Amazon and DRM changes

[darryl]

Originally Posted by lkmiller

I like to give people the benefit of the doubt that they aren't aware that the author doesn't get paid. If I mention that and they feel chastised that's on them. I don't get readers knowingly not supporting authors if they can.

I fully agree with you here. Personally I believe that we need a form of copyright but the current system is an abomination which actually works against the legitimate aims of copyright as set out in the US Constitution, that is:

To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.

Whilst I understand why many people flout copyright in various ways the law exists and I encourage people to obey it. You fail to do so at your peril. KU is a good example of authors actually being able to make some money. Some do, many don't. As has been pointed out, the author receives nothing unless the KU book is read on a Kindle device or app. I certainly believe that readers should be able to bypass DRM and read on a device of their choice but I also believe that a KU author should be paid. As things presently stand it seems we cannot have both. Whilst the DRM can be bypassed we can choose according to our respective values and consciences. Personally I don't believe it is the end of the world if we can't remove DRM from KU books, though I hate the idea of any "unbreakable" DRM. And, as was pointed out by a previous poster, there is always the option of purchasing a KU Book.

[haertig]

Originally Posted by darryl

...there is always the option of purchasing a KU Book.

That is why I used KU the way I did. As an extended preview, where I could see parts of the entire book if I wanted, to create a list of books "to be purchased" or at least "considered for purchase". KU books are generally cheap to buy. Sure, sometimes I would read an entire book using KU. But I know I sampled more than I read fully. A minor portion of the KU books I sampled made it onto the purchase list. Any only some of the books that made it onto the list actually ended up being purchased. I found Amazon's default sampling "Look Inside!" to be adequate for some books, but for other books you never even made it past the acknowledgements and other front-end stuff to see if the writing of the actual story was something your would like to read. KU provided a great alternative for better sampling. With the added advantage that you could actually read the book in its entirety if you felt like it. I only subscribed to KU when there was some bargain/sale on it - like the "99 cents for 3 months" deals they used to have. The regular price of $9.99 per month is not a good price when you're mostly just sampling. It would be a good price for very fast readers who finish several books a month. But I don't read fast like that. At the sale price for many KU books, you'd have to complete at least three or four of them per month to make the $9.99 rental price worthwhile.

KU served a niche purpose for me. Now that's it's gone for me (because my Kindle never leaves airplane mode) it's not a big deal. I guess I'll miss it for nostalgic reasons, but as far as functionality, I don't need to sample any more books - my "consider for purchase" list is already long. And in truth, the majority of KU titles I sampled were not to my taste, so not purchase candidates.

[quirkeyme]

haertig i definitely understand what you're saying. long sampling is important to me but even tho i renewed my KU membership a few months back, buying out of KU is not viable until a perm solution to remove drm appears.

if i buy it i remove drm. i store it in my own drive. why ? because i won't let amazon dictate that i don't actually own the title, and it can at will make it disappear from me.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...postcount=1403

this is a viable solution. a lot of authors i read are in KU and this at least means a yearly membership with a deduction (i had 1/3 off) makes the cost reasonable.

if you're on a pc check out that post, see if you can get it on your computer. sampling will still work but only for now.

you can't export the title out of bluestacks, the title remains drm locked, but within bluestacks with that version of k4pc, i'm able to properly read the title.

i don't expect this work around to remain stable long term but at least it works for now.

[vermontcathy]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

When you say code instead of the password, do you mean when you log in? So do I have to log out, register the Kindle, get the code and then use it as my password for logging back in?

Or do you have the URL to go to to put in the code?

On the kindle itself - the kindle you are trying to register, it asks for your Amazon email address and password. Enter them - your email address and Amazon password. It will say the email or password is wrong. Immediately look on your cell phone for a message from Amazon. I've always had it give a 6-digit code, and it says to put that in instead of your password, but some people have claimed it said to put it in after your password.

Go back to the kindle you are trying to register. Once again, try to register it. Put in your email address but instead of your Amazon password, put in the 6-digit code that was sent to your phone. Do these steps on the physical kindle you are trying to register. It should then register the kindle to your account.

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by quirkeyme

you can't export the title out of bluestacks, the title remains drm locked, but within bluestacks with that version of k4pc, i'm able to properly read the title.

Why not? Exporting files out of Bluestacks does work via their preinstalled media manager. Is your Bluestacks faulty?

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

Why not? Exporting files out of Bluestacks does work via their preinstalled media manager. Is your Bluestacks faulty?

Quirkyme wrote “the title remains drm locked”. Most likely a problem involving step #2 of the instructions.

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by jhowell

Quirkyme wrote “the title remains drm locked”. Most likely a problem involving step #2 of the instructions.

Yes, absolutely. But it sounded like the file doesn't come out of Bluestacks to begin with. Bluestacks works to extract the key seperately from getting the book (with DRM) out. One used adb, the other media manager. The plugin still has to do the looking for the key in the backup. If it doesn't come out, it stays DRM locked (in Bluestacks).

[Ma'am-I-Am]

Where is the Bluestacks media manager? Is it the Open Media Folder icon on the right?

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by Ma'am-I-Am

Where is the Bluestacks media manager? Is it the Open Media Folder icon on the right?

It is in the System Apps folder on home screen. Go to Media Manager, and you have to use the explore option to get to the data of the Kindle app. It is hard to see the file extension, so just copy everything of a certain book, and only drag the prc file to calibre.

[quirkeyme]

duckietigger:
i mis stated: i can export the title out of bluestacks onto a folder on my pc, it is in .prc format, but when i add it into calibre, drm won't remove.

jhowell:
i don't know how i have a problem involving step #2 of the instructions; per the post i used to set this up, as far as i can tell everything is fine.

i do not have calibre setup to somehow retrieve the title out of bluestacks; i just now tried connect/share and that won't work because the title has to be in calibre for calibre companion to retrieve it from calibre and put it into bluestacks' k4pc.

duckietigger again:
i know that v1.17 k4pc on my pc has "keys" installed somewhere in c drive, i didn't stop to think but it makes sense that in bluestacks that version apk of k4pc does the same thing.
from what you're saying, as long as i can successfully get the title into bluestacks' k4pc it should auto un drm ?

i can setup an new bluestacks instance devoted only to k4pc/apk and see what happens in that one.
the k4pc apk is registered to my usual amazom account.

i do not understnad "the plugin still has to do the looking for the key in the backup" - to me this implies somehow calibre is involved and i don't know how to do that.

[Sirtel]

@quirkeyme: read this post here
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...74&postcount=1

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by quirkeyme

i do not understnad "the plugin still has to do the looking for the key in the backup" - to me this implies somehow calibre is involved and i don't know how to do that.

In Bluestacks the key of K4A (Kindle 4 Android) is NOT the same as your key for K4PC (Kindle 4 PC). Please refer to Sirtel's post and link to the other thread which explains on how to add the correct key to the DeDRM plugin.

I am glad your Bluestacks works as intended, you just need to get the key for the plugin in calibre. Then next time you import the prc you already have, it should remove the DRM and change to a AZW3 type.

[quirkeyme]

thank you, le sorcier.
i'll read it properly later and see how viable it is for me.

duckietigger
thanks. my brain is currently on hold but i'll parse this out later.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by vermontcathy

On the kindle itself - the kindle you are trying to register, it asks for your Amazon email address and password. Enter them - your email address and Amazon password. It will say the email or password is wrong. Immediately look on your cell phone for a message from Amazon. I've always had it give a 6-digit code, and it says to put that in instead of your password, but some people have claimed it said to put it in after your password.

Go back to the kindle you are trying to register. Once again, try to register it. Put in your email address but instead of your Amazon password, put in the 6-digit code that was sent to your phone. Do these steps on the physical kindle you are trying to register. It should then register the kindle to your account.

Thank you so very very much! I finally got the Kindle Touch registered. Now I don't need to use the Android emulator. All is good! Amazon customer service was useless. Even a web search didn't come up with anything useful.

[NNolan]

Oh crap! I finally got around to downloading the few books I've bought since the 1st of December and just noticed the option to side load them to my old KK3 is gone. The wifi on that hasn't worked in years, so no dedrm for me for those Kindle books. Well, it's not like I really need to buy any more Kindle books anyway, I guess.