Converting MobiPocket content

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by dietric

>Actually you can snag and send to pdf as image or ocr; if you really want to do >it, you can even write a script
Would you mind elaborating what you mean by "snagging" it?

A screen dump.

[Liviu_5]

Originally Posted by dietric

>Actually you can snag and send to pdf as image or ocr; if you really want to do >it, you can even write a script
Would you mind elaborating what you mean by "snagging" it?

Use a program like Snag It to take a picture of your pages as displayed on the screen, save as jpg or your favorite image type, turn page and repeat.
When done use an ocr program or just send all to pdf as images.

With good organization, it's faster than scanning, and you do not need a scanner just software (Windows has an inbuilt print screen command that can be used, but a program like SnagIt is customizable to exact dimensions, output, does repeat by itself at timed intervals so you just have to turn pages in between...).

[slayda]

Originally Posted by Liviu_5

Use a program like Snag It to take a picture of your pages as displayed on the screen, save as jpg or your favorite image type, turn page and repeat.
When done use an ocr program or just send all to pdf as images.

With good organization, it's faster than scanning, and you do not need a scanner just software (Windows has an inbuilt print screen command that can be used, but a program like SnagIt is customizable to exact dimensions, output, does repeat by itself at timed intervals so you just have to turn pages in between...).

However, due to lower screen resolution, the OCR has more problems recognizing the text than if you used a scanner. I speak from experience.

[Harpgliss]

Hi,

I always thought circumventing the DRM was illegal?

It is O.k. to talk about this here?

If it is? can we post the Harry Potter stuff here also?

I guess I am not seeing much of a difference here.

Illegal vs illegal is still illegal I always thought.

David

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Harpgliss

Hi,

I always thought circumventing the DRM was illegal?

Depends where you live; in the UK it's absolutely illegal. Some people have an interesting theory that in the US, a "disability exemption" in the DCMA law makes it legal to remove the DRM because it disables the "reading aloud" feature of Microsoft Reader. However, since this same exemption also states that the disabling has to apply to all digital formats it's far from clear that this is so if the book is available in formats other than LIT.

If it is? can we post the Harry Potter stuff here also?

Absolutely not. That was produced illegally by criminals and is illegal no matter which way you look at it.

I guess I am not seeing much of a difference here.

Illegal vs illegal is still illegal I always thought.

Personally I share your views, David. There are those, however, who find it amusing to use sophistry to try and persuade themselves (I can only think that they are trying to persuade themselves - they certainly aren't persuading anyone else) that they are in some way "taking the moral high ground" in carrying out these acts of dubious (or otherwise) legality.

[Harpgliss]

Hi,

I am thinking the "criminal scum" is a bit strong.

Not meaning to get into that but the discussion of bypassing of DRM just sounds kind of wrong.

David

[delphidb96]

It depends upon who you talk to. Obviously, if you've *bought* Mobipocket ebooks and you're upgrading to an eInk-based ebook reader, you'd probably *want* to strip out the DRM in order to get the content onto your eInk reader - assuming you didn't buy an eInk reader which supports Mobipocket.

Now some people (IANAL, so I'm stating this from a layperson's view.) will tell you that this is illegal, that despite having *bought* these ebooks, you don't have the right to do anything to move them from a 'supported' platform to an 'unsupported' one. Other people will point out that, like a dead tree book, once you bought it, it's yours to handle in any manner which allows you to read it.

This is one area where the law has steadfastly refused to live in the present, choosing instead to live in the far past. And organizations like music's RIAA are perfectly happy keeping it there.

Derek

Originally Posted by Harpgliss

Hi,

I always thought circumventing the DRM was illegal?

It is O.k. to talk about this here?

If it is? can we post the Harry Potter stuff here also?

I guess I am not seeing much of a difference here.

Illegal vs illegal is still illegal I always thought.

David

[delphidb96]

HarryT,

Let's say that you have over seven score ebooks you've purchased from Mobipocket which you can read on your Palm Zire Z2 (Z22?). Let's say that you've finally gotten so pissed at the poor display quality of the Zire that you rush right out and buy the Sony PRS-500 (taking advantage of the 'sign up for a Sony credit card and get the PRS for $50' deal) and as soon as the Sony arrives, you take your hammer and reduce the Zire to bits and dust.

Now you *still* have all those (140, remember) *LEGALLY PURCHASED* Mobipocket titles. But the Sony can't open or read them.

Should you be forced to buy them all over again in Sony's .lrf format? What if nine of your most favorite titles aren't available in .lrf? Are you just going to deprive yourself of your favorite titles because neither Sony nor Mobipocket are willing to remedy the situation?

Or will you find a means for stripping the content from the Mobipocket titles and run them through BookDesigner to port them over?

That's exactly what I do. I *bought* the content of various ebooks and (I've not found how to strip from Mobipocket, but I've done numerous .lit strips.) now that I've converted to Sony (and soon to Cybook Gen3) I'm converting every single title I can to that format. Mostly I'm doing so because I can't find many of the .lit titles in Sony format and I'm not willing to wait months or years for the retailers to decide to support the Sony format.

However, if a title *is* available in .lrf, I choose to buy it rather than convert.

Derek

Originally Posted by HarryT

Depends where you live; in the UK it's absolutely illegal. Some people have an interesting theory that in the US, a "disability exemption" in the DCMA law makes it legal to remove the DRM because it disables the "reading aloud" feature of Microsoft Reader. However, since this same exemption also states that the disabling has to apply to all digital formats it's far from clear that this is so if the book is available in formats other than LIT.



Absolutely not. That was produced illegally by criminals and is illegal no matter which way you look at it.




Personally I share your views, David. There are those, however, who find it amusing to use sophistry to try and persuade themselves (I can only think that they are trying to persuade themselves - they certainly aren't persuading anyone else) that they are in some way "taking the moral high ground" in carrying out these acts of dubious (or otherwise) legality.

[slayda]

Originally Posted by Harpgliss

Hi,

I am thinking the "criminal scum" is a bit strong.

Not meaning to get into that but the discussion of bypassing of DRM just sounds kind of wrong.

David

Actually, to me (and to many of us), the whole idea of producers "crippling" a book (or music or video) that I/we buy with "my/our" money 'just sounds wrong'. But sometimes that's the only way we can buy the material.

Keep in mind that one way to not have people "bypass DRM" is to not put it on to cripple my book in the first place.

[Liviu_5]

Originally Posted by Harpgliss

Hi,


Illegal vs illegal is still illegal I always thought.

David

I guess than we here from the US should not talk about buying the Sony Reader online if we did not pay our sales tax on it; illegal is illegal after all

[Harpgliss]

Hi,

Originally Posted by Liviu_5

I guess than we here from the US should not talk about buying the Sony Reader online if we did not pay our sales tax on it; illegal is illegal after all

Well, I do not buy stuff online so I would not get into that argument.

I think I am one of the few who still uses a PDA and Isilo to read books and such.

The rest, I think it was wrong to discuss bypassing copy protection on a book anymore than it would be for discussing the same for making e-copies of books that are not available this way.

I have heard the rationales and the discussion of it here, on this forum, I thought was inappropriate.

That was all I was trying to say.

David

[beartard]

Talking about the concept is certainly different from telling people how to do it. Lest we start being thought/speech police, let's think about what we were talking about in the first place.

Yes, I'm a little subversive in my views of unjust justice. But then, I think information, once bought, should be freely *owned* by the purchaser and his to do with as he pleases. I think this also applies to obtaining electronic copies of paper books already purchased, whether released by a publishing house or not. I'm not telling people how to do this. I'm not saying any of this is legal. I'm saying the law is not working on the behalf of the consumer here and should be changed. Now, would I upload a book I knew to be under copyright, even if I had paid for it myself? Nope.

But to say discussion should not take place about such issues is worse than the DRM we're talking about. It's a sign of having been thoroughly indoctrinated by people wishing to remove rights from legitimate consumers as well as "criminal scum."

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by Harpgliss

Hi,

The rest, I think it was wrong to discuss bypassing copy protection on a book anymore than it would be for discussing the same for making e-copies of books that are not available this way.

I have heard the rationales and the discussion of it here, on this forum, I thought was inappropriate.

That was all I was trying to say.

David

There is nothing wrong in discussing how one could scan the books one owns. In many places this is completely legal. It's the distribution of that scanned content that harms the content creator, and that we do not discuss here.

Yes, breaking DRM is currently illegal in the US under DMCA. However, that law is contrary to principles of common law property rights. It denies one the right to full use of property which one has purchased. In the long run, I hope that parts of that law will be overturned.


Digital
Millennium
Copyright
Act

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by delphidb96

HarryT,

Let's say that you have over seven score ebooks you've purchased from Mobipocket which you can read on your Palm Zire Z2 (Z22?). Let's say that you've finally gotten so pissed at the poor display quality of the Zire that you rush right out and buy the Sony PRS-500 (taking advantage of the 'sign up for a Sony credit card and get the PRS for $50' deal) and as soon as the Sony arrives, you take your hammer and reduce the Zire to bits and dust.

Now you *still* have all those (140, remember) *LEGALLY PURCHASED* Mobipocket titles. But the Sony can't open or read them.

Should you be forced to buy them all over again in Sony's .lrf format? What if nine of your most favorite titles aren't available in .lrf? Are you just going to deprive yourself of your favorite titles because neither Sony nor Mobipocket are willing to remedy the situation?

Or will you find a means for stripping the content from the Mobipocket titles and run them through BookDesigner to port them over?

That's exactly what I do. I *bought* the content of various ebooks and (I've not found how to strip from Mobipocket, but I've done numerous .lit strips.) now that I've converted to Sony (and soon to Cybook Gen3) I'm converting every single title I can to that format. Mostly I'm doing so because I can't find many of the .lit titles in Sony format and I'm not willing to wait months or years for the retailers to decide to support the Sony format.

However, if a title *is* available in .lrf, I choose to buy it rather than convert.

Derek

Hi Derek,

I think you might have slightly misunderstood me.

It is people who upload copyrighted material onto the internet who I regard as criminals who should be persued with the full force of the law. They are the ones who I was referring to when I stated that they are using sophistry in claiming the moral high ground for their criminal acts.

I have absolutely no issues whatsoever with circumventing DRM on books which one has legally purchased. In fact, I think it's absolutely ridiculous that this should be illegal. We just need to be aware, however, that it is technically illegal in some countries, including the UK and (probably) the US too. I suspect, though, that one is vanishingly unlikely to get into trouble for it provided it is done on books one has bought and the results used strictly personally.

Hope that clarifies my views.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

Yes, breaking DRM is currently illegal in the US under DMCA. However, that law is contrary to principles of common law property rights. It denies one the right to full use of property which one has purchased. In the long run, I hope that parts of that law will be overturned.

Remember, though, that even with a paper book you're only purchasing the "paper", not the rights to use the contents in any way that you wish. For example, in the UK you don't have the legal right to photocopy or scan more than one chapter of that book under the "fair use" clause of the copyright laws (I understand that "fair use" is rather ill-defined in the US and that one may indeed have this right). Even in the US, however, you can't go out and re-publish the contents of the book yourself - you haven't bought any "rights" to the story that the book contains.

Just wanted to point out that restrictions on the use of something that one has purchased certainly aren't restricted to digital media.