I wonder, Would it work?

[crich70]

I've been wondering something tonight. Amazon owns Mobipocket.com yet DRM's Mobipocket books can't be opened on the kindle. So I wonder what the response would be if he got a petition with a long list of names emailed to him. His email is right on his amazon.com page. Even if he usually has someone read email for him I wager it would get his attention if enough people signed such a document. They don't want people to break DRM but then they have things set up like they do so you have ebooks that you can't read on the Kindle even though Kindle and Mobipocket are both owned by the same company. There is something morally if not legally wrong there. If it was to work with him maybe it would get around and help out the situation in general since I imagine that Kindle probably isn't the only device with some such contradiction.

[bgalbrecht]

Getting Bezos to open up the Kindle so customers can buy more of their ebooks from other ebook retailers is like getting Sony or Kobo to use the latest ePub software from Adobe so that they can read books purchased from Barnes & Noble. Sure, it might please some reader owners, but it's not likely to increase the ereader retailer's profits if the users buy the ebooks elsewhere.

[crich70]

True, but Amazon owns Mobipocket so they wouldn't be losing profits to other companies if people bought books at mobipocket.com rather than at Amazon.

Originally Posted by bgalbrecht

Getting Bezos to open up the Kindle so customers can buy more of their ebooks from other ebook retailers is like getting Sony or Kobo to use the latest ePub software from Adobe so that they can read books purchased from Barnes & Noble. Sure, it might please some reader owners, but it's not likely to increase the ereader retailer's profits if the users buy the ebooks elsewhere.

[taustin]

Originally Posted by crich70

True, but Amazon owns Mobipocket so they wouldn't be losing profits to other companies if people bought books at mobipocket.com rather than at Amazon.

Of course they would. How could they possibly not?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by crich70

I've been wondering something tonight. Amazon owns Mobipocket.com yet DRM's Mobipocket books can't be opened on the kindle. So I wonder what the response would be if he got a petition with a long list of names emailed to him. His email is right on his amazon.com page. Even if he usually has someone read email for him I wager it would get his attention if enough people signed such a document. They don't want people to break DRM but then they have things set up like they do so you have ebooks that you can't read on the Kindle even though Kindle and Mobipocket are both owned by the same company. There is something morally if not legally wrong there. If it was to work with him maybe it would get around and help out the situation in general since I imagine that Kindle probably isn't the only device with some such contradiction.

Who is the "him" in your message?

[abookreader]

Are there many (any?) books available at mobipocket.com that aren't available via Amazon for the same if not cheaper price?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by abookreader

Are there many (any?) books available at mobipocket.com that aren't available via Amazon for the same if not cheaper price?

Mobipocket sell a lot of non-English books. Amazon don't.

[Giggleton]

Originally Posted by crich70

There is something morally if not legally wrong there.

Oh really?

It seems to me that having your device capable of accessing as much info as possible is the best way to go long term. Is the spectre of piracy the reason for the lockdown by Amazon? Or does Amazon believe that users will wander towards other bookstores? Amazon just has to let their bots make sure they have the lowest price and display these competitive prices on the Kindle itself, lol, let all other ebook distributors distribute their apps through Amazon's app marketplace, Amazon will just undercut them all.

Most corporations are too shortsighted IMO, the market is no longer needed.

There is something morally wrong with not being allowed access to informative texts.

[crich70]

I meant that Amazon owns mobipocket and since they do the money paid out would still be going to Amazon.

Originally Posted by taustin

Of course they would. How could they possibly not?

[crich70]

The owner of Amazon, Jeff Bezos. He is the one who started the company anyway from what I understand and I haven't heard anything of it being sold.

Originally Posted by HarryT

Who is the "him" in your message?

[crich70]

The point I was trying to make is that Amazon owns Mobipocket and I already have mobipocket versions of their ebooks that I bought in the past, and I can't see having to pay twice for the same book just because Amazon twists the DRM code so one version works on the Kindle and the other doesn't.

Originally Posted by abookreader

Are there many (any?) books available at mobipocket.com that aren't available via Amazon for the same if not cheaper price?

[bwaldron]

Originally Posted by crich70

The point I was trying to make is that Amazon owns Mobipocket and I already have mobipocket versions of their ebooks that I bought in the past, and I can't see having to pay twice for the same book just because Amazon twists the DRM code so one version works on the Kindle and the other doesn't.

It's a valid point. Before purchasing a Kindle, I had many books in Mobi format previously purchased for other devices (not to mention PDB files going back to Peanut Press). Scripts for stripping DRM were available and I took advantage of them -- otherwise I wouldn't have purchased a Kindle.