Quote:
Originally Posted by dickloraine
Isn't there a difference between a format and the drm? Epub is an open format. Mobi not (I'm no lawyer, but couldn't amazon just decide to forbid the use of mobi to anyone? Maybe not important for readers, but for authors who may wish to sell mobis through their own channels).
The ecosystems are of course all closed. Thats because in addition to the format there is drm.
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Amazon is perfectly within their legal right to forbid the use of their own MOBI conversion implementation,
as in fact they have done for the purpose of resale.
Neertheless, every DRM-free store sells MOBI, this is because there are multiple other implementations. Including one by Mobipocket, which cannot now be withdrawn.
It is difficult to keep a format closed. No license restricts the rights of people who obtained a MOBI from reverse-engineering it.
(And yes, the original statement I took exception to was about the DRM and the concept of "I won't give money to companies that use DRM, I refuse to use Alf to liberate my books, because I wish to make a stand against DRM" -- a worthwhile cause (but not one I care about) which unfortunately precludes buying from Kobo as well as Amazon, and also says nothing about reader hardware or format specs.