Kobo Now Listing File Type and DRM

[GeoffR]

Originally Posted by Hrafn

Oddly enough, this information is not however available on their New Zealand site (at least not yet).

I can see the downoad options on the NZ site (in Firefox).

[Hrafn]

Lynx-lynx & GeoffR -- odd. I'm not getting download options for either NZ or AU. I'm looking at NZ through both Firefox & Chrome (other countries only through Chrome, as it allows me to re-geolocate myself easily). Admittedly, I'm looking at all these sites in non-logged-in mode -- I don't know if that makes any difference.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by lkmiller

The Harry Potter books also say "Download options: EPUB2 (DRM-Free)." Which is true just not from the Kobo website. But I suppose you don't actually buy them from Kobo either.

It's actually not true: the Harry Potter books do have DRM, in the form of watermarking. It's erroneous to equate "DRM" with "encryption".

[GeoffR]

Originally Posted by Hrafn

Lynx-lynx & GeoffR -- odd. I'm not getting download options for either NZ or AU. I'm looking at NZ through both Firefox & Chrome (other countries only through Chrome, as it allows me to re-geolocate myself easily). Admittedly, I'm looking at all these sites in non-logged-in mode -- I don't know if that makes any difference.

I can still see the download options when not logged in.

[GeoffR]

Originally Posted by HarryT

It's actually not true: the Harry Potter books do have DRM, in the form of watermarking. It's erroneous to equate "DRM" with "encryption".

Well if you count watermarking as DRM, why not count copyrighting as DRM too?

Encryption DRM is what most people mean by DRM.

[Lynx-lynx]

Originally Posted by Hrafn

Lynx-lynx & GeoffR -- odd. I'm not getting download options for either NZ or AU. I'm looking at NZ through both Firefox & Chrome (other countries only through Chrome, as it allows me to re-geolocate myself easily). Admittedly, I'm looking at all these sites in non-logged-in mode -- I don't know if that makes any difference.

Some file types won't show download options eg kepub only books, epub3 books (that are read on tablet or apps).

What's the name of a book that you can't find the file type for?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by GeoffR

Well if you count watermarking as DRM, why not count copyrighting as DRM too?

Copyright law is certainly one of the reasons that digital rights need to be managed, but copyright law isn't DRM.

Encryption DRM is what most people mean by DRM.

Perfectly true, to be sure, but that doesn't mean that those people are right. The majority opinion is not necessarily the accurate one. "DRM" is any technology for managing digital rights. Encryption is one such method; watermarking is another. There are a number of others.

[GeoffR]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Copyright law is certainly one of the reasons that digital rights need to be managed, but copyright law isn't DRM.

Copyright law isn't DRM, but inserting a copyright notice into an ebook is a method of managing rights, same as inserting a watermark.

Perfectly true, to be sure, but that doesn't mean that those people are right. The majority opinion is not necessarily the accurate one.

What is important to those buying the book is whether DRM will restrict their ability to download or read the book. Encryption is a completely different matter than copyright page or watermark.

[lkmiller]

Originally Posted by GeoffR

...Encryption DRM is what most people mean by DRM.

And it seems that's how Kobo looks at it too.

[Hrafn]

Originally Posted by Lynx-lynx

Some file types won't show download options eg kepub only books, epub3 books (that are read on tablet or apps).

What's the name of a book that you can't find the file type for?

Captivated by You (as listed in the links I gave above) -- it happened to be on the NZ/AU/US versions of the Kobo front page, so was convenient for comparison.

[Lynx-lynx]

Originally Posted by Hrafn

Captivated by You (as listed in the links I gave above) -- it happened to be on the NZ/AU/US versions of the Kobo front page, so was convenient for comparison.

Captivated by You is a kepub for whatever reasons on the Aus site.

Below is a pic. There's no blackberry icon and that's usually a prime determinant as to whether it's a kepub or not. I mean apart from the fact that now Kobo has reinstalled format info - and that book doesn't show any.

[crich70]

Encryption DRM is what most people mean by DRM.

Originally Posted by HarryT

Perfectly true, to be sure, but that doesn't mean that those people are right. The majority opinion is not necessarily the accurate one. "DRM" is any technology for managing digital rights. Encryption is one such method; watermarking is another. There are a number of others.

True enough but I'm thinking that at least a watermark doesn't preclude you from being able to easily convert a book from one format to another. Encryption on the other hand makes you jump through some hoops to be able to read a book that you bought in one format (like epub) on a reader that uses another format (like kindle).

[cromag]

Maybe, to avoid confusion, we should differentiate between DRM and good, old fashioned "Copy Protection."

[Hrafn]

Originally Posted by Lynx-lynx

Captivated by You is a kepub for whatever reasons on the Aus site.

Below is a pic. There's no blackberry icon and that's usually a prime determinant as to whether it's a kepub or not. I mean apart from the fact that now Kobo has reinstalled format info - and that book doesn't show any.

Okay, that's really bizarre. I just checked using a Baen-and-therefore-DRM-free book as an example, and you're right, it does show file type.

So Kobo (i) doesn't show file type for kepubs & (ii) e-publishes Captivated by You only in some geolocations as kepub. As I said, really bizarre. Makes one feel one needs a secret decoder ring to interpret their pages.

I haven't actually bought anything off Kobo yet, but now that Diesel has closed down, I may well do so in the future.

[GeoffR]

Originally Posted by Hrafn

Okay, that's really bizarre. I just checked using a Baen-and-therefore-DRM-free book as an example, and you're right, it does show file type.

So Kobo (i) doesn't show file type for kepubs & (ii) e-publishes Captivated by You only in some geolocations as kepub. As I said, really bizarre. Makes one feel one needs a secret decoder ring to interpret their pages.

I haven't actually bought anything off Kobo yet, but now that Diesel has closed down, I may well do so in the future.

The new information shown is the download options for the book. If nothing is shown, then the book doesn't have any download options (i.e. it can only be synced directly to a Kobo app or device).