Quote:
Originally Posted by afa
That's scary.
I'm sorry to go a little off-topic, but since I'm a little new to the whole ebook world, I'm not sure how this works. So, could you explain what you mean by "lose access"? I mean, once it's on your reader, it's on your reader, right? (unless you have a Kindle, of course...  ) And the files on your hard drive? Does it mean they refuse to open, or what? Do DRMed files 'check' with the provider via your Internet connection every time you open them?
Thanks. And again, sorry for going off-topic. |
there have already been some interesting examples in reply to your question, here's what happened to me.
i had to reinstall my OS (windows). it turns out (i discovered afterwards...), the MS Reader app gets a new ID number (or whatever) when you reinstall. so all the books i had downloaded on the previous installation were no longer recognized, and i can't open them. also, this id is apparently stored in my account online, so when i try to download those books from my bookshelf (which, by the way, you can ONLY do via Internet Explorer, which means if i switched from windows to a system which doesn't support IE, i'm out of luck as well), the drm server checks my ms reader id, sees it doesn't match, and the connection is blocked as being illegitimate.
in theory, i should be able to just re-authorise my MS Reader, link the new id to my account, and re-download the books. except that my MS Reader is linked to an MS Passport.net account, which apparently i created specifically for the purpose (doubtless because i didn't have the choice, i wouldn't have added that ridiculous extra step just for fun) and never logged into again, and i can't for the life of me figure out what my login / password is (i usually use one of a specific few for throwaway accounts like that, but it's not any of the obvious ones, i've tried them all). and when i click on the "forgot my password" link i get sent from link to link around in a circle and end up back where i started.
so i'm well and truly stuck, as you can see. since i *did* remove the drm immediately after buying those books i do have copies i can read, which is a lucky thing since when i lost access i hadn't quite a few of them at all yet. but if i lose those copies i think i'm out of luck. thank you, drm !