Amazon and DRM changes

[Kindleing]

Originally Posted by steinarb

But the oldest I can find is Paperwhite 4 (2018 vintage) and KFX support came with Paperwhite 3, so there is no point in buying that?

So... I either will have to get an alternative purchase route for ebooks... or go back to paper after 10 years on eInk...

As it stands today: if you have a physical Kindle registered on your Amazon account, you can use "Download and transfer via USB" from the Amazon website "Content and Devices" page to download purchased books from any date as AZW3 files. These files can be deDRMed and loaded into Calibre. This does not apply to borrowed (KU, etc.) books, or to books downloaded through Kindle for PC. It also may not apply to some books, like textbooks, which are shown as not available for eink Kindles.

This may change tomorrow or never; as far as we know Amazon has not said.

I'm afraid people are conflating the different scenarios; different rules apply to different situations.

[lkmiller]

Originally Posted by steinarb

Thanks! Maybe I'll try that Paperwhite 4 then.

Re tricky getting kindle 1.26 working right on linux. Do you have any tricks or tips?

I meant tricky getting any Kindle for PC working with DeDRM on Linux. Getting the key doesn't usually work as automatically as it does on Windows. That's really all I can say here.

[Joykins]

Originally Posted by Ma'am-I-Am

You're also paying a monthly fee for them so that book from 2019 has cost you how much?

Meh, I have about 10 I cycle in and out pretty fast and 10 that stick around a long while. I signed up when it was 10 at a time and get the 2-year discount so the extra 10 just seem like bonus.

[Waylander]

This has been a very useful thread, and is a reminder of why I started on, and remain on, Mobileread.

I'll just add that as others have said here that I have a Kindle Paperwhite SE (2021), and can still 'download and transfer to usb' from the Content page. I bought a book on Jan 15 which had been published on Jan 9, and it was still available to download in Azw3 format.

As soon as this stops being the case, I'll go elsewhere, as fiddling with formatting in Calibre to make my ebooks as close as possible to pbooks in presentation (no spacing between paragraphs, justified text) is my one non-negotiable.

Anyway, just my 2 pence.

[Readirect]

Originally Posted by kspn

Man this is annoying there are a bunch of books I am reading that are only available via Amazon (at least to my knowledge) and this will mean that although I could read them on my Android device, that option however lacks the format capabilities I am used to.
Hopefully there is a viable workaround, I am happy to purchase the books, but only if I can read them in a way that is convenient to do so,

FWIW, most exclusive KU books are available on the net, if you look hard enough; you can't buy them, but you can download them. It's kinda ironic that Amazon's war on users will ultimately force those who are willing to pay into an alternative where they cannot pay, if they want to read the book. As this progresses, it might come to that.

Whomever is running this shitshow at 'zon is an idiot. Of course, the real problem is that Amazon's firmware makes it just about impossible to manage my library through Calibre, as I can with Kobo. Were they to stop that nonsense, I'd be willing to switch to Kindle. Maybe.

[issybird]

@Readirect:

Moderator Notice
Do not advocate piracy at MobileRead. This is your only warning.

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by Waylander

As soon as this stops being the case, I'll go elsewhere, as fiddling with formatting in Calibre to make my ebooks as close as possible to pbooks in presentation (no spacing between paragraphs, justified text) is my one non-negotiable.

After doing your changes, you should convert it to KFX, so you have the advanced typesetting options on your PW (e.g. switch from justified to left on the fly in the rare case that justified looks wrong).

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by Readirect

FWIW, most exclusive KU books [..]

It is people like you why we cannot have nice things. Soon enough someone is going to take it to court and set a precedent for removing DRM - and not just for exclusive KU titles, but everything. I am not optimistic enough to predict a positive outcome. As long as it is a gray area, I am happy.

[Patitapetit]

Originally Posted by Readirect

. It's kinda ironic that Amazon's war on users will ultimately force those who are willing to pay into an alternative where they cannot pay, if they want to read the book. As this progresses, it might come to that.

.

Exactly. There are 3 kind of Readers

* People who pirate all [books, films, etc]
* People who pay for all the books they read [I have Not meet anyone so in Person]
*People who pay Most of the Books they read and the Other books are "..Gray Zone"

I think Amazon is pushing people n°3 in the "Gray Zone" with this Kind of drm.

- people in n°1 never change, so for they don't exist any Problem with Drm

[ownedbycats]

I still somewhat suspect this might have been in response to a specific shadow library (probably shouldn't name it) going viral on TikTok a few months ago, even though the domain was seized before the changes happened.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by Patitapetit

1 People who pirate all [books, films, etc]
2 People who pay for all the books they read [I have Not meet anyone so in Person]
3 People who pay Most of the Books they read and the Other books are "..Gray Zone"

I've only read about (1) or read their forum posts. Never knew anyone like that.

All the people I've ever known are (2) except they may borrow and return library books.

I guess everyone lives in their own bubbles. I agree many, not all, of(1) and especially all Commercial pirates are unaffected by DRM.

The ONLY grey zone is getting genuinely public domain content from awkward sources. There is nothing grey about getting copyright work in a manner that cheats the publisher or author. That's wrong.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Quoth

I've only read about (1) or read their forum posts. Never knew anyone like that.

All the people I've ever known are (2) except they may borrow and return library books.

I guess everyone lives in their own bubbles. I agree many, not all, of(1) and especially all Commercial pirates are unaffected by DRM.

The ONLY grey zone is getting genuinely public domain content from awkward sources. There is nothing grey about getting copyright work in a manner that cheats the publisher or author. That's wrong.

One thing that's a grey area is getting a scanned eBook of a pBook that you own that's not available as an eBook.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

One thing that's a grey area is getting a scanned eBook of a pBook that you own that's not available as an eBook.

Using workarounds to purchase eBooks not legally available in your area? (Region-locking is kind of B.S...)

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

One thing that's a grey area is getting a scanned eBook of a pBook that you own that's not available as an eBook.

Not sure about that. It's a little like having to buy a CD of a vinyl LP, or a BD version of a DVD.

I suppose getting your own copy scanned by someone else is a grey area if there is genuinely no ebook and the publisher is either gone bust or says they won't make an ebook. Less grey if you've gone blind and want the text to speech. Ray Kurzweil invented / developed OCR for scanners (among the first) precisely to give text to speech for blind.

Also USA court decided it's OK for Google not just to scan copyright works, but even borrowed ones, in entirety. Which seems like a bonkers decision. So maybe it's OK to make ebooks from copyright printed text if you do it for yourself?

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Using workarounds to purchase eBooks not legally available in your area? (Region-locking is kind of B.S...)

Yes, and that dates back to British Empire and USA reprinting copyright works without permission (even LOTR). So English language has an agreed publisher world carve-up. It's wrong.