Sharing ebooks???

[Farhad]

Originally Posted by HarryT

That's the most valuable service that a traditional publisher provides to an author: editing.

And yet that is not what they charge for most, now is it? The author gets and advance for the marketing of his work. I agree that editors are very useful and that many authors greatly benefit from them, but the current corporate system is not designed to benefit authors or editors. It benefits the corporations which market and distribute the work. They are also the ones who hire enforcers like the MPAA or RIAA and the rest of the lawyers hunting down and suing folks who want to share what they have. Editors can also do without this system.

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Pretty much every author needs a professional editor to make their work readable, and most self-publishing authors can't afford to - or choose not to - pay for an editor themselves. That's the most valuable service that a traditional publisher provides to an author: editing. It has nothing to do with the writing abilities of the author; editing is a different skill to writing, and very few good writers are also good editors.

Editors are like invisible co-authors. Some are good, some are bad, and a lot of them are probably frustrated writers themselves. In music terms they would be like the knob twiddler on a mixing desk. They can improve a book, but they can also destroy it if they don't fully understand what the writer is trying to achieve.

[Farhad]

Originally Posted by mr ploppy

You could say it's their own fault for being so naive, but when you're young and someone waves a fist full of money in front of you and promises fame and fortune I doubt many people would look too closely at what they're signing. You certainly wouldn't be worried about any future income you might need when you're in your 50s.

Absolutely. Add to this a system in which you could not advertise yourself without lots of $$$ and you get a system which stifles art, screws young talents and fattens already fat cats. At least now with the Internet there are many ways of promoting your work without depending on corporations and their armies of lawyers.

Most interesting survey on this topic here: Artists don't think that piracy (sic) hurts them financially.

[Kiteology]

Sorry skypilotpete, I can't answer your question and I skimmed this thread twice to make sure that in the four pages of comments, so far, no one else has been able or willing to either. Perhaps a good ol' fashioned search engine might be your best choice.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Kiteology

Sorry skypilotpete, I can't answer your question and I skimmed this thread twice to make sure that in the four pages of comments, so far, no one else has been able or willing to either. Perhaps a good ol' fashioned search engine might be your best choice.

I think it's been quite well answered.

[Joykins]

Originally Posted by kennyc

True, but there are a couple of things different. If the person is NOT in the same household or not part of the same family etc.

The 6-device limit is attempting to only be an approximation of the hardcopy reality, not a duplication.

In addition for a physical book only one person can read it at a time.

Nonsense. I read with my daughter all the time. We've even swapped out reading paragraphs.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Joykins

The 6-device limit is attempting to only be an approximation of the hardcopy reality, not a duplication.



Nonsense. I read with my daughter all the time. We've even swapped out reading paragraphs.

Talk about nonsense.

One book does not equal six.

Sure you could both read off of a single kindle displaying a single book just like a physical book but you know quite well that's not what this is about.

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by Kiteology

Sorry skypilotpete, I can't answer your question and I skimmed this thread twice to make sure that in the four pages of comments, so far, no one else has been able or willing to either. Perhaps a good ol' fashioned search engine might be your best choice.

It isn't a question anyone here would be qualified to give an answer to. If Amazon or Adobe add personally identifiable information to their ebooks that survives DRM circumvention they're not likely to want it to be common knowledge. And if anyone here did work for either of those companies and could give an answer they wouldn't.

[Poppaea]

I guess this is kind of selfanswering. If you deDRM B&N books you need your CC# because its part of the DRM. So there is obviously some kind of personal information used in DRM which is giving away your identity. As the tools for circumvention were created for personal use only and not for torrent uploads I should not think they remove the personal data.

[Farhad]

Originally Posted by mr ploppy

If Amazon or Adobe add personally identifiable information to their ebooks that survives DRM circumvention

Once the DRM has been removed, the file can be converted to an open format like FB2. FB2 is basically text and markup, that's it. To make it 100% safe I would remove any images. Of course, once you have converted your file to FB2 you an then re-convert it to any other format if you want.

That is one of the big advantages of an open format/protocol/software: it gives you complete control over what is on your device/computer and nobody can quietly slip some piece of malware/privacy-attacking code

[OtterBooks]

My guess (guess) is that either there is no remaining personally identifying, track-able information remaining post-drm removal, or it isn't being actively looked for, otherwise we probably would have heard of lots of people getting in trouble by now.

[Sydney's Mom]

It is not preaching - breaking the law is a serious matter. I strip the DRM off every book I get. I will NEVER let anyone else have the copy I retained for my personal use. I don't want to be the poster boy for ebook piracy - and there will be one.

[Joykins]

Originally Posted by Poppaea

I guess this is kind of selfanswering. If you deDRM B&N books you need your CC# because its part of the DRM. So there is obviously some kind of personal information used in DRM which is giving away your identity. As the tools for circumvention were created for personal use only and not for torrent uploads I should not think they remove the personal data.

Actually, that's why they did it--they feel your willingness to share books should be just about the same as your willingness to share personal financial information that can be use to buy a boatload of books and other products, some of them quite expensive...same with the Kindle account, really.

[Joykins]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Talk about nonsense.

One book does not equal six.

Sure you could both read off of a single kindle displaying a single book just like a physical book but you know quite well that's not what this is about.

Really, it might as well be. You know there is rarely a need for a household to have more than one copy of a book because books are used communally in households as well as shared between individuals in that household.

For another seasonal example, think of the Haggadah. Now there is an example of something I don't think I would ever want to go completely electronic.

A household "blank check" for ebook lending/use is quite appropriate, and since the average household probably has 4.2 people or something like that, limiting it to 6 devices is a reasonable approximation because one person may have multiple devices. Although it should ideally be the number of devices in the household, that would be much more difficult to implement. (Among the hurdles, take, for example, the fact that I need to de-DRM some books I have purchased just so I can read them on my preferred device).

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Sydney's Mom

It is not preaching - breaking the law is a serious matter. I strip the DRM off every book I get. I will NEVER let anyone else have the copy I retained for my personal use. I don't want to be the poster boy for ebook piracy - and there will be one.

Do we get to vote? I've got a couple of potential candidates.