Quote:
Originally Posted by Elfwreck
Not according to the TOS on most ebook store sites. Amazon, B&N, Fictionwise & Smashwords all have TOS bits that prevent any sharing whatsoever, with the small exception that B&N has built their one-time two-week lending into the TOS. However, ebooks are claimed to be for personal non-commercial use only, an installable on devices that you own only.
(Non-commercial use... apparently, you can't use B&N ebooks for job research.)
If it's reasonable to ignore that part of the TOS, why not ignore other parts as well?
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Er, wrong . Amazon allows you to share your library across different machines. Amazon's TOS doesn't explicitly allow it, but neither does it explicitly bar it. I believe most major retailers' TOS are the same on this.
What it means in real life is that if Papa Kindle Owner buys an ebook, Mama Kindle Owner and Junior Kindle Owner can read the ebook on their Kindles or Kindle App supported devices. Indeed, this ebook can even be shared with Brother Kindle Owner in another city or Sister Kindle Owner in another state. Ain't the Internet wonderful?
This is apparently enough sharing for the general public, who don't care about the inability to resell ebooks ( probably because most people don't resell books. They keep them , or when they get tired of hauling them around, give them away. )
Now techies have been beating the drum about limitations on sharing ebooks for quite some time now-to a collective yawn from the general public. May be the general public are just fine with buying a limited license. It certainly appears so, since they are buying more and more ebooks. I have yet to hear a single non-techie person complain about limitations on sharing, and until that happens, I conclude that the GP are happy with things as they are.