Who Owns My Books?

[slayda]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

When you register a 500 or 505 to a different account, any books from the eBookstore purchased with the previous account will no longer work as the DRM will not allow them to.

Actually, I don't think this is correct. The books should still work on that reader unless you have to physically connect the reader to the Sony store to unregister it. I think they'd have to be able to unregister it without a connection or a broken reader couldn't be unregistered.

Where the DRM would get the new owner (assuming the previous owner "accidentally" left books on it) is they would not be able to re-download those books.

[JSWolf]

If you have books on a 500 or 505 and you can read them and then you register said reader to another account, the DRM LRX books on it will no longer be able to be read.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by Hughdal

Thanks for the informed answers. Seems like a bit of a con though. if I buy a paper back book I can legally sell it on if I remove the cover.

Not really a con. Also, if you are buying a 700 to replace your 50X then you still own the ebooks. They are still on your account. Once you register your 700 to your account you will be able to read all of your purchased ebooks.

I do think however that if you read the user license for buying from the eStore that it does say you are licensing the ebooks for your own use and can not transfer the license. So, you basically agreed to this "con" by buying ebooks from the store.

Also, you don't remove the cover of a book to sell it used. Books with the cover removed are books that were not sold originally at retail. This is supposed to indicate to other retailers (new or used) that they are not legal used books and should not be sold.

BOb


BOb

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Not really a con. Also, if you are buying a 700 to replace your 50X then you still own the ebooks. They are still on your account. Once you register your 700 to your account you will be able to read all of your purchased ebooks.

But you will have to redownload the eBook so they have the info in them for the 700.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But you will have to redownload the eBook so they have the info in them for the 700.

Not. The ebooks are encrypted to the account, not a specific device. This is different than say Kindle which you need to d/l for a specific device.

BOb

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Not. The ebooks are encrypted to the account, not a specific device. This is different than say Kindle which you need to d/l for a specific device.

BOb

When you register a new device to your account, the books you've already downloaded do not know anything about the new device. The DRM will not allow them to be used in this new device. You do have to download the books again in order to put them on the new device.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

When you register a new device to your account, the books you've already downloaded do not know anything about the new device. The DRM will not allow them to be used in this new device. You do have to download the books again in order to put them on the new device.

So, this doesn't track with the other message you sent about books breaking as soon as you deregister.

Either the ebooks are encrypted to the specific device and they would work whether it was registered or not... or the ebook are encrypted to the account of which some type of key is embedded in the reader when it is registered and unregistering it removes that key from it.

Have you registered a second device to your account, coppied ebooks to it that you already had downloaded and they didn't work? If so, I guess it is possible that the same file is encrypted for multiple keys like mobipocket does it, but they why would they stop working as soon as you deregistered the device.

BOb

[JSWolf]

When I first got my 500, I registered my own account. My wife's 500 I plugged into my account to download a book I purchased so she could read it as well. I had to register her 500 on my account. When I did that, her books did not work. Had to register her 500 back to her account. Then her books worked and mine did not. I think it's the books are registered to the account & the devices.

[sealbeater]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

When you register a 500 or 505 to a different account, any books from the eBookstore purchased with the previous account will no longer work as the DRM will not allow them to.

Gotta love DRM...That's why I would never nor have I ever used their Connect store. If I ever sell my reader, whoever gets it is getting all my books too. Just another copy of 1s and 0s. Everyone should read "The Right to Read" by Richard Stallman for an example of why DRM should never be supported.

[Hughdal]

Ok. Got all that. So, can I legally LOAN a book to someone? If so, I could loan my PRS500 with book content to [person unknown] along with my existing account (with details ammended to the unknown persons details) and leave it registered on my pc. for, let's say, a $100 lifetime loan. Then register my new PRS700 under my true details which are now unique since I changed my original registration. Since Sony allows 5 ebook devices registered to one PC this should not be a problem. Now, in effect, I have become a LIBRARY which is perfectly legal!

Hughdal

[dhbailey]

The only problem will be when you buy the 750 and the 800 and a second PC and then the 850, and you still have the 500 and the 505 and suddenly you're out of devices.

And the $100 lifetime "loan" with that device linked through your computer and that person who is paying the $100 won't be able to add any other DRM books.

But as you describe things, yes it would technically be legal.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by dhbailey

The only problem will be when you buy the 750 and the 800 and a second PC and then the 850, and you still have the 500 and the 505 and suddenly you're out of devices.

I don't think so. I think you can have 6 devices per ACCOUNT. I don't know if they only allow you to register the PC once though (they do limit a device to one account). Someone in a thread... maybe it was this one, suggested setting up a different windows account to be able to use two sony accounts on the same PC. So, if that works you don't have any practical limit.

BOb

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Hughdal

Thanks for the informed answers. Seems like a bit of a con though. if I buy a paper back book I can legally sell it on if I remove the cover. Don't know the law on hard back books.

Hughdal

Wasn't what you were considering doing itself a "con"? ie selling your books as a "sweetener" for the deal with the 505, and then buying a PRS-700 onto which you could simply re-download those same books and carry on reading them?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Hughdal

Ok. Got all that. So, can I legally LOAN a book to someone? If so, I could loan my PRS500 with book content to [person unknown] along with my existing account (with details ammended to the unknown persons details) and leave it registered on my pc. for, let's say, a $100 lifetime loan. Then register my new PRS700 under my true details which are now unique since I changed my original registration. Since Sony allows 5 ebook devices registered to one PC this should not be a problem. Now, in effect, I have become a LIBRARY which is perfectly legal!

Hughdal

That won't work. Because if you did loan your account to someone, you'd also be loaning the ability to purchase eBooks on your credit card. And if you did keep access to the account and got this other person to change the details, you'd then have access to this other person's credit card to purchase eBooks. It's a bit FAIL as far as I can see.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

I don't think so. I think you can have 6 devices per ACCOUNT. I don't know if they only allow you to register the PC once though (they do limit a device to one account). Someone in a thread... maybe it was this one, suggested setting up a different windows account to be able to use two sony accounts on the same PC. So, if that works you don't have any practical limit.

BOb

A given computer can only be registered once. So you could not use your computer on multiple accounts. Just like your reader can only be registered to one account. So basically, you can have one computer and 5 readers registered at most.