Quote:
Originally Posted by jhowell
It is somewhat concerning to me that the software that was issued the takedown (DeGourou) is not specific to IA. It is an Adobe Digital Editions (ADE) DRM remover.
|
Yes, it's a combination of code from DeDRM and from my ACSM Input plugin, but these aren't the only parts. There's also Internet-Archive-specific code to log in and download the ACSM file from them. It's software designed specifically for IA loans. libgourou is the generic version.
I can understand why they're doing what they're doing. They are being sued by publishers for lending out books they legitimately own, and at least with DMCA takedowns like this they can be like "We're doing anything to prevent people from abusing our system". At least for applications like DeGourou that explicitly advertise "Hey, you can use this to get decrypted PDFs from Internet Archive books".
Quote:
Originally Posted by SteveEisenberg
Of course it would be hard to impossible to stop all de-DRMing. Maybe there is something about the software they are asking to be taken down that makes it especially easy to integrate with Open Library. That I don’t know.
|
That's exactly the difference between this and other DRM removal tools. This allows you to just input the URL to an IA book page and it automates all the other steps, downloading the ACSM, the book, and removing the DRM.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Quoth
Pot & kettle
IA notorious for loaning copyright scanned books without agreement or royalty payment and also free downloads of copyright material.
I'd even bet a lot of the stuff the IA adds DRM to is scanned or uploaded copyright material and then loaned without making any agreement or paying any royalty.
|
Yeah. Just like physical libraries have done for centuries all over the world, just with a different medium. IA buys one copy of a book, stores it safely, scans it, then makes sure only one person at a time has access to the digital copy at a time using DRM. Physical libraries also don't have to have agreements with or pay royalty to authors.
Yes, I know that due to ancient stupid laws like the DMCA it may not be legal. Format-shifting (converting from one digital format to another) is legal, so why wouldn't converting an analog book into a digital book be, if they're using DRM and only loaning out one copy at a time?
For the authors, publishers, copyright holders - what's the difference if a normal library buys a book and loans it out, versus IA buying a book, scanning it, and loaning out ONE copy at a time? A normal physical library can also just send someone to a bookstore, buy a book, then place it in their library and lend out to people. Why should digital lending be different? Just because IA is larger and has more customers / users?