Sony Reader Daily Edition - SCOOP!

[Ervserver]

is this legal? I could be doing this for the better half's Kindle

Originally Posted by Alisa

I get library books for my Kindle all the time. I have to convert them but it's really easy.

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by DrMoze

Just because it "can" be done doesn't mean it is a market advantage.

I agree, but Amazon could fix this if they wanted to, see Lending Library ebooks on the Kindle?.

[Lilly]

Originally Posted by Ervserver

is this legal? I could be doing this for the better half's Kindle

Come on, definitely not because a copy of a library book is being made in that scenario. So even after the book expire, she has a copy of the book in another format!

[kesey]

Originally Posted by Lilly

US libraries are funded by tax payers so there could be no way they could offer access to people outside of the US.

How very parochial of them.

[Alisa]

Originally Posted by DrMoze

It is still not an option for mainstream, casual users on the Kindle. And Amazon cannot market a feature that involves converting formats and/or stripping DRM. Uh-uh. Just because it "can" be done doesn't mean it is a market advantage.

I didn't say it was an Amazon feature. I just said I could do it and it was easy.

I'm hoping Amazon takes this as a challenge and makes it an official feature. They can choose to support DRMed Mobi (at least from the library interface if they don't want to do it all over) and they probably can strike a deal with Adobe if they want.

[Ervserver]

we need some sort of international trade agreement, you send us freshly packed sardines and we'll send you a few dozen library cards, etc

Originally Posted by Lilly

Then you cannot download library books except if Overdrive is in your country then you can get a local library card if your library offers ebooks. It's not a Sony decision, US libraries are funded by tax payers so there could be no way they could offer access to people outside of the US.

[Lilly]

Originally Posted by Ervserver

we need some sort of international trade agreement, you send us freshly packed sardines and we'll send you a few dozen library cards, etc

[Alisa]

Originally Posted by kesey

How very parochial of them.

Well, libraries are locally funded (by city or by county) so they are quite literally parochial. If they were national then some sort of international membership might be more doable. Some allow people from outside their community to buy library access at an additional fee. As it is, a single town cannot support global book lending. I'm in one of the larger library systems but I can't imagine its tax base of a million people being able to afford to lend to the entire planet. Legally they are as restricted as paper book lenders. They can't copy books to lend to more members. It's one copy at a time.

[DrMoze]

Originally Posted by Lilly

I see nothing wrong with discussing this. .... It's not like there's not a limit on how many books you can check out; it's still 10 to 14 no matter how many people sharing an account.

Yes, BUT: there IS a limit on how many copies of an e-book are available at MY library (or anyone else's). So when I pay my (exorbitant) NYC taxes and support the NYPL, and then someone else "borrows" a friend's/relative's card and checks out books that I want to read but aren't available, then yes, there IS a limit on availability and I DO have a problem with that. "Sharing" an account is not fair, and I'm sure it goes against library policies. The remote access to e-books makes ABUSE easier than when checking out books in person.

Originally Posted by Lilly

Then you cannot download library books except if Overdrive is in your country then you can get a local library card if your library offers ebooks. It's not a Sony decision, US libraries are funded by tax payers so there could be no way they could offer access to people outside of the US.

You do realize that this reasoning extends logically to conclude that US libraries are funded by LOCAL taxpayers, so if you don't have a LOCAL library card and aren't paying those taxes yourself, you shouldn't have borrowing privileges. Just as it's not OK for people outside the US to borrow from US libraries, it is also not OK for people outside a library's jurisdiction to borrow books, electronic or otherwise (unless they pay a proscribed fee).

People like me who use just our own local library are being cheated by people like you who check out certain books without having legitimate borrowing privileges. I've aready been on several wait lists for ebooks at the NYPL, and it looks like it will just get worse now. I hope they institute an ISP geographic check for book borrowing in the near future. That would help.

[khalleron]

Although I do see this as a great step forward, you still can't check out ebooks on my library system here in rural Oregon (although we do have a great sharing system for pbooks).

Didn't the NYPL guy say every Sony owner could check out books from NYPL? Is that a misquote or did he mispeak?

[Alisa]

Originally Posted by Ervserver

is this legal? I could be doing this for the better half's Kindle

I don't know if it's legal. The whole question of stripping DRM for personal use is untried. It's against the rules of the library I would imagine. I feel I'm keeping in the spirit of the rules if I check the book out, convert it and delete it when the lending period has expired. Sharing the books would most definitely be illegal.

[Lemurion]

Originally Posted by khalleron

Although I do see this as a great step forward, you still can't check out ebooks on my library system here in rural Oregon (although we do have a great sharing system for pbooks).

Didn't the NYPL guy say every Sony owner could check out books from NYPL? Is that a misquote or did he mispeak?

The first reports implied that - but it doesn't seem to have been completely accurate reporting. Sony said they were partnering with the NYPL and providing better library access to all Reader Owners.

Through the magic of the Internet that became "Sony is giving all Reader owners access to the NYPL," which doesn't appear to have been what they meant.

[Alisa]

Originally Posted by DrMoze

You do realize that this reasoning extends logically to conclude that US libraries are funded by LOCAL taxpayers, so if you don't have a LOCAL library card and aren't paying those taxes yourself, you shouldn't have borrowing privileges. Just as it's not OK for people outside the US to borrow from US libraries, it is also not OK for people outside a library's jurisdiction to borrow books, electronic or otherwise (unless they pay a proscribed fee).

People like me who use just our own local library are being cheated by people like you who check out certain books without having legitimate borrowing privileges. I've aready been on several wait lists for ebooks at the NYPL, and it looks like it will just get worse now. I hope they institute an ISP geographic check for book borrowing in the near future. That would help.

Sadly the geographic check would hurt a lot of New Yorkers who are traveling at the moment. I suppose they could flag accounts that were consistently borrowing books from outside NY especially if they were consistently borrowing from a single place outside NY. Then if you got flagged you would have to show up in person with your ID and your registered device.

An addition to your locality argument: There is a reason NYPL charged a substantial annual fee for non-residents. Books aren't free and to support the extra users they needed extra money.

[mollybo]

Wait. My local library uses overdrive for audio books and some horrible html-based, must-be-connected-to-the-Internet ... thing for "ebooks". Does this mean I can't check out ebooks at all since my local library doesn't support overdrive for ebooks? I contacted them a while back about this, and got a response something along the lines of blah blah expense demand blah blah no plans thanks for asking. I'm honestly confused about this.

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by Lemurion

The first reports implied that - but it doesn't seem to have been completely accurate reporting. Sony said they were partnering with the NYPL and providing better library access to all Reader Owners.

Through the magic of the Internet that became "Sony is giving all Reader owners access to the NYPL," which doesn't appear to have been what they meant.

Whoever wrote that messed up. The press release never said that.