Does anyone else have concerns about DRM in the future?

Rootman · 12-30-2013, 08:41 PM

So, while cleaning in my office the other day I was admiring the few hundred paper books that I still own, down from about a thousand before a life change forced me to sell a great portion of them.

I've managed to get quite a few hundred of the classic titles from sources like Project Gutenberg and bought a lot more from sources like Amazon Kindle.

I know how much I enjoy re-reading paper books once in a great while and I happen to wonder, what's going to become of my DRMd titles in the (not too) distant future should Amazon go belly up and the devices I read the DRM material fail, how will I get these titles back? Are we to assume that ebooks are another disposable media and unlike paper books they just "go away" once the DRM validation is no longer there? I mean Amazon, and B&N aren't going to be there forever.

I've been reading on a Kindle, and now an Amazon tablet for like 5 years now, and before you know it a decade or more will pass. Do these "old" ebooks just go the way of the dodo?

AnemicOak · 12-30-2013, 09:07 PM

What many people who are concerned with this do is remove the DRM (Apprentice Alf) and keep a DRM-free copy backup of all their titles. Another solution would be to buy only DRM free titles (titles at Amazon and others don't all have DRM) and keep backups.

DiapDealer · 12-30-2013, 09:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rootman

Do these "old" ebooks just go the way of the dodo?

If you let them do so, yes.

Although in the case of Amazon (and most others), it would take a little more than the company going belly up to render those existing DRMed files useless. Your device would have to unregister itself as well. Should you leave your device in its registered state, you should theoretically be able to read your existing DRMed files for as long as the Amazon device they're on (or app they're in) remain operable. There is no live/constant connection to DRM servers required to read existing DRMed material. The online presence of Amazon (and most other companies') is only necessary to acquire new DRMed files (either new purchase or copies of old purchases for migrating to new devices/apps).

Not that I'm endorsing relying on that if you love keeping your books forever and ever (far from it, in fact). I'm just pointing out that your existing DRMed content (from most of the major retailers of DRMed content, anyway) isn't going to shrivel up and/or crumble to dust the moment the company you bought it from winks out of existence.

Now if you want to move that existing material to a new device/app, then you might be SOL, but that's a different matter.

Short answer is yes: DRMed ebooks are very much "another disposable media" in their native state. You either deal with that/don't care about that/rail against that/or change that native state (or some combination of those things). *shrugs*

eschwartz · 12-31-2013, 01:40 PM

If you deregister the app, your stuff vanishes. Deregister your Kindle DEVICE and your books are still downloaded AND READABLE, you just can't download more till you reregister.

This works for Amazon devices that encrypt the book with the device ID, but not the Nook which encrypts with your credit card info.

bla · 12-31-2013, 05:39 PM

Drm is an abomination.. the only drm books on my device are borrowed library books.. either don't buy drm books or "alf" them.....once you get them

piperclassique · 12-31-2013, 05:50 PM

Not quite as bad as that, Eschwartz, they stay in Amazon's cloud until you reregister.
And in my case in Calibre, on Dropbox, and a USB drive in the fire safe. All minus DRM, thanks to Alf.

hardcastle · 12-31-2013, 06:37 PM

I would have never bought an eReader or a single eBook had I not been able to break the DRM and make my own backups and copies.

My only concern is the ability to back up these purchases for years or decades. I certainly don't trust any company to do it for me.

speakingtohe · 12-31-2013, 08:51 PM

I've bought 1,000s of paper books and they have all gone away. Some were burnt up in a fire, some were lost and most I gave away as they were too cumbersome to move etc.

Life went on. I'd be more upset if I couldn't get new ebooks. Could happen, someone could actually build a holodeck where we would live the books

Still if you have an large investment in ebooks, maybe you could get insurance.

Helen

Ripplinger · 12-31-2013, 11:29 PM

All of my purchased ebooks have the DRM removed first thing on downloading. I keep all of my ebooks, both public domain freebies and purchases, on my PC in a Calibre Library and that is backed up nightly to 3 other hard drives, and occasionally to the cloud. I never make purchases directly to my reader for a few reasons... I will never have a need where I just have to buy a book right this second while I'm out, and I don't want any account information on my readers in case I lose one.

I keep around 300 books on my reader at any one time, so I have plenty of reading choices until I get back home. I don't trust online booksellers to always be around to guarantee I can download my content again, or that they won't ever suffer any glitches where my books vanish from my account.

Btw, did anyone else have to Google "DAE"? I assumed it was some organization...

DiapDealer · 01-01-2014, 12:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ripplinger

Btw, did anyone else have to Google "DAE"? I assumed it was some organization...

I admit I was puzzled. But I wasn't curious enough to take the time to look it up.

Quexos · 01-01-2014, 12:52 AM

Agreed. I don't buy e-books diseased by DRM's as that would encourage corporations to continue putting those shackles on the e-books they sell so DRM's are not too much of a concern to me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bla

Drm is an abomination.. the only drm books on my device are borrowed library books.. either don't buy drm books or "alf" them.....once you get them

latepaul · 01-01-2014, 06:07 AM

Never seen it used before but I assume "DAE" means "Does Anyone Else".

kennyc · 01-01-2014, 06:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I admit I was puzzled. But I wasn't curious enough to take the time to look it up.

No and no idea what it is. I hate it when people you acronyms and just assume everyone in the world knows what they mean....

latepaul · 01-01-2014, 06:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kennyc

No and no idea what it is. I hate it when people you acronyms and just assume everyone in the world knows what they mean....

IKWYM

kennyc · 01-01-2014, 06:45 AM

EWIHAT!

12-30-2013, 08:41 PM	#1
Rootman Groupie Posts: 181 Karma: 478 Join Date: Oct 2009 Device: Android & FBReader	Does anyone else have concerns about DRM in the future? So, while cleaning in my office the other day I was admiring the few hundred paper books that I still own, down from about a thousand before a life change forced me to sell a great portion of them. I've managed to get quite a few hundred of the classic titles from sources like Project Gutenberg and bought a lot more from sources like Amazon Kindle. I know how much I enjoy re-reading paper books once in a great while and I happen to wonder, what's going to become of my DRMd titles in the (not too) distant future should Amazon go belly up and the devices I read the DRM material fail, how will I get these titles back? Are we to assume that ebooks are another disposable media and unlike paper books they just "go away" once the DRM validation is no longer there? I mean Amazon, and B&N aren't going to be there forever. I've been reading on a Kindle, and now an Amazon tablet for like 5 years now, and before you know it a decade or more will pass. Do these "old" ebooks just go the way of the dodo?

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12-30-2013, 09:07 PM	#2
AnemicOak Bookaholic Posts: 14,391 Karma: 54969924 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Minnesota Device: iPad Mini 4, AuraHD, iPhone XR +	What many people who are concerned with this do is remove the DRM (Apprentice Alf) and keep a DRM-free copy backup of all their titles. Another solution would be to buy only DRM free titles (titles at Amazon and others don't all have DRM) and keep backups.

12-31-2013, 01:40 PM	#4
eschwartz Ex-Helpdesk Junkie Posts: 19,422 Karma: 85397180 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: The Beaten Path, USA, Roundworld, This Side of Infinity Device: Kindle Touch fw5.3.7 (Wifi only)	If you deregister the app, your stuff vanishes. Deregister your Kindle DEVICE and your books are still downloaded AND READABLE, you just can't download more till you reregister. This works for Amazon devices that encrypt the book with the device ID, but not the Nook which encrypts with your credit card info.

12-31-2013, 05:39 PM	#5
bla E bookworm Posts: 358 Karma: 2013666 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Ontario, Canada Device: Sony PRS T1,Android Tablet, I phone	Drm is an abomination.. the only drm books on my device are borrowed library books.. either don't buy drm books or "alf" them.....once you get them

12-31-2013, 05:50 PM	#6
piperclassique A garbling groftpot Posts: 974 Karma: 9234667 Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: France Device: Oasis, Voyage, Kobo mini, Samsung tablet, phones, whatever.	Not quite as bad as that, Eschwartz, they stay in Amazon's cloud until you reregister. And in my case in Calibre, on Dropbox, and a USB drive in the fire safe. All minus DRM, thanks to Alf.

12-31-2013, 06:37 PM	#7
hardcastle Zealot Posts: 138 Karma: 3651501 Join Date: Dec 2013 Device: Kindle Paperwhite 2, Gray Kindle Basic	I would have never bought an eReader or a single eBook had I not been able to break the DRM and make my own backups and copies. My only concern is the ability to back up these purchases for years or decades. I certainly don't trust any company to do it for me.

12-31-2013, 08:51 PM	#8
speakingtohe Wizard Posts: 4,812 Karma: 26912940 Join Date: Apr 2010 Device: sony PRS-T1 and T3, Kobo Mini and Aura HD, Tablet	I've bought 1,000s of paper books and they have all gone away. Some were burnt up in a fire, some were lost and most I gave away as they were too cumbersome to move etc. Life went on. I'd be more upset if I couldn't get new ebooks. Could happen, someone could actually build a holodeck where we would live the books Still if you have an large investment in ebooks, maybe you could get insurance. Helen

12-31-2013, 11:29 PM	#9
Ripplinger 350 Hoarder Posts: 3,574 Karma: 8281267 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Midwest USA Device: Sony PRS-350, Kobo Glo & Glo HD, PW2	All of my purchased ebooks have the DRM removed first thing on downloading. I keep all of my ebooks, both public domain freebies and purchases, on my PC in a Calibre Library and that is backed up nightly to 3 other hard drives, and occasionally to the cloud. I never make purchases directly to my reader for a few reasons... I will never have a need where I just have to buy a book right this second while I'm out, and I don't want any account information on my readers in case I lose one. I keep around 300 books on my reader at any one time, so I have plenty of reading choices until I get back home. I don't trust online booksellers to always be around to guarantee I can download my content again, or that they won't ever suffer any glitches where my books vanish from my account. Btw, did anyone else have to Google "DAE"? I assumed it was some organization...

01-01-2014, 06:07 AM	#12
latepaul Wizard Posts: 1,264 Karma: 10203040 Join Date: Dec 2011 Device: a variety (mostly kindles and kobos)	Never seen it used before but I assume "DAE" means "Does Anyone Else".

01-01-2014, 06:45 AM	#15
kennyc The Dank Side of the Moon Posts: 35,872 Karma: 118716293 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Denver, CO Device: Kindle2; Kindle Fire	EWIHAT!

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