DRM on e-books? Five possibly good reasons to crack it

Alexander Turcic · 08-22-2013, 08:30 AM

Some of you may have come to realize that you're not buying your e-books. In many cases you are in effect just renting them, controlled by digital-rights management and subject to tough rules buried in small print. Legal issues put aside, Digital Trends names five reasons why you might want to free your e-book collection.

Leave the country, lose your ebooks
Anger Amazon, lose your ebooks
Own too many devices, lose your ebooks
Switch to a different book store, lose your ebooks
Bookstore shuts down, lose your ebooks

Related:

Image: peasap/Flickr

Terisa de morgan · 08-22-2013, 08:32 AM

Related too: Fictionwise / Books on Board close

leanansidhe · 08-22-2013, 08:48 AM

#2 and #4 are why I liberate my ebooks. I'll never have "too many devices", can't afford that. I am a little slow to remove the DRM though. I don't do it right after a purchase. I usually wait until I have a few books to de-drm and do the bunch all together.

I really should be more proactive, just in case something happens. I spend too much on my ebooks to lose them.

ProfCrash · 08-22-2013, 09:16 AM

That reminds me to complete my quarterly freeing of e-books from the shackles of DRM.

I know that this is bad, but if Amazon were to say my account was hacked and shut it down (which has happened to people) I would get a gift certificate to repurchase my e-books. Knowing the size of my collection, I can think of many fun toys I can purchase instead since I will still have access to my ebooks.

simond · 08-22-2013, 09:57 AM

I just get in the habit of not reading anything until after I've removed the DRM, makes it much harder to forget...

calvin-c · 08-22-2013, 10:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alexander Turcic

Some of you may have come to realize that you're not buying your e-books. In many cases you are in effect just renting them

Very much agree with the reasons but please, you're not renting the books no matter how much it might (sometimes) seem that way. You're buying a license to read them. Theoretically you can even sell the license although few ebook sellers (none that I know of) are set up to handle that. You lose your right to read the books when you violate the license terms.

I will further note that probably not all the terms are legal-but until it's tested in court, who can really say? It's you against the seller-and who has the power? So I fully agree with the reasons, just not with your statement that we're renting our books. Thanks.

BWinmill · 08-22-2013, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alexander Turcic

Leave the country, lose your ebooks
Anger Amazon, lose your ebooks
Own too many devices, lose your ebooks
Switch to a different book store, lose your ebooks
Bookstore shuts down, lose your ebooks

A few of these strike me as being a bit off base.

Take #3: are you actually losing your ebooks or are you simply unable to add them to new devices? Even then, Amazon allows you to deregister devices that you no longer use. Granted, I have had this problem with books that use Adobe's DRM. Moral of the story, ensure that a company's DRM scheme reflects your planned usage.

Take #4: Adobe's DRM scheme allows for books from multiple vendors. There are two cases for Amazon: you either keep your Amazon device and read DRMed books from other vendors on other devices, or you use a device that supports the reader software from multiple vendors (e.g. Android, iOS, OS X or Windows). You don't actually lose your books because you bought somewhere else.

Take #5: This may be true of some ebook vendors that use their own software. As far as I can tell it is not true of Amazon, Kobo, or vendors that use Adobe's DRM. All of these vendors download the book to the device, and it does not require online access thereafter.

#1 and #2 I can't speak for.

I do remove DRM so that I can maintain my own backup of ebooks that I have purchased. But that is my choice and it does not mean that people lose access to their books when the above happen.

Terisa de morgan · 08-22-2013, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BWinmill

Take #5: This may be true of some ebook vendors that use their own software. As far as I can tell it is not true of Amazon, Kobo, or vendors that use Adobe's DRM. All of these vendors download the book to the device, and it does not require online access thereafter.

Not really. Bookshops tell you: we have your books forever, and that point is false. That's point #5.

Istvan diVega · 08-22-2013, 02:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by calvin-c

you're not renting the books no matter how much it might (sometimes) seem that way. You're buying a license to read them.

And the practical difference for the consumer is what?

cortman · 08-22-2013, 02:39 PM

So far I have only had to de-DRM less than a dozen ebooks. I usually get non-DRM classics.

doctorow · 08-22-2013, 02:59 PM

My usual ebook purchases are textbooks. The ones I bought don't have DRM; they are only watermarked with my name in the footer. I can live with that.

calvin-c · 08-22-2013, 03:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Istvan diVega

And the practical difference for the consumer is what?

That depends on what you think is practical. IMO it's not practical to fight a lawsuit to enforce your right to resell your ebooks. Others might think it's practical but not realize that they'd have a good chance of winning-because they think they're renting their ebooks rather than buying a license. A license can be resold. Rental rights often cannot. Either way, my opinion of what's practical is just that-my opinion. I try to keep the distinction in mind because others can (and often do) have other opinions of what's worth doing and what isn't.

Istvan diVega · 08-22-2013, 03:15 PM

Cheers. So no practical differences then.

banjomike · 08-22-2013, 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BWinmill

Take #3: are you actually losing your ebooks or are you simply unable to add them to new devices? Even then, Amazon allows you to deregister devices that you no longer use.

I thought the OP (or Digital Trends) was referring to a limit on the number of devices that can be attached to any one account with a supplier (Amazon, B&N, or whoever). Are there any suppliers with such limits? I've seen discussions that suggest that Amazon have restrictions on the number of devices but never seen an actual number or even proof that such limits exist.

ProfCrash · 08-22-2013, 08:08 PM

There were restrictions. i know people who had to call Amazon to get books removed from deregistered devices.

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08-22-2013, 08:30 AM	#1
Alexander Turcic Fully Converged Posts: 18,175 Karma: 14021202 Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Switzerland Device: Too many to count here.	DRM on e-books? Five possibly good reasons to crack it Some of you may have come to realize that you're not buying your e-books. In many cases you are in effect just renting them, controlled by digital-rights management and subject to tough rules buried in small print. Legal issues put aside, Digital Trends names five reasons why you might want to free your e-book collection. Leave the country, lose your ebooks Anger Amazon, lose your ebooks Own too many devices, lose your ebooks Switch to a different book store, lose your ebooks Bookstore shuts down, lose your ebooks Related: Renting textbooks from Amazon? Do not dare to cross state borders Australian Parliament recommends consumers be educated on circumventing geoblocking Kindle store: Indies avoid DRM to reach wider audience Anti-piracy group wants to catch e-book pirates; vendors now required to help them Image: peasap/Flickr

08-22-2013, 08:32 AM	#2
Terisa de morgan Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,686 Karma: 12595249 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Madrid, Spain Device: Kobo Clara/Aura One/Forma,XiaoMI 5, iPad, Huawei MediaPad, YotaPhone 2	Related too: Fictionwise / Books on Board close

08-22-2013, 08:48 AM	#3
leanansidhe Faerie Godmother Posts: 243 Karma: 6544888 Join Date: Aug 2013 Device: K3, Kobo Mini	#2 and #4 are why I liberate my ebooks. I'll never have "too many devices", can't afford that. I am a little slow to remove the DRM though. I don't do it right after a purchase. I usually wait until I have a few books to de-drm and do the bunch all together. I really should be more proactive, just in case something happens. I spend too much on my ebooks to lose them.

08-22-2013, 09:16 AM	#4
ProfCrash Tea Enthusiast Posts: 8,554 Karma: 75384937 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Somewhere in the USA Device: Kindle1, Kindle DX Graphite, K3 3G, IPad 3, PW2	That reminds me to complete my quarterly freeing of e-books from the shackles of DRM. I know that this is bad, but if Amazon were to say my account was hacked and shut it down (which has happened to people) I would get a gift certificate to repurchase my e-books. Knowing the size of my collection, I can think of many fun toys I can purchase instead since I will still have access to my ebooks.

08-22-2013, 09:57 AM	#5
simond Fanatic Posts: 532 Karma: 1062755 Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: London, UK Device: Kobo Aura One, iPad, iPhone	I just get in the habit of not reading anything until after I've removed the DRM, makes it much harder to forget...

08-22-2013, 02:39 PM	#10
cortman Zealot Posts: 138 Karma: 1025658 Join Date: Jun 2013 Device: Kobo Glo, Kindle 3 3g, Nook HD+, Nexus 4 (Mantano)	So far I have only had to de-DRM less than a dozen ebooks. I usually get non-DRM classics.

08-22-2013, 02:59 PM	#11
doctorow Guru Posts: 914 Karma: 3410461 Join Date: May 2004 Device: Kindle Touch	My usual ebook purchases are textbooks. The ones I bought don't have DRM; they are only watermarked with my name in the footer. I can live with that.

08-22-2013, 03:15 PM	#13
Istvan diVega Inharmonious Posts: 416 Karma: 2157616 Join Date: Jan 2013 Device: Sony PRS-950, Galaxy Tab 2 10.1	Cheers. So no practical differences then.

08-22-2013, 08:08 PM	#15
ProfCrash Tea Enthusiast Posts: 8,554 Karma: 75384937 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Somewhere in the USA Device: Kindle1, Kindle DX Graphite, K3 3G, IPad 3, PW2	There were restrictions. i know people who had to call Amazon to get books removed from deregistered devices.

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