Amazon and DRM changes

[Lys]

Originally Posted by rantanplan

https://www.kobo.com/de/de/ebook/per...fahrt-der-aura

If you scroll to the botton it'll list EPUB 2 (Adobe DRM), even though it's normally sold without DRM.

The same with e.g. https://www.kobo.com/de/de/ebook/sta...wundete-himmel. Heyne requests books to be sold without DRM.

The same book, listed on another (not german) website lists the same book from "Perry Rhodan digital" as a DRM-protected book as well.
https://www.ibs.it/perry-rhodan-3205...12954660e368b3

So, I wonder if the publisher did a mistake when uploading their data on not german websites

[lkmiller]

Originally Posted by ottischwenk

What is that supposed to be?
Like others, Kobo builds so poorly that you just don't notice it.
Under my broken devices there are only Kobos (4 of 5)

That is some bad luck. I've mostly had Kobos over the years -- haven't broken one yet. Of course, no broken Kindles or Nooks either. My ideal would be Nook hardware, Kobo software, and Amazon's catalog in epub! Kobos are the best compromise for me, but I know they aren't for everyone.

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by lkmiller

My ideal would be Nook hardware, Kobo software, and Amazon's catalog in epub! Kobos are the best compromise for me, but I know they aren't for everyone.

I can best customize Android devices to my needs - both in terms of software and hardware (refresh)
None of the Linux based devices can deliver what I want.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by John F

And that was in a Kindle Scribe thread, wasn't it? Seems acceptable to me in a thread titled "Kindle Scribe". I think what most people object to is the adnauseum repeated posts about superiority of Kobo in the Kindle and non-Kobo sections.

Considering my wife loves doing crosswords and many of the pbooks she purchases have are about the same size as her Libra 2 screen. Add in that the average crossword puzzle book in epub format runs about $1.29-$4.99 Cdn, I just found a post from someone whose apparent sole reason for purchasing a Scribe was to do crossword puzzles a bit silly to start with. The rest of the post about looking forward to the software updates considering the number of posts in Kindle forums by Kindle owners have suggested a rather negative attitude towards the direction in which Amazon is taking their Kindle GUI.

As for the superiority Kobo vs. Kindle vs. Pocketbook vs. Tolino vs. Boox vs. anything else?

For me, Kobo has the best balance of accessibility and decent rendering. Other people can and will have other opinions in what they are looking for in an ereader.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by rantanplan

https://www.kobo.com/de/de/ebook/per...fahrt-der-aura

If you scroll to the botton it'll list EPUB 2 (Adobe DRM), even though it's normally sold without DRM.

The same with e.g. https://www.kobo.com/de/de/ebook/sta...wundete-himmel. Heyne requests books to be sold without DRM.

I guess Kobo Germany is evil?

The Ceremonies by T.E.D. Klein
Download options: EPUB 2 (DRM-Free)

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
Download options: EPUB 3 (DRM-Free)

Monster Hunter International by Larry Correia
Download options: EPUB 2 (DRM-Free)

Bodie 1: Trackdown by Neil Hunter
Download options: EPUB 2 (DRM-Free)

Star Trek: The Wounded Sky by Diane Duane
Download options: EPUB 2 (DRM-Free)

That's indie, Tor, Baen and Piccadilly Publishing, plus the Star Trek book you linked to. All DRM-free.

[ownedbycats]

Also, Kobo actually lets you download your books (both Adobe DRM and DRM-free) from the site without buying their hardware!

[Lys]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

That's indie, Tor, Baen and Picadilly Publishing. All DRM-free.

I checked some Italian publishers I know that go DRM-free and they are available without DRM on Kobo as well:

Neo Edizioni
O barra O
NewtonCompton

So IDK, either Kobo is out for locking randomly some publishing companies against their wishes because they don't like them, or maybe - maybe - those publishing companies didn't list their products properly. Maybe.

[haertig]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Also, Kobo actually lets you download your books (both Adobe DRM and DRM-free) from the site without buying their hardware!

Barnes & Noble and their Nook used to let you do that too. But then they stopped allowing you to download to your computer for backups. So I switched to Amazon and their Kindle, because they allowed downloads. Now Amazon is stopping downloads (currently only for "rented" items and newly published items, but we all know what's coming next, and probably very soon). So now I'm supposed to switch to Kobo and their Clara (or whatever), because they allow downloads? Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me a third time? No, I do not think I will position myself for that to happen again.

The bright spot for me is that I already have purchased and de-DRM'ed enough books to last me far beyond the years I have left to live. I do hope that will be another 25 or 30 years, but still, I'm set as far as books go. So while Amazon's recent move may stop me from buying yet-to-be-released book 17 in some series that I have been collecting, that doesn't matter too much since I haven't even gotten around to reading books 1 thru 16 yet. Being a pack-rat for books may be scoffed at by some people. And it is a large expense while you are doing it. But when retailers like Amazon make the moves they are making right now, I can switch from being a pack-rat to being a non-purchaser without suffering any significant hit. So be it.

You see this behavior of corporations trying to lock you into their walled garden everywhere. If you wanted a good choice of movies to watch in the past, you used to be able to subscribe to Netflix. Now it's mostly their self-produced movies, which are hit or miss. To get a selection of movies nowadays, you need to subscribe at significant expense to Netflix, and Paramount+, and Hulu, and Disney, and HBO Max, and Amazon Prime, and a bunch of other streaming services that all have their own "exclusive content". They are all putting themselves out of business. Maybe not now in the short term, but in the long term. I think Amazon may be going down that same path with eBooks now. Exclusive content and brutally enforced walled gardens only work when you are the biggest gorilla in the room. And "biggest gorilla" is a Bell Curve. Amazon has clawed their way to the top of the curve at this moment, but they won't remain there forever. Viewed from the top, it is downhill in every direction. Corporations tend to forget this simple truth. They try to fortify the top where they temporarily sit, so nobody else can get there. But this strategy always fails in the end.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by haertig

The bright spot for me is that I already have purchased and de-DRM'ed enough books to last me far beyond the years I have left to live. I do hope that will be another 25 or 30 years, but still, I'm set as far as books go. So while Amazon's recent move may stop me from buying yet-to-be-released book 17 in some series that I have been collecting, that doesn't matter too much since I haven't even gotten around to reading books 1 thru 16 yet. Being a pack-rat for books may be scoffed at by some people. And it is a large expense while you are doing it. But when retailers like Amazon make the moves they are making right now, I can switch from being a pack-rat to being a non-purchaser without suffering any significant hit. So be it.

That's the way I look at it too. At the moment we can still deDRM our purchases from Kobo/Google Play/ebooks.com etc, and also from Amazon with an eink Kindle on our account. The day it's no longer possible to desinfect our purchases is the day I'll stop buying. As I'm also a hoarder, I have enough for the next 100 or 200 years, at least. And I really doubt I'll live that long.

I've never been an one-shop buyer, I've always bought from several. So as long as some of those shops allow deDRMing, I won't have to change my habits much.

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by haertig

Is this true for all Amazon PURCHASED books? I knew of this for KU books, but wasn't aware (or simply don't remember) it being the case for purchased books.

I was responding to someone who asked specifically about books from Kindle Unlimited.

[Lys]

Originally Posted by haertig

Barnes & Noble and their Nook used to let you do that too. But then they stopped allowing you to download to your computer for backups. So I switched to Amazon and their Kindle, because they allowed downloads. Now Amazon is stopping downloads (currently only for "rented" items and newly published items, but we all know what's coming next, and probably very soon). So now I'm supposed to switch to Kobo and their Clara (or whatever), because they allow downloads? Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me a third time? No, I do not think I will position myself for that to happen again.

Personally, I think that not tying myself into any store/brand is the way to go. It's not a marriage for life, and I want to keep the freedom to change my device as I wish.

As of now, buying from Kobo allows me to:
- still deDRM what I buy
- sideload what I buy to any other device that is a native epub e-reader

I have lost hope that publishing companies will decide en masse to forgo DRM, so the best compromise I'm fine to go with is to either be able to deDRM what I buy or to buy only a DRM format that can be used on different brands. As of now, EPUB allows me to do both. And buying from Kobo allows me to do both as well.

The moment they decide that they will sell only kepubs, and their devices will read only kepubs, and they won't allow me anymore to download a regular acms file from their store, I will say goodbye to them, too, and I won't buy new devices from them either.

But I don't see any reason to say "no, I won't buy from them now because I don't know what they will do in 2 years' time".
After all, up to one month ago, I still bought what I wanted from Amazon. They took out from me the possibility to deDRM what I buy (and I can't use what I buy from them on other e-readers either), so that's a goodbye to them, and thankfully, there are still plenty of online stores that still sell epubs and gladly accept my money

[Sirtel]

For me it's not sufficient that an ebook can be read on a device I own. DRM must go in any case. I want to back up my purchases and, more importantly, I want to be able to change the formatting. So no books with unremovable DRM for me, even if they can be read on my ereaders. I'm not going to buy them.

[Lys]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

For me it's not sufficient that an ebook can be read on a device I own. DRM must go in any case. I want to back up my purchases and, more importantly, I want to be able to change the formatting. So no books with unremovable DRM for me, even if they can be read on my ereaders. I'm not going to buy them.

Let's say that so far this is a non-issue for me: epub+ADE can be deDRM, so whatever I will keep buying now can still be set free

But in the hypothetical situation in which ADE DRM becomes un-crackable and there's no other format that can be deDRM, then the best compromise I would be able to accept at that point is to buy a format that - at least - is not linked to any specific brand. I hope we will never get to that point, though!

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Lys

I hope we will never get to that point, though!

Me too, but my bank account for sure doesn't hope so.

[Unseen Entities]

Originally Posted by ottischwenk

Today my PW2, which did not have kfx-capable firmware, was updated without being asked.

Unless there is a hardware reason PW1 and earlier cant support KFX I'm going to assume this can happen to them at any time too.

If Amazon really wanted to it seems like updating older devices for KFX and then making all downloads KFX only would be an effective way to further lock people into their ecosystem.