Did Paperback Digital go out of business?

[Jorgen]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I hope nobody needs to download any books from there.

But the will some day, namely when they need a new ID.

[wgrimm]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I hope nobody needs to download any books from there. This is a good reason why DRM is a major issue. You bought books from PaperbackDigital and now you buy a new eink device to read your Mobi format books and you are stuck because the shop is gone and DRM has you but good.

I hope there is a class action laswuit over this- we need to hear more consumer advocacy in this market. As long as publishers can get away with the DRM nonsense, consumers are screwed.

[rahlquist]

Originally Posted by wgrimm

I hope there is a class action laswuit over this- we need to hear more consumer advocacy in this market. As long as publishers can get away with the DRM nonsense, consumers are screwed.

Theres your problem(in redneck voice).

DRM affects all of us, in every area of our modern day lives, ebooks, video game consoles, dvd, digital music, heck even some printer cartridges. It is all covered by DRM, and we have nobody to blame but ourselves, for allowing it starting way back when the first EULAs said you weren't purchasing software, only the right to loose...err use it.

A class action suit against Mobi or a single DRM'ed epublisher isn't going to do bubkiss. Eventually another will do the same thing and another because guess what if they go out of business then who are you gonna sue. That usually doesn't net you much. The answer is simple and thats to stop supporting anyone who supports DRM. That means to never ever buy their products or content folks. Make all the DRM supporting companies feel the heat, look how many years its taken the record industry to go DRM free (Warner and EMI). It took losses in the market the likes of which the record companies (or any other sector for that matter) have never seen to get them to wake up and realize that if they didn't accommodate the customer then the customers were going to accommodate themselves.

This means you're either

• a. going to have to be a thief (in their eyes),
• b. going to have to speak with your wallet and not buy things you may desperately want,
• c. buy what you want and get what you get and dont pitch a fit when the company you bought from screws you over because John Smithx ran off with the proceeds.

It sucks, it's ugly, but what can you do. You're either buying DRM'ed materials and part of the problem, or you're not, and you are part of the solution. Either way unless someone can find a way to bring DRM and the DMCA to trial all at once, for all mediums, we are nothing but a bunch of ants biting at the ankles (various mediums) of the DRM machine, too divided to do any real damage.

[HarryT]

Perhaps it would be advisable to wait and see whether or not MobiPocket can offer any solution before talking about "sueing" people?

[rhadin]

I am new to ebooks so I apologize in advance if my question is naive, but here goes.

I wqas given a Sony Reader for Xmas and I have purchased 3 books from Sony Connect that I assume are DRMed (if Sony closes and I lose out, I'm out $20 so I won't complain right now). But to get the books onto my Sony, I had to download the books to my computer then transfer them to the Reader. So my questions:

If Sony stops selling ebooks and Readers, don't I still have access to the books I bought because they are on my computer (assuming I still have the Reader to upload them to)?

If I buy a new device, don't I still have the books to upload to the new device, assuming the format is readable by the new device?

If the format is not readable by the new device, isn't the problem of unlocking the DRMed books the problem of the book publisher, not of the device maker?

So, in the case of Paperback Digital, isn't the true culprit the book publisher, not Mobi? Or is it Mobi that insists on the application of DRM to the ebooks?

If it is the publisher, who is responsible for insisting on the DRM, then why not contact the publishers involved and ask what they are going to do. For those that are willing to help, encourage other ebook buyers to buy books from them; for those unwilling to help, encourage buyers to avoid their books.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by rhadin

If Sony stops selling ebooks and Readers, don't I still have access to the books I bought because they are on my computer (assuming I still have the Reader to upload them to)?

Yes, you do.

If I buy a new device, don't I still have the books to upload to the new device, assuming the format is readable by the new device?

If the format is not readable by the new device, isn't the problem of unlocking the DRMed books the problem of the book publisher, not of the device maker?

So, in the case of Paperback Digital, isn't the true culprit the book publisher, not Mobi? Or is it Mobi that insists on the application of DRM to the ebooks?

You are correct - it is the book publisher who makes the decision whether or not to use DRM. If they do decide to use it, it's MobiPocket who provide the "central DRM server" which virtually all the Mobi retailers use. There is a company called "Overdrive", who also sell Mobi DRM-protected books independently of Mobi, but they are very small compared to Mobi.

If it is the publisher, who is responsible for insisting on the DRM, then why not contact the publishers involved and ask what they are going to do. For those that are willing to help, encourage other ebook buyers to buy books from them; for those unwilling to help, encourage buyers to avoid their books.

Very sensible suggestions.

[Liviu_5]

Originally Posted by rhadin

If Sony stops selling ebooks and Readers, don't I still have access to the books I bought because they are on my computer (assuming I still have the Reader to upload them to)?

If I buy a new device, don't I still have the books to upload to the new device, assuming the format is readable by the new device?

The question is if your drm is read by the device or the pc, not the format. I bought several drm pdf's from Amazon, changed computers, and obviously I still have Adobe reader on my new pc but I still cannot read the books, cannot redownload them and so on.

Similarly with Mslit, but there luckily you can convert them, so if I buy one such, I downconvert to Mslit drm-free and then just delete the drm file since sooner or later it is going to be useless.

Regarding contacting publishers, I wish you good luck.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by rhadin

If it is the publisher, who is responsible for insisting on the DRM, then why not contact the publishers involved and ask what they are going to do. For those that are willing to help, encourage other ebook buyers to buy books from them; for those unwilling to help, encourage buyers to avoid their books.

Publishers these days generally give 1 of 2 responses to questions about e-books:

1. We're interested in e-books, making plans, and waiting for the bugs to shake themselves out (exactly who's doing the shaking is unknown).
2. We have no comment on e-books at this time.

The last is usually voiced by those publishers that have decided to maintain status quo and wait until the last possible second, then figure out what to do after the dust settles (or their bank accounts tank).

Unfortunately, the first is often voiced by those publishers that have decided to maintain status quo and wait until the last possible second, then figure out what to do after the dust settles (or their bank accounts tank).

And since publishers seem reticent to tell you what, exactly, they are doing regarding e-books, neither answer is particularly useful.

The fact that Paperback Digital up and closed, with no public warning, shows you how closed the industry is in relation to its customers (not to mention how foolish... customers with some advanced notice could have taken actions to protect their investment that might have been a boon to the company, even as it was closing).

[delphidb96]

Originally Posted by rlauzon

You never "buy" a DRMed eBook. You always license it for a limited period of time.

I know that's their (the industry's) standard belief, but if that's the case, then they better damn well adjust their prices to reflect the 'temporary' nature of the 'sale'. I'd say that ebook prices of around $1 would be fair. After all, they're claiming it's fair to 'license' the ebook for a limited time period.

Derek

[Penforhire]

If nobody picks up this loose end it'll just be more ammunition for my anti-DRM gun, another cautionary tale.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by julia

i couldn't find an email address on their site. so i put a thread on one of their forum. will see what the reaction will be and let you know.

Which forum did you post in? I don't see it on their web site and I wanted to follow up on this.

edit: Never mind. I found the post.

Dale

[rahlquist]

Whois.sc has good information on the domain owner. Perhaps someone should contact the domains owner.

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by Liviu_5

Regarding contacting publishers, I wish you good luck.

Actually, contacting a publisher isn't difficult to contact and most publishers will try to help resolve a legitimate problem. Publishers may be foolish about DRM but that doesn't mean they are indifferent to helping a legitimate customer solve a legitimate problem.

[Liviu_5]

Originally Posted by rhadin

Actually, contacting a publisher isn't difficult to contact and most publishers will try to help resolve a legitimate problem. Publishers may be foolish about DRM but that doesn't mean they are indifferent to helping a legitimate customer solve a legitimate problem.

There are people who tried contacting publishers regarding drm purchases that do not work and they posted their experiences. There were some links in this forum earlier.

Personally I profoundly doubt you would have any success at least with a major publisher and at least for me, once I lost those 2 drm pdf's, I decided that I will never ever buy a non-convertible drm ebook, and that's that.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by rhadin

I am new to ebooks so I apologize in advance if my question is naive, but here goes.

I wqas given a Sony Reader for Xmas and I have purchased 3 books from Sony Connect that I assume are DRMed (if Sony closes and I lose out, I'm out $20 so I won't complain right now). But to get the books onto my Sony, I had to download the books to my computer then transfer them to the Reader. So my questions:

If Sony stops selling ebooks and Readers, don't I still have access to the books I bought because they are on my computer (assuming I still have the Reader to upload them to)?

If I buy a new device, don't I still have the books to upload to the new device, assuming the format is readable by the new device?

If the format is not readable by the new device, isn't the problem of unlocking the DRMed books the problem of the book publisher, not of the device maker?

So, in the case of Paperback Digital, isn't the true culprit the book publisher, not Mobi? Or is it Mobi that insists on the application of DRM to the ebooks?

If it is the publisher, who is responsible for insisting on the DRM, then why not contact the publishers involved and ask what they are going to do. For those that are willing to help, encourage other ebook buyers to buy books from them; for those unwilling to help, encourage buyers to avoid their books.

Sony allows you to register up to six devices and one of them has to be a computer. If you were to purchase another 505, you could register it with Sony and redownload the books again so the new 505 can read them. The new 505 will not read the originally downloaded books as they don't have the new device in the list of authorized devices.

Now, if Sony stops selling ebooks, you are still not in trouble. You can purchase MS Reader format ebook, remove the DRM using ConvertLIT and then use lit2lrf to convert the DRM free LIT into a DRM free LRF. Very easy to do once the software is all properly set-up.

PaperbackDigital is out of business and unless Mobipocket wants to allow former customers to have access to the books they purchased then you can never authorize any more devices or change the authorized devices via the DRM.

The problem here is that it's not the publisher's fault or issue that PaperbackDigital went under. The publisher does not have to help you out. And how could you prove what you bought anyway? Don't boycott the publisher because the store you bought the books from went under. If a local brick and mortar book store was to go under, would you go to the publisher for support or would you just find some other shop to go to?