Amazon and DRM changes

[issybird]

You keep KU books forever? Sigh.

[DNSB]

IMHO, keeping library book, KU and other loans in your library forever is unacceptable. They are loans not purchases.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by markweaster

I have been building my personal eLibrary for decades and have over 4000 volumes. My Kindle goes literally everywhere with me; since retiring nine years ago, I am never ever without it. Most of these books have come from the library, but many have come from book sellers including many from Amazon. It is only for my personal use. I have never given a copy of a book to anyone. I only strip off the DRM so I can keep them in my Calibre library "forever" to reread, for reference, and to collect my reviews. So, I am bummed by this latest Amazon change that prevents me from continuing a practice I have had most of my adult life. My question for the community is, is this inability temporary or should I stop buying books from Amazon forever? Thank you for any advice you can offer. My Kindle Unlimited renewal awaits your input.

If the books you are keeping forever are from Kindle Unlimited, you should stop. That is my advice.

As for books you want to purchase, there are workarounds. But for me, I'm moved away from Amazon and am buying from Kobo and B&N.

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by markweaster

My question for the community is, is this inability temporary or should I stop buying books from Amazon forever? Thank you for any advice you can offer. My Kindle Unlimited renewal awaits your input.

Yes, it is permanent. You should probably follow your gut feeling to stop buying from Amazon and not renew your KU.

[ownedbycats]

I suspect people abusing KU like this (or even worse, sharing them elsewhere) is at least part of why Amazon clamped down, fwiw.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

I suspect people abusing KU like this (or even worse, sharing them elsewhere) is at least part of why Amazon clamped down, fwiw.

How would Amazon know if you kept a KU book for your personal use?

Of course, I'll bet the piracy of KU books is (was?) rampant too.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

How would Amazon know if you kept a KU book for your personal use?

Of course, I'll bet the piracy of KU books is (was?) rampant too.

Oh, people are happy to brag about it online.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Oh, people are happy to brag about it online.

That's really stupid. Sometimes I wonder about some people's IQ... I get that keeping KU books was a mighty temptation, as it was so easy for years. But bragging about doing it is the height of idiocy.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

That's really stupid. Sometimes I wonder about some people's IQ... I get that keeping KU books was a mighty temptation, as it was so easy for years. But bragging about doing it is the height of idiocy.

Ask any police officer. One of their best investigative tools is people's inability to stop bragging about what they have done.

[Josieb1]

Amazon would have been aware of how often KU books were downloaded and by whom, it must have got to an unacceptable level for them to clamp down. I only use KU when I can get it cheap. I add a blurb on a word doc into calibre to record if I’ve read the book and my rating (a lot are DNF), downloading and keeping them is theft. They are a loan not a purchase.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Josieb1

Amazon would have been aware of how often KU books were downloaded and by whom, it must have got to an unacceptable level for them to clamp down.

Eh? You must download a KU book to read it. How would Amazon know if you removed the DRM and made a personal copy? Unless you brag about it in public, they would have no way to know.

Edit: did you mean that people downloaded KU books by the hundreds, made copies and returned the originals unread? If so, that would be as idiotic as bragging about it.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Eh? You must download a KU book to read it. How would Amazon know if you removed the DRM and made a personal copy? Unless you brag about it in public, they would have no way to know.

Perhaps when someone had downloaded a few thousand KU books but had never finished one or even read any pages in the vast majority of them?

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Edit: did you mean that people downloaded KU books by the hundreds, made copies and returned the originals unread? If so, that would be as idiotic as bragging about it.

The one person I had personal experience with who hoarded KU books has downloaded a few thousand KU books over the years, removed the DRM and saved them in his calibre library. For those few that he actually read, he sideloaded them to and read them on his Kindles. From my conversations with him, he often downloaded books that he was not planning on reading at the moment since he was worried that they would be leaving KU.

This process prevented Amazon from seeing any page turns meaning the authors got no payment so I was not overly unhappy when Amazon made it a lot harder to download KU books.

[ownedbycats]

If the changes were in response to KU hoarders, it's a shame that purchase-to-keep books also got caught up in there.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

If the changes were in response to KU hoarders, it's a shame that purchase-to-keep books also got caught up in there.

We don't know if KU hoarders and/or book uploaders were the cause. Amazon may have wanted to discourage the DRM removal in general, because they want you securely walled in their ecosystem. You can never leave.

The logical next step would be to disable Download & Transfer entirely, even for purchased books. If they do that, then it's certainly not only KU abusers they want to target.

[ownedbycats]

Aside from a handful of false alarms from people forgetting to add serial numbers to DeDRM or whatnot, have there been any more indications they've been tightening it up? I haven't been paying so much attention lately.

The older Kindle for Android sometimes fails if your device is able to use a newer version, but they haven't shut that down completely.