mobipocket DRM / linux / iliadreader.co.uk

[johnnytruant]

OK. Am having some problems. Fortnight ago, bought iLiad. Lovely bit of hardware. Impressed as hell. Also bought copy of Peter F Hamilton's "Night's Dawn" triology from iliadreader.co.uk (as part of the order that included my iliad). Recieved download link in email, downloaded .prc file, copied to iLiad. Cannot open, keeps asking for PID. Go to iliadreader.co.uk and try to find place to to enter PID. No place exists. mobipocket.com's support can't/won't help, and iliadreader.co.uk's support said this:

The facility to enable MAC users to input their PID is now on our development plan and will be addressed. It is not the most important or urgent issue that is currently facing the business. As soon as it has been developed and installed I will let you know.

As it goes, I'm using linux, not macos, but close enough. Still, that kind of customer service really fills me with confidence.

Does anyone know how I can read the book I bought? I don't have access to a machine running Windows, only linux and macos.

I could, of course, get a pirate copy off the torrent sites in mere minutes, but I'd rather be legit about this. Makes you think though, when stealing books is easier than paying for them, is DRM really working?

[HarryT]

Do you honestly not have any friends who have a Windows machine, or access to one at work? That is, I suspect, your own answer.

[johnnytruant]

is a windows box really the the only solution? Presumably I'd need to put the mobipocket reader on there, with my PID then being left on someone else's machine? A machine running a known insecure operating system.

My work machine is my home machine, and it runs linux exclusively. I do have a few friends who run windows (although they are very much the minority, it's mostly macs and linux), but I don't really want to have to go over to their houses, install software on their machines, etc, just so I can read a book that I supposedly already own. I'd rather just buy the book legally, then download a pirate version without DRM on it. I'm not entirely sure how legal that is in the UK though.

[HarryT]

I'm afraid that I'm not entirely with you.

If the place you've bought it from has no facility for entering a PID, how will Windows help you? Are they saying that you'll be able to register your PID via the Mobi Windows desktop reader? That seems a very odd way to do things - every other Mobi bookstore I know of allows you to register PIDs on their web site!

[carandol]

I haven't got my Iliad yet (got caught by the new year shortage), but am planning to use it with Linux, so will be facing the same problems as you. But if you look at the Mobipocket Viewer Manual available for download here it says

"For MacOS, Linux, or non-supported Windows users, you need a device PID (Personal ID) of the iLiad to register it in your Mobipocket account (in My Device List). The iLiad generates a TXT file with this PID code after opening the first Mobipocket book on your iLiad.
You can find the PID code in the Main Memory of the iLiad, in the Mobipocket_PID.txt file. You can also access this file when you connect your iLiad to the PC via USB; the file is located in the root of the ‘iLiad’ drive."

From using DRMd Mobipocket files on my Palm, I know that it's the device itself which generates the PID, which you then have to give to the supplier of the ebook, who then gives you an ebook coded with that PID to read on your device. There should be somewhere on the Libresco site to fill in the PID you've got from the text file on the Iliad, and then if you download the book again, it should work. (I tend to buy books from Fictionwise, and they allow each customer six different PIDs for different devices; don't know what Libresco's policy is).

If in doubt, try sending an email to Libresco about this; I've found them pretty good at answering technical questions in the run-up to buying an Iliad.

[johnnytruant]

I'm not entirely with me either. I don't really understand what I can do, or what I've done wrong (if anything).

Iliadreader.co.uk (Libresco) is where I bought the book. They have no place I can enter my PID (which I do know), and they didn't even understand the question when I asked their customer support about it - they just kept telling me to download it again, which never worked. I have exchanged a number of emails and phone calls with them over the past week and bit.

I haven't ever used mobipocket's desktop software, but I have been given the impression that you can use it to apply your PID to a prc file, before copying it to the device in question. I don't know this though, because I've never run it. [edit: actually, this must be the case, otherwise nobody buying books from Libresco would be able to read them, seeing as their website doesn't store, or even ask for, your device PID ]

I am terribly confused, I'll admit.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by carandol

From using DRMd Mobipocket files on my Palm, I know that it's the device itself which generates the PID, which you then have to give to the supplier of the ebook, who then gives you an ebook coded with that PID to read on your device. There should be somewhere on the Libresco site to fill in the PID you've got from the text file on the Iliad, and then if you download the book again, it should work.

That is indeed the way it works with all the MobiPocket bookstores that I've used. However, the MobiPocket Desktop Reader for Windows also provides a "front end" for certain bookstores which "automates" the process and saves you from having the enter your device PID at the bookstore's web site. It is possible that Libresco have only provides this mechanism for registering PIDs rather than allowing it to be done via their website. If so, that's a rather unwise decision to have made, IMHO.

[johnnytruant]

that's a rather unwise decision to have made

*hands Harry understatement of the month award*

You don't say! I for one will never be shopping there again, even if they do get this fixed.

[wallcraft]

Since most MOBI books are purchasable from other sites, I suggest you get a refund on your books and go to a site that wants your business. I like fictionwise, but there are plenty of other good options. Note that mobipocket's own web site is almost always the most expensive way to buy a MOBI book.

[carandol]

Originally Posted by johnnytruant

I haven't ever used mobipocket's desktop software, but I have been given the impression that you can use it to apply your PID to a prc file, before copying it to the device in question. I don't know this though, because I've never run it. [edit: actually, this must be the case, otherwise nobody buying books from Libresco would be able to read them, seeing as their website doesn't store, or even ask for, your device PID ]

Yes, you're right about the mobipocket software adding a PID. I did use it once upon a time, before I escaped from Windows. I've tried getting it to run in Linux with Wine, but it doesn't like it, so that's not a viable route. I think your best bet would be to get you money back from Libresco and take your custom to one of the ebook sellers that *does* store your PID code.

Perhaps you should point Libresco at this thread too, in the hopes that they get a Clue.

[slayda]

At fFctionwise, your PID is set in your Fictionwise user profile. This includes your name, email address, site login password, etc. Libresco surly has a user profile area, possibly in the "My Books" area that you can get to once you've logged in. Check there for a user profile and see if you can enter a PID.

[johnnytruant]

No, it really doesn't. I thought I'd just missed it, even after trying every link in sight, but when I spoke to their customer services, they didn't even understand what I was asking for, let alone know where it was. They've since emailed me to say they've asked their web guy to put this 'feature' in. Being a web developer myself, I reckon it can't be more than a few hours work, tops - it's not rocket science to store a list of numbers and occasionally pass them off to another location, for goodness sake. But they've had over a week, and still I hear nothing.

Oh well. I guess it's time to take advantage of the pleasant dollar-pound exchange rate and buy from elsewhere. Fictionwise I'm told are good, does anyone use diesel-ebooks.com? they seem pretty reasonable on price too.

[Redfox]

Bump!

Three months on, and Libresco still haven't added PIDs to their website. I didn't see this thread as it was so old, and now I can't even get a refund

PLEASE, if you are a Mac/Linux user in the UK, DO NOT BUY your ebooks from iliadreader.co.uk, as you cannot unlock them via their website.

[JSWolf]

Actually, it's cheaper for those in the UK to purchase eBooks from shops like Fictionwise or BooksOnBoard because of the UK > US exchange rate. And you don't have to worry about PIDs as you can manually enter the PIDs you need.

[Redfox]

Yeah, I know that now, but I found Libresco when looking for somewhere to buy my iLiad (ordered direct from iRex in the end), and using a local online store for ebooks seemed a perfectly reasonable idea. Not only would it be benefitting a company on this side of the Pond, but some books originating in the UK get changed for the US market (the title of the first Harry Potter book being a famous example).

I guess Libresco are a tiny startup outfit without much in the way of funds for additional web development, since they have made no progress so far in providing a service that is commonplace elsewhere. I've worked for a similar company in the past, and I know the pressure from management to concentrate resources into the area that will provide the best ROI. Unfortunately Libresco aren't making a good impression in the iLiad community thanks to their cavalier attitude...