Adobe Digital Editions 3.0 released

[GeoffR]

Originally Posted by Sydney's Mom

Wow. I didn't realize this would make all existing epub readers obsolete! This is absolutely the dumbest thing I have ever heard. The comment about libraries is a good one--they barely have enough readers to satisfy their patrons now. If they have to start over, they might just give up on electronic books.

Haven't publishers objected to this? This sends everybody to Amazon!

It wouldn't make existing readers obsolete, they would just require a firmware update. As long as the firmware update happened before the DRM update, most readers would never notice that anything had changed.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by GeoffR

It wouldn't make existing readers obsolete, they would just require a firmware update. As long as the firmware update happened before the DRM update, most readers would never notice that anything had changed.

But there's a lot of generic readers out there that won't be getting updated firmware because the company isn't around any more or the company doesn't support the hardware anymore.

Off the top of my head: BeBook, Aztak, iRiver, Cool-er are just a few of the former. Sony, Asus, Samsung, are candidates for the latter.

Remember, the Adept ecosystem is populated by a horde of small players on both the hardware and bookstore side. The reason they signed on with Adobe was to reduce their required effort and resource commitment and even a small effort might be an unwelcome/unaffordable burden.

[meeera]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

But there's a lot of generic readers out there that won't be getting updated firmware because the company isn't around any more or the company doesn't support the hardware anymore.

A related thing that worries me is that the people least well placed to replace their readers with new ones are the people who are in most need of access to library ebooks.

[Sydney's Mom]

Originally Posted by Apache

I Alf'ed all of my old eoub books as soon as I got them. If the new DRM does not allow me to Alf new epub purchases I will not be buying them. In that scenario it looks like Amazon would win all of my business.
Apache

Exactly. I don't like being beholden to a system or a DRM scheme once I have laid out my good money.

I had this experience with Apple. I bought some songs, and then got a new email, my apple id was hacked and anyway, I changed apple ids. So, these songs, (which I paid for!) will no longer copy to my ipod. Solution--rebuy the songs on Amazon, upload all my songs to the Amazon Cloud, and download all songs I bought at Amazon into iTunes. The fact that only iTunes seems to allow syncing to a portable device, keeps me using it, but not buying anything from Apple.

Luckily, I have over 3000 epubs in my library. Which are all Alfed and backed up multiple ways. The idea that I would not have that option with epubs in the future sends me to Amazon for all my purchases. After all, I have to convert the epubs to AWZ3 anyway.

I am really worried about libraries, and that is probably what this is directed at in the first place. Given the prices publishers charge libraries, and the other restrictions they impose (26 total borrows, etc.) and the fact that libraries have to have ereaders to lend out to their patrons who do not want/cannot buy an ereader, they have two real choices--only offer kindle books, which will work on current kindle devices they have in stock, or stop carrying ebooks altogether.

Publishers cannot help shooting themselves in the foot, can they?

[hwlester]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Since then, I actively tend to avoid Adobe software, but with regard to Flash, Adobe Reader and Digital Editions, I can't. Without Flash, half the internet stops working, I need Adobe Reader for work, and there is no alternative for Digtial Editions. Maybe Sony Reader, but I've never tested that and don't know if Alf can handle that software.

Sony Reader for PC (and the older Sony Reader Library) are powered by ADE, so it's not really an alternative. At one point, ADE was attempting to obfuscate it's key... Sony Reader kept the key in the clear.

[Sydney's Mom]

Originally Posted by GeoffR

It wouldn't make existing readers obsolete, they would just require a firmware update. As long as the firmware update happened before the DRM update, most readers would never notice that anything had changed.

I have a Kindle. I buy all my books in epub format (to distinguish them from free books I download from Amazon) and convert them through Alf. So my kindle would not be able to read epubs anymore, because I could no longer convert them through Alf.

[AlexBell]

Originally Posted by stormcloude

I think it will just cause more people to go looking for de-DRM tools. The exact thing they're trying to prevent.

But my best guess is that the vast majority of ebook buyers don't have the faintest idea what DRM is, what it is for, what it will do, and how to cleanse ebooks from DRM. And I think that we at MobileRead are a small and quite unrepresentative minority of ebook readers.

I appreciate all the work that's gone into this thread, but in my opinion at least it's preaching to the converted.

[xg4bx]

''They also hope to unveil a new “always online” form of DRM within the next two years. This will function the same way most games work, that require you to always maintain an internet connection to verify the authenticity of the book.''

http://goodereader.com/blog/electron...lled-e-readers

[cromag]

I can't see how a work like an ebook would merit the kind of resources that an "always online" DRM scheme would require. Plus, too many places where it would fail -- in the park, at the beach, etc. Not that someone might not be tempted to try it, but I suspect that would be a quick "Fail."

[crossi]

Originally Posted by xg4bx

''They also hope to unveil a new “always online” form of DRM within the next two years. This will function the same way most games work, that require you to always maintain an internet connection to verify the authenticity of the book.''

http://goodereader.com/blog/electron...lled-e-readers

This would be terrible. I've bought one and only one game from Steam and it is a nightmare. From time to time with no explaination the game won't load though I had been using it the day before. The next day I can use it again. Never have been able to talk with a person on tech support or even get an email back from them. Steam is very user unfriendly. Having to go through that for my books? Totally unacceptable.

[doubleshuffle]

Originally Posted by xg4bx

''They also hope to unveil a new “always online” form of DRM within the next two years. This will function the same way most games work, that require you to always maintain an internet connection to verify the authenticity of the book.''

http://goodereader.com/blog/electron...lled-e-readers

Well, that's Tweedle Dum's take on the slideshow posted earlier in this thread. Not a shred of new information in it. (And no source on the claim about the always-online DRM. That possibility has been mentioned here before as well, and while it seems highly likely that Adobe would be planning this ultimate f***-up, I don't think it has been verified yet. Or has it?)

EDIT: There's actually something pretty interesting in the comment section over at goodereader:

Shameer Ayyappan

Hi Michael, I’m the Sr. Product Manager for the ebooks business at Adobe. I wanted to clarify Adobe’s stand on some of this:

Background: One of the biggest concerns publishers and resellers had with ACS4 was about the easily available DRM hacks on the web. We addressed this with the latest version of ACS (v5) and RMSDK (v10).

We will leave it to the discretion of our resellers and publishers to set the DRM flag in ACS 5 (thus enforcing the need for RMSDK 10 based readers to download books via ACS 5).

Bottomline- Resellers and publishers will benefit from the hardened DRM if they use ACS5 and their customers are on RMSDK 10 based readers. If their customers are on RMSDK 9 based readers, they will continue to be able to deliver books- but without the hardened DRM. i.e, people with older readers can continue to purchase or read new books.

And Adobe has NOT discussed any plans for an ‘always online’ form of DRM.

[Lynx-lynx]

Originally Posted by doubleshuffle

EDIT: There's actually something pretty interesting in the comment section over at goodereader:
Shameer Ayyappan

Hi Michael, I’m the Sr. Product Manager for the ebooks business at Adobe. I wanted to clarify Adobe’s stand on some of this:

Background: One of the biggest concerns publishers and resellers had with ACS4 was about the easily available DRM hacks on the web. We addressed this with the latest version of ACS (v5) and RMSDK (v10).

We will leave it to the discretion of our resellers and publishers to set the DRM flag in ACS 5 (thus enforcing the need for RMSDK 10 based readers to download books via ACS 5).

Bottomline- Resellers and publishers will benefit from the hardened DRM if they use ACS5 and their customers are on RMSDK 10 based readers. If their customers are on RMSDK 9 based readers, they will continue to be able to deliver books- but without the hardened DRM. i.e, people with older readers can continue to purchase or read new books.

And Adobe has NOT discussed any plans for an ‘always online’ form of DRM.

Wow that Adobe chap sounds like he may know what's going on .... can one of the Mods or Alexander ask him or another rep to come onto MR for a chat and (very polite) Q and A session?

What do you think Mods?

[doubleshuffle]

Not a bad idea. What struck me is that Ayyappan's statement contradicts the "webinar" slides concerning the forced adoption of the new DRM. I should read Nate's blog more regularly, because he had the story yesterday already: Adobe have actually backpedalled due to the negative reactions to their plans.

[pietvo]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

[sarcasm]I'm sure Sony will be delighted to spend the resources producing a firmware update for your PRS-950s so that you can read books with the new DRM on them.[/sarcasm]

Adobe claims that the following Sony devices are compatible with ADE3:
PRS-900 PRS-500 PRS-T1 PRS-950 PRS-350 PRS-650

I suspect that they forgot to update that list, but the page it is linked explicitly from the ADE 3.0 page.

[Lynx-lynx]

Originally Posted by pietvo

Adobe claims that the following Sony devices are compatible with ADE3:
PRS-900 PRS-500 PRS-T1 PRS-950 PRS-350 PRS-650

I suspect that they forgot to update that list, but the page it is linked explicitly from the ADE 3.0 page.

pietvo do you think that those devices are compatible with ADE3 only until Sony implements CS5?