Quote:
Originally Posted by skypilotpete
I live in Australia, have a Sony e-reader, and have been continually frustrated by how few books are available to me. Like many others, I have bitten the bullet and worked out how to strip DRM from Amazon ebooks, so I can buy them and convert to Epub using Calibre. Now I am faced with the question of whether it is safe for me to share these converted ebooks with friends - as I would feel entitled to do with any other book that I purchased. I am aware that once I give a converted ebook to anyone else, what happens to it then is out of my hands. I would like to be sure that there isn't some hidden metadata remaining within a converted ebook that would allow Amazon to identify me as the original purchaser if one of my ebooks ends up on a news group or torrent site. I will certainly ask my friends not to do this, but I can't guarantee that it won't happen. Can anyone tell me if I could be identified from something within an un-drm'd, converted file?
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I personally believe that the sharing of books between close friends and family members is a social convention that dates back far further then copyright and doesn't disappear just because the book is no longer distributed on pulp. For me it's a part of social culture. Trying to control down to this level is far beyond the original intent of copyright and is a huge power grab by the industry. I certainly don't want laws to get down to this level of anal detail.
I have trouble with your question though because what you're afraid of is what I would like to see replace the current DRM. What we have in place today restricts what can be done with the ebook but disregards if it's an actual copyright violation or not. The social DRM that you are concerned about it what I would like to see it replaced with. If each ebook is customized with a copyright page that includes the purchasers name, date purchased, store purchased from and a transaction number (public information) and then creates some form of bar code on a picture or map border that matches some of this information it's a much more effective form of copyright control. It doesn't limit my fair use of the ebook but it would deter people from performing large scale copyright violations.
Technically it would be possible to implement a file check that if the data on the copyright page doesn't match the hidden bar code information it's considered an authorized copy and would have to be removed immediately from file sharing sites.
If I want to lend a copy to someone it would be only to someone I trust. If I meet someone on vacation who wants to trade a 1,000 book library with me I'm not likely to do it. If I sell my ebook reader I'm going to make sure I delete my ebooks off of it first.
Sorry, I don't know what your concern is.