Kindle offers remote kill switch for text-to-speech function?

[kamm]

Originally Posted by sirbruce

Actually, no; the exemptions do not make it illegal for producers to create those barriers; it just makes it legal for consumers to circumvent those barriers in certain circumstances.

I am talking about possible counteractions from Amazon - that would amount to blocking me in practicing my rights.

[kamm]

Originally Posted by tompe

Why? Has the safe harbor rule disappeared suddenly?

EXACTLY.
I'm new here but I'm quite surprised by all this mis-understood, mis-interpreted, barely reasoned, cliche-level talking points flying around here as 'quasi-facts' - it took me few minutes to debink the "blind people only" nonsense...

...and I guess I'll have to dig up the Safe Harbor exemption tomorrow.

Amazon has no legal base to sue especially not until Amazon does not provide RM removal/TTS enabler service.
Also if it - a topic - comes with a proper disclaimer then it should be fine.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by kamm

EXACTLY.
I'm new here but I'm quite surprised by all this mis-understood, mis-interpreted, barely reasoned, cliche-level talking points flying around here as 'quasi-facts' - it took me few minutes to debink the "blind people only" nonsense...

...and I guess I'll have to dig up the Safe Harbor exemption tomorrow.

Amazon has no legal base to sue especially not until Amazon does not provide RM removal/TTS enabler service.
Also if it - a topic - comes with a proper disclaimer then it should be fine.

Welcome to MobileRead.

Can you explain that last bit please so we can all understand it without misinterpretation?

[kamm]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Welcome to MobileRead.

Sarcasm received.

Can you explain that last bit please so we can all understand it without misinterpretation?

As long as as you put a disclaimer next to it (TTS enabler, DRM removal etc instructions) that it's only legal when certain circumstances sustained (see my topic on the DMCA exemption) then they have no legal base to sue anyone.
OF course, you're not even their jurisdiction so it would be highly unlikely they would actually go after even if there was any legal base.
BTW it is not illegal to post these instructions anyway and even if there wouldn't be any exemption in the DMCA in a civil suit they (Amazon) still would have to prove that one post caused them a significant loss of sales (pretty much impossible without providing exact Amazon sales numbers across their full ebook market - they will never expose such information.)

[zadriel]

Would love for anyone to PM me with instructions on re-enabling of TTS or stripping DRM to retain ownership of the books I've purchased should I decide to move on to a different reader later. I currently own two kindle 2 and am looking at a DX and I BUY my books thanks. But I'd like to keep them regardless of what happens with Amazon. Please PM me with either or both instructions. THanks.

[elmoglick]

Originally Posted by zadriel

Would love for anyone to PM me with instructions on re-enabling of TTS or stripping DRM to retain ownership of the books I've purchased should I decide to move on to a different reader later. I currently own two kindle 2 and am looking at a DX and I BUY my books thanks. But I'd like to keep them regardless of what happens with Amazon. Please PM me with either or both instructions. THanks.

I did. Did you not get it?

El

[r0b0d0c]

Originally Posted by zadriel

Would love for anyone to PM me with instructions on re-enabling of TTS or stripping DRM to retain ownership of the books I've purchased should I decide to move on to a different reader later. I currently own two kindle 2 and am looking at a DX and I BUY my books thanks. But I'd like to keep them regardless of what happens with Amazon. Please PM me with either or both instructions. THanks.

I'd also appreciate a PM with instructions for reenabling TTS on Kindle books. While I don't use it, my elderly mother does, and with failing vision TTS has been a God-send for her.

TIA!

[tompe]

Originally Posted by r0b0d0c

I'd also appreciate a PM with instructions for reenabling TTS on Kindle books. While I don't use it, my elderly mother does, and with failing vision TTS has been a God-send for her.

TIA!

   mobi2mobi --allowtts --outfile new.mobi old.mobi

[fugazied]

The sad thing is, this kind of behaviour by Amazon pushes many paying customers into breaking the Amazon terms and conditions on the Kindle. We copy books of it so the rights we believe the deserve are preserved.

In other words DRM sucks.

[Kali Yuga]

Man, what is with the Lazarus threads lately?

[r0b0d0c]

Originally Posted by Kali Yuga

Man, what is with the Lazarus threads lately?

For my "resurrection" of this thread, it's because I just recently read that re-enabling TTS for Amazon purchased Kindle books is even possible. I don't use it myself (if I also want to HEAR an audiobook, I'll buy from my audible.com account - my wife can testify that my VISA bill is too high for both Amazon and audible!), but I recently purchased a Kindle 2 for my Mother, who's sight-impaired, and when she gets too tired to try to read, she'd like to "continue" the Kindle book via TTS.

mobi2mobi is for PCs only, correct? I'm trying to figure out how to use it here. Are there any Mac OS solutions, similar to calibre? If not, I'll give it a try via PC!

TIA for any help - much appreciated!

[r0b0d0c]

Originally Posted by tompe

   mobi2mobi --allowtts --outfile new.mobi old.mobi

Thanks for the reply, tompe!

mobi2mobi is PC only, right? Any Mac solutions? If not, I'll give mobi2mobi a try. It looks like the best instruction guide for using it is:

https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Kind...i_GUI_Vista/XP

Thanks for your help!

[bhartman36]

I don't know if people would find this valuable, but I'm starting to compile a list of publishers who disable the text-to-speech functionality in their books. I've started a wave in Google Wave to try and get some help with finding all the publishers on Amazon, and then, hopefully, the contact information for all the publishers. Here's the list of publishers I've got so far:

Random House
Penguin Press
ESPN
Doubleday
Delacorte Press
Grand Central Publishing
Portfolio
VIKING ADULT
Little, Brown and Company
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Putnam Adult
Bantam
Bantam Classics
Knopf
Knopf Books for Young Readers
Hachette Book Group
Vantage
Vintage
Ballantine Books
The Dial Press
Anchor
Ace
Berkley
Berkley Trade
Del Rey
Disney Hyperion
Nan A. Talese
Ace Hardcover
Crown
Penguin Press Hardcover
Gotham Hardcover

If you've got a membership to Google Wave, you can contribute to the list there, or you can PM me here with any help you'd like to offer. (I'm looking for publishers, or for their contact information.) Basically, I've just been going through the book list on the Kindle Store category by category. I think a boycott of the individual publishers' material (e-book and paper) may be a good way to go, along with a letter campaign.

Anyway, thanks for your time.

[bhartman36]

Hi, Everyone.

For anyone interested, I've started a Facebook group to promote awareness of this, and to hopefully influence the publishing houses, if we can get enough members.

This is the first time I've started a Facebook group on any topic, so if anyone has any suggestions, I'd be glad to get them.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=217848912291

Thanks.

[Moejoe]

Originally Posted by bhartman36

Hi, Everyone.

For anyone interested, I've started a Facebook group to promote awareness of this, and to hopefully influence the publishing houses, if we can get enough members.

This is the first time I've started a Facebook group on any topic, so if anyone has any suggestions, I'd be glad to get them.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=217848912291

Thanks.

I've joined the group, and I think everyone else should. A boycott wouldn't work in my case, as I'm already boycotting Corp publishing in favour of independents, but I'm glad to help out in any way I can.