Sharing ebooks???

[Farhad]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Also some of the publishers and drm systems provide a mechanism for loaning books which is certainly legal and aboveboard.

loaning implies ownership which drm restricts. besides, that is a false problem to begin with.

and sharing is not theft the former gives something to somebody, the latter takes away something from somebody

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by drofgnal

The only way I've shared an ebook is by actually loaning my Kindle with the book on it to someone. I assume this is considered a legit loaning of a book just as loaning an actual hardback copy.

That is absolutely legit, yes, I agree.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Farhad

loaning implies ownership which drm restricts. besides, that is a false problem to begin with.

and sharing is not theft the former gives something to somebody, the latter takes away something from somebody

Don't get me started. You are wrong on both counts.

[Farhad]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Don't get me started. You are wrong on both counts.

A logical and factually substantiated argument. But yes, arguing this point would be futile I suppose. Besides, I would encourage the OP to make his own conclusions not based on what you or I say, but on his own research of the history of copyright law and his own moral and ethical principles. After all, to each his own.
Cheers!

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by neilmarr

Plainly these must have started as scans from the treebook pages. Plainly legitimate sales didn't suffer. I believe, though, JKR is now re-thinking her stance against ebooks and that there's a ready market of HONEST buyers awaiting them with bated breath.

I'm not really convinced there is much overlap between unauthorised downloaders and authorised purchasers. Obviously there is some overlap, otherwise it would be impossible to explain how unauthorised downloaders as a whole spend 4 times as much on legitimate digital content as non-downloaders.

But most downloaders are just file collectors, and most purchasers only buy from the site that supports their device. They're both entirely different markets, and the existence of files in one market has no bearing on the popularity of files in the other.

Look at the Complete Sherlock Holmes collection on Amazon Kindle:

#53 Paid in Kindle Store
#1 in Kindle Store > Books > Fiction > Anthologies
#1 in Books > Fiction > Anthologies
#1 in Books > Crime, Thrillers & Mystery > Anthologies

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by HarryT

That is absolutely legit, yes, I agree.

I'm not so sure it wouldn't fall under this:

Use of Digital Content.
Upon your download of Digital Content and payment of any applicable fees (including applicable taxes), the Content Provider grants you a non-exclusive right to view, use, and display such Digital Content an unlimited number of times, solely on the Kindle or a Reading Application or as otherwise permitted as part of the Service, solely on the number of Kindles or Other Devices specified in the Kindle Store, and solely for your personal, non-commercial use.

If lending your Kindle to someone else was allowed it would be worded differently. You're certainly not allowed to sell a Kindle full of purchased ebooks, so I doubt you're allowed to lend them either.

[ShooterMcGee]

Is there a legal way to lend ebooks? I have purchased an ebook I would like to lend to my sister in law to read (which I do all the time with physical books). But I don't want to strip anything or break the law. I just want a kosher way of sharing with a family member on occasion.

[HarryT]

If you and your sister both register your devices to the same ADE account, you'll then be able to legally share the books that you both buy. You can have up to six devices registered to the same account.

[Joykins]

Originally Posted by ShooterMcGee

Is there a legal way to lend ebooks? I have purchased an ebook I would like to lend to my sister in law to read (which I do all the time with physical books). But I don't want to strip anything or break the law. I just want a kosher way of sharing with a family member on occasion.

Kindle and nook also have a 1-time lending thing you can do with other Kindle and nook owners if the item is a lendable item (notice all the qualifications there).

[Piper_]

This is one reason why I've always thought "watermarking" (only in front and in metadata) with personal info would be a better way to prevent heavy sharing than the current DRM schemes.

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by HarryT

If you and your sister both register your devices to the same ADE account, you'll then be able to legally share the books that you both buy. You can have up to six devices registered to the same account.

That's up to 6 devices for one person, it doesn't mean you can legally share out those devices to 6 different people. I doubt anyone would care, but that's not the same thing as saying it's legal.

[Piper_]

Originally Posted by HarryT

If you and your sister both register your devices to the same ADE account, you'll then be able to legally share the books that you both buy. You can have up to six devices registered to the same account.

I thought there were more than that with ADE? Something like 12 devices? Will the license actually let you have a book on 12 devices at a time?

With Amazon, you can have an endless # of devices registered to the account, but a book can only be loaded on ~6 devices at a time, the specific limit varies by publisher, and if +/- 6, is given on the product page. (To release a copy, you have to delete from a device, then sync.)

[Farhad]

Originally Posted by Piper_

This is one reason why I've always thought "watermarking" (only in front and in metadata) with personal info would be a better way to prevent heavy sharing than the current DRM schemes.

And I can promise you that tech savvy folks will easily find a way to remove such markings and release scripts for other (non-techies) to do likewise.

The beautiful thing about modern technologies is that they make freedom-restricting attempts obsolete almost as soon as they are released. Even better is the fact that corporations are heavy, slow, entities which need years and lots of $$$ to develop their freedom-restricting techniques whereas freedom-loving hackers are very fast and work for free, through a de-centralized global community

In the bad old days, even copiers in libraries were viewed as theft-inducing (in the West) or subversive (in the East). Then folks came to their senses and now this is an accepted (and enjoyed!) fact of life.

There is no stopping the free exchange of information - any information - in the global community we live in. Not legal, not technological, and not even through brainwashing and propaganda.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by mr ploppy

That's up to 6 devices for one person, it doesn't mean you can legally share out those devices to 6 different people. I doubt anyone would care, but that's not the same thing as saying it's legal.

It is intended for use to share books with friends and family. It's perfectly legal.

[kennyc]

Legal according to Amazon or Adobe but legal according to copyright? Hmmm??? Interesting thought.