its feet or if other vendors (Kobo, Sony...) don't care about giving that option to their customers.

Second, the issue with Adobe ADEPT is that it restricts the number of devices you can download a book to (used to be 5). To load the DRM'd book on more devices, you need to remove it from others first. B&N's social DRM gets rid of this limitation by using your encrypted credit card number as the unlock key for their DRM. There are issues with this approach too (what if you cancel and forget your CC#?). However, this was meant as a feature that removed ADEPT's limitation and not a restrictive policy to compete with other vendors.

The latest Adobe software for ereader devices includes support for the B&N DRM (released end of last year). If the new Kobo Touch reader uses this software, it should support the B&N DRM. It will be interesting to see if this is indeed the case, or if Kobo will disable this feature.

[JSWolf]

What books are allowed on the new Kobo & B&N readers?

Those eBooks over there to the left. The ones in back nope.