What's with the Paranoia?

[Thasaidon]

Originally Posted by barryem

I'm not supporting piracy at all.
Someone says he doesn't buy ebooks. Okay. Does that make him a pirate? Maybe. Maybe not. .... There could be all kinds of legitimate reasons for not buying ebooks.

Barry

Good point Barry. To take it one stage further, Someone says they do not pirate ebooks. Okay. Are they telling the truth? Maybe. Maybe not.

What I can say is that I think a lot of people are too quick to make accusations wiithout really knowing what the real facts are.

1. Is the person concerned trolling?
2. Has the person concerned given full information?.
Do they not buy ebooks because they buy cheap
paperbacks and scan them.
3. Are they bought ebooks by family as gifts? I
presume eBook sellers allow you to buy ebooks as
gifts.
4. Do they only read PD, Fanfic and free ebooks?

If you cannot answer all these questions I do not think you should be so ready to accuse people.

But of course it is too easy to shout "XXX is a witch, burn them" and too often there is a mob that will agree.

[binaryhermit]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Because you (usually) can't buy paperbacks of fanfics

Theoretically, fanfic probably violates the author's copyright, IMO, but copyright holders often look the other way because it's a bad look to go after your biggest fans

EDIT: Like most artists at least look the other way when fans distribute unofficial recordings of concerts when it's not done for profit

[haertig]

There are many times in my life that I could have said, "I don't buy eBooks". The reason for one of those times was because you could buy a used paperback cheaper than the eBook (those days are mostly over now). Another time - current time - is that I can get what I want to read from the library. So by in large, I don't buy many eBooks these days. I have gone through eBook buying binges though. Gets expensive really fast. So I don't do that so much anymore.

I do buy on occasion if I hear about a book that really gets my interest and my library doesn't have it. Or, if the author has a compelling life story. e.g., Warren Fahy, who wrote "Fragment" and "Pandemonium" - his personal story is sad, so I bought those books to support him. Fragment was a unique story line that has not been repeated to death in other books, and I liked that book. The followup, Pandemonium, is on my Kindle now, waiting to be read. Fragment is available from my library (still bought it though), Pandemonium is not (bought that one too).

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by haertig

The reason for one of those times was because you could buy a used paperback cheaper than the eBook (those days are mostly over now).

Right. Now it is often possible to buy a new paperback cheaper than the eBook.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

Right. Now it is often possible to buy a new paperback cheaper than the eBook.

Kind of difficult to DRM dead tree books too.

[binaryhermit]

The fact that it's in an analog form is kinda like a form of DRM...

Not that the analog equivalent of ebook piracy didn't exist before ebooks.

[harriska2]

I don’t register for privacy reasons. I sideload from Calibre.

[Difflugia]

I certainly qualify for Jon's definition of paranoid. I don't register anything if I can find an alternative with a subjectively reasonable amount of effort.

• My ebook accounts are under various fake names.
• I buy ebooks using gift cards that I pay cash for at B&M stores. Incidentally, that makes Kobo a bit harder to use because most VISA gift cards in the US don't work internationally and Kobo's Canadian.
• Most of my Android devices are unregistered. I have a few that are registered with fake names specifically to download apps, which I sideload onto my unregistered devices. I rarely purchase apps, but when I do, I ensure that I can remove the Google account DRM (which I mentioned some years ago in the Calibre Companion forum, resulting in similar responses to those that eeeink got here). Updating my handful of paid apps typically takes an hour or two to download new versions to the registered devices, remove the account checks, and sideload to the unregistered devices that I actually use.
• My (Android) cell phone is pay-as-you-go. I buy the cards with cash at B&M stores.
• I use Overdrive. As far as I know, the only information they have about me is a library card number and an email address. Since my local library knows who I am, there may be somebody that could correlate my checkouts with my real identity.
• The Michigan eLibrary uses my driver's license number to verify my Michigan residence and eligibility to use it. EBSCO claims that they don't store it, but if they're lying, they know exactly who I am and what books I read. It irks me every time I sign in, but free access to several hundred thousand ebooks crosses my threshold of benefit-to-paranoia.
• The only device I own that's registered in my real name is an iPad that my employer bought me as a longevity gift and registered on my behalf. I use it as a dedicated ereader with Calibre on a home network that isn't connected to the internet. I've connected it to the internet four or five times to download updates.

I'm aware enough to know that this gets me virtually nothing tangible. On the other hand, getting into the habit of electronic privacy is easier than it sounds. I personally think of it like voting; while the personal benefit to me is vanishingly small and my habits are of the kind that no governments, retailers, nor even the Mobileread morality police would care much about, I'm of the opinion that everyone should be willing to spend some effort to protect privacy in principle. Like most people's opinion of voting, If I don't do what I can, then I really don't have much standing to tell anyone else that they should value privacy more than they do.

As an aside, the only entity that I've ever noticed having any reaction to any of this is Amazon. I have had several fake-name Amazon accounts from which I used Amazon gift cards to buy ebooks. Every time, shortly after applying a gift card to the account, I received a "we don't recognize this device, please answer some security questions" kind of message. This never happens with credit-card-type gift cards or even with my real credit card (which I used, along with my real name, for physical purchases), but only with Amazon gift cards. Perhaps there's some other reason, but I can't help thinking that it's because once a gift card is redeemed, the balance is tied to the single account. The bar wasn't particularly high (I had to enter the address and phone number for each account), but if any of the accounts were to be locked, I would have lost the balance in that account for which Amazon had already been paid.

[Difflugia]

To address another aspect of this thread, if I had a reason to not buy ebooks at all, I'd have little problem going completely free (and DRM-free) by any legal standard. It helps that my favorite fiction genre is a combined SF&F and I've downloaded the Baen CDs, but I have read and enjoyed many other contemporary ebooks that can be downloaded with either no registration or something minimal like an email address.

I recognize that my particular tastes help in that regard. In addition to SF, I also enjoy reading old books (both fiction and nonfiction) simply because they're old. I've read hundreds of Google Books scans and downloaded thousands (I'm nothing if not optimistic). I imagine that staying off the ebook grid would be harder if I enjoyed contemporary romance, for example, but I'm also guessing that there's a decent cross section of readers that would be able to otherwise stay satisfied if there were some reason to avoid even free books that require account registration.

[Sirtel]

No way I'm willing to carry cash with me. I often shop and move around late in the evening. Should I ever get robbed, I can close my credit and debit cards immediately, but cash would be gone forever. And yes, I've been robbed once.

All that other stuff I just have no time for, nor do I care. As to public domain books, not interested. I like new books and always have.

Possibly if I were 20 years old, I'd think more about privacy. At close to 50, I just no longer care. Life's too short to bother with fake accounts, gift cards or, worst of all, cash, which I've not used for 20 years or more. Couldn't stand going back to cash. Eeew.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by harriska2

I don’t register for privacy reasons. I sideload from Calibre.

Where do you get your eBooks? Do you read eBooks still in copyright?

If you do read eBooks in copyright, then registering is no different to buying and downloading from the library.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Difflugia

I certainly qualify for Jon's definition of paranoid. I don't register anything if I can find an alternative with a subjectively reasonable amount of effort.

• My ebook accounts are under various fake names.

Given that you have accounts with fake names, why not just use one of them to register? It will then give you full access to all the features of your Kindle.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

No way I'm willing to carry cash with me. I often shop and move around late in the evening. Should I ever get robbed, I can close my credit and debit cards immediately, but cash would be gone forever. And yes, I've been robbed once.

All that other stuff I just have no time for, nor do I care. As to public domain books, not interested. I like new books and always have.

Possibly if I were 20 years old, I'd think more about privacy. At close to 50, I just no longer care. Life's too short to bother with fake accounts, gift cards or, worst of all, cash, which I've not used for 20 years or more. Couldn't stand going back to cash. Eeew.

I just don't see any reason not to register. I am currently registered with Kobo and Amazon. I have been registered with Kobo since not long before Sony closed their eBookstore. And since I've had my Kobo and Kindle registered, I've never had a single issue with privacy. Given all the people on MR that are registered with Kobo and/or Amazon who have never had a privacy issue why is it that some feel the need for privacy when there is no problem with it? Oh and I've never read of a privacy issue with B&N, Onyx, Pocketbook, or any other company that sells Readers. I'm more likely to hear about privacy issue from physical stores like Target and others.

[Difflugia]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

All that other stuff I just have no time for, nor do I care.

Are there any social causes for which you'd suffer a similar level of inconvenience? I'll avoid asking you about specific examples because I don't want this to turn into a Politics & Religion discussion, but the impact of those leveraging the results of massive data analysis for private benefit at the expense of the public is, in my view, both important and profound.

I likened my behavior to my thoughts on voting and I'll stick with that. My individual vote was nearly meaningless in practical sense, as were, quite frankly, the results of the election to me personally (I'm a relatively affluent white man with a secure, white-collar job). I still thought it was important to try to influence others, including by example. The inconvenience to me was pretty minor (mail-in voting wasn't really a problem in Michigan), but it was worth it to me and I'm glad it was worth it to many, many others.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Difflugia

Are there any social causes for which you'd suffer a similar level of inconvenience? .

Not really. As to voting, that can be done via internet here (electronic voting) and I've used that option for many years. If there were no e-voting, I probably wouldn't vote at all. The same goes for various referendums etc. Yes, I'm lazy.

That doesn't mean I lie on the couch 24/7, of course. I've even done volunteer work. I just like to take the easiest road wherever possible, and that goes for my digital life too. I value convenience more than privacy in most cases.