MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - The intersection of DRM, fair use, and ereader device spying

Sydney's Mom · 07-07-2012, 05:04 PM

[QUOTE=bigtext;2139307]Imagine the scenario where you own a Nook and have purchased hundreds of dollars of epubs from Barnes and Noble. At some point in the future you are in the market for another e-reader and decide to purchase a Kindle. What do you do with the epubs you purchased from Barnes and Noble? This is where the advice I so often see comes in to get Calibre, add the DRM removal extensions, convert the epubs to mobi format, and transfer the converted files to the Kindle.

The question in my mind becomes does Amazon (or flip the scenario around to any other company with a reading device that connects to the cloud) keep track of the fact that there are books on your Kindle device that don't have DRM on them that should? I'm not saying there is anyone actively monitoring what you do in the moment, but simply creating a permanent record via electronic databases that can be retrieved at any point in time in the future.QUOTE]

This is exactly why I use Dropbox to back up my ebooks, rather than the Amazon cloud, although I have enough room on the Amazon cloud, and am always running into limits on Dropbox. Amazon does backup any books I email to my kindle, so a number of the books I bought elsewhere are being stored on the Amazon servers.

Amazon ran into a HUGE public relations nightmare with pulling counterfeit copies of 1984 off kindles. And I was actually sympathetic with them on that one. They committed a crime for selling these books. But if they admit they are spying on my kindle, and are going to tattle on me for removing DRM for my personal use, I think ereaders will be done.

I bought several hundred books at 5 cents each in epub during a sale in January. Amazon has every one of these books, at prices of $2.99-$4.59. They certainy could remove these books, or prevent me from sending them by email. If they did, I would just transfer them by UBS. If they removed those books, aside from the negative publicity, they would never sell another kindle, and those that had kindles, would never turn them on again.

Now, if I were reading child pornography on my kindle, that would be another matter altogether. I have no doubt that that sort of issue will be the next one to occur. I would be in favor of Amazon or Barnes and Noble outing child pornographers (since the mere possession of such material is a crime). But the fact that I bought my books at bookseller B, instead of Amazon? Bookseller B is not going to want to sue me, because they don't have any damages. Amazon is not going to be at all sympathetic.

So - although personally I think the odds of Amazon looking at my account for books with DRM removed are low, if the law and/or political mood would change, I don't want to count of the removal of the books from the Amaon cloud as being effective, since that "stuff" remains forever.

07-07-2012, 05:04 PM	#29
Sydney's Mom Wizard Posts: 2,899 Karma: 6995721 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Idaho, on the side of a mountain Device: Kindle Oasis, Fire 3d Gen and 5th Gen and Samsung Tab S	[QUOTE=bigtext;2139307]Imagine the scenario where you own a Nook and have purchased hundreds of dollars of epubs from Barnes and Noble. At some point in the future you are in the market for another e-reader and decide to purchase a Kindle. What do you do with the epubs you purchased from Barnes and Noble? This is where the advice I so often see comes in to get Calibre, add the DRM removal extensions, convert the epubs to mobi format, and transfer the converted files to the Kindle. The question in my mind becomes does Amazon (or flip the scenario around to any other company with a reading device that connects to the cloud) keep track of the fact that there are books on your Kindle device that don't have DRM on them that should? I'm not saying there is anyone actively monitoring what you do in the moment, but simply creating a permanent record via electronic databases that can be retrieved at any point in time in the future.QUOTE] This is exactly why I use Dropbox to back up my ebooks, rather than the Amazon cloud, although I have enough room on the Amazon cloud, and am always running into limits on Dropbox. Amazon does backup any books I email to my kindle, so a number of the books I bought elsewhere are being stored on the Amazon servers. Amazon ran into a HUGE public relations nightmare with pulling counterfeit copies of 1984 off kindles. And I was actually sympathetic with them on that one. They committed a crime for selling these books. But if they admit they are spying on my kindle, and are going to tattle on me for removing DRM for my personal use, I think ereaders will be done. I bought several hundred books at 5 cents each in epub during a sale in January. Amazon has every one of these books, at prices of $2.99-$4.59. They certainy could remove these books, or prevent me from sending them by email. If they did, I would just transfer them by UBS. If they removed those books, aside from the negative publicity, they would never sell another kindle, and those that had kindles, would never turn them on again. Now, if I were reading child pornography on my kindle, that would be another matter altogether. I have no doubt that that sort of issue will be the next one to occur. I would be in favor of Amazon or Barnes and Noble outing child pornographers (since the mere possession of such material is a crime). But the fact that I bought my books at bookseller B, instead of Amazon? Bookseller B is not going to want to sue me, because they don't have any damages. Amazon is not going to be at all sympathetic. So - although personally I think the odds of Amazon looking at my account for books with DRM removed are low, if the law and/or political mood would change, I don't want to count of the removal of the books from the Amaon cloud as being effective, since that "stuff" remains forever.