eReader SCOOP!!! on TeleRead

Robotech_Master · 12-03-2008, 11:42 AM

I just had a nice long phone convo with Steve P, and wrote it up for TeleRead.

Lots of fun stuff. The press release (about who eReader just licensed their format to) comes out at noon eastern, but you can read it here first.

http://www.teleread.org/blog/2008/12/03/ereader-scoop/

Hadrien · 12-03-2008, 12:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robotech_Master

I just had a nice long phone convo with Steve P, and wrote it up for TeleRead.

Lots of fun stuff. The press release (about who eReader just licensed their format to) comes out at noon eastern, but you can read it here first.

http://www.teleread.org/blog/2008/12/03/ereader-scoop/

The whole things was leaked several days ago (when they released Stanza 1.6) in a post that Lexcycle did on Twitter.

Anyway, I'm not sure that this is such a good news: we now have 2 DRM formats for ePub, which makes Stanza incompatible with the Sony Reader for DRMed files.

pilotbob · 12-03-2008, 12:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hadrien

The whole things was leaked several days ago (when they released Stanza 1.6) in a post that Lexcycle did on Twitter.

Anyway, I'm not sure that this is such a good news: we now have 2 DRM formats for ePub, which makes Stanza incompatible with the Sony Reader for DRMed files.

It's good and bad. eReader DRM is much less restrictive than the Adobe DRM which requires a device to be registered and is limited to 6 devices.

On the other hand, the eReader format is not supported by any eInk devices. This should be a major priority to the eReader group IMNSHO.

BOb

Robotech_Master · 12-03-2008, 12:15 PM

I wouldn't be surprised if it was. Steve told me that ever since Fictionwise had taken over eReader, getting the eReader working on as many platforms as possible was one of their highest priorities.

Of course, they're going to be spending much of the next year updating all their existing clients to handle ePub in an eReader DRM wrapper…

DaleDe · 12-03-2008, 01:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pilotbob

It's good and bad. eReader DRM is much less restrictive than the Adobe DRM which requires a device to be registered and is limited to 6 devices.

On the other hand, the eReader format is not supported by any eInk devices. This should be a major priority to the eReader group IMNSHO.

BOb

The announcement said that eReader was being ported to Linux which is just a prelude to e-INK devices since they run Linux. Astak is still working with Fictionwise.

As to the DRM problem this could cause difficulty for the user of ePUB. Somehow it needs to be very clear which DRM a particular eBook is using. I suspect a new extension is needed for DRM content with a different extension for each version.

Dale

delphidb96 · 12-03-2008, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaleDe

The announcement said that eReader was being ported to Linux which is just a prelude to e-INK devices since they run Linux. Astak is still working with Fictionwise.

As to the DRM problem this could cause difficulty for the user of ePUB. Somehow it needs to be very clear which DRM a particular eBook is using. I suspect a new extension is needed for DRM content with a different extension for each version.

Dale

While I am all in favor of a truly all-encompassing ebook standard, I fail to see how eReader, in it's current form, would work with non-numeric-key e-ink readers - such as the Cybook - as there's no real way to enter the owner name and CC#/ID to 'unlock' the eReader-DRM'd ebook.

To be truly all-encompassing, any DRM'd ebook format would have to be able to work on devices not having key input. (Leaving aside the fact that DRM is a negation of ebook purchaser rights and the whole DRM/no-DRM argument.)

Derek

pilotbob · 12-03-2008, 08:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by delphidb96

To be truly all-encompassing, any DRM'd ebook format would have to be able to work on devices not having key input. (Leaving aside the fact that DRM is a negation of ebook purchaser rights and the whole DRM/no-DRM argument.)

Derek

Many devices have 10 buttons so T9 would work.. that is what the Jetbook uses for text entry to search and create folders and such.

Also, the CyBook could use a similar thing as it does for specifying a word to look up. It could just display A - Z and 0 - 9 and you highlight the letter/number you need and press enter to select it. Where these is a will there is a way.

BOb

pilotbob · 12-03-2008, 08:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaleDe

As to the DRM problem this could cause difficulty for the user of ePUB. Somehow it needs to be very clear which DRM a particular eBook is using. I suspect a new extension is needed for DRM content with a different extension for each version.

I agree... I suggest something like:

<bookname>.epub.ReallyAnnoyingeReaderDRMThatYouWil lProbablyRemove

<bookname>.epub.ReallyAnnoyingAdobeDRMThatYouWillP robablyRemove

BOb

GntlmnBndt · 12-04-2008, 01:47 AM

Well, several people have been saying that ePUB would not be much of a standard if it was wrapped in various, incompatible DRM schemes -- sounds like they are right. Essentially, the DRM will be the 'format'.

Having said that, since I already buy eReader books (when I buy DRM-protected books, which I prefer to avoid, but eReader seems about the least restrictive), this sounds like a nice upgrade in capabilities for what has been a rather dated format.

I hope/assume this also means that Fictionwise will start offering ePUB versions of their multi-format books in the near future?

The Bandit

FizzyWater · 12-04-2008, 02:00 AM

Wonder if the ePub change-over will make our ereader2html scrypt unusable?

GntlmnBndt · 12-04-2008, 02:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaleDe

As to the DRM problem this could cause difficulty for the user of ePUB. Somehow it needs to be very clear which DRM a particular eBook is using. I suspect a new extension is needed for DRM content with a different extension for each version.

I think BooksOnBoard has the right idea. They already sell their files as 'Adobe ePUB', so it should not be a big deal to also list 'eReader ePUB' as an option. Caveat emptor, as usual.

As to the extensions, I already rename many of the files I download since extensions are not as useful in identifying file contents as they used to be. With .avi videos that might need any of several different codecs, books in .prc and .pdb files that could be iSilo, Mobipocket or any of several other formats... heck, even zip files can often be more useful with a .cbz extension. Actually, ePUB itself is a container format and any specific file could have contents that would not load on any reader that supports ePUB today, and still be completely up to spec. I do hope Fictionwise applies some common sense to the matter, but if I have to rename the files title.erdr.epub, I won't be too surprised.

The Bandit

Hadrien · 12-04-2008, 07:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

Wonder if the ePub change-over will make our ereader2html scrypt unusable?

It depends. The script will have to be different (DRM over ePub means encrypting each XML flow inside the container) but if the encryption is the same, you won't need to change a lot of things in the script.

DaleDe · 12-04-2008, 10:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Many devices have 10 buttons so T9 would work.. that is what the Jetbook uses for text entry to search and create folders and such.

Also, the CyBook could use a similar thing as it does for specifying a word to look up. It could just display A - Z and 0 - 9 and you highlight the letter/number you need and press enter to select it. Where these is a will there is a way.

BOb

certainly GPS devices without a touch screen have been able to enter data for some time using only a joystick or direction pad interface. It isn't difficult and it could be facilitated by supporting a mechanism that remembered a default value so it would only be entered once. Kind of like passwords.

Dale

DaleDe · 12-04-2008, 10:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GntlmnBndt

I do hope Fictionwise applies some common sense to the matter, but if I have to rename the files title.erdr.epub, I won't be too surprised.

The Bandit

I think this would be terrible. Changing a few letters would be simple but adding a second extension would not be the correct solution. This is how viruses are proliferated. There should only be one extension as indicated by the dot.

I think the first letter could be changed such as .epub for normal non drm and .apub for adobe, xpub for someone else, etc.

JSWolf · 12-04-2008, 10:39 AM

Stanza needs to die a horrible death. We do not need another DRm scheme for ePub. The one we have is bad enough as it is. Stanza is going to make things nasty in the world of eBooks and DRM. It's not helping us at all. All it's doing is adding to the Tower or eBable.

So all I can say to Stanza is go away. We don't need you. We don't want your new DRM. We don't want your nonsense. We just want to do away with DRM, not add to the problem.

12-03-2008, 11:42 AM	#1
Robotech_Master Fanatic Posts: 514 Karma: 2954711 Join Date: May 2006	eReader SCOOP!!! on TeleRead I just had a nice long phone convo with Steve P, and wrote it up for TeleRead. Lots of fun stuff. The press release (about who eReader just licensed their format to) comes out at noon eastern, but you can read it here first. http://www.teleread.org/blog/2008/12/03/ereader-scoop/ Last edited by Robotech_Master; 12-03-2008 at 11:53 AM.

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12-03-2008, 12:15 PM	#4
Robotech_Master Fanatic Posts: 514 Karma: 2954711 Join Date: May 2006	I wouldn't be surprised if it was. Steve told me that ever since Fictionwise had taken over eReader, getting the eReader working on as many platforms as possible was one of their highest priorities. Of course, they're going to be spending much of the next year updating all their existing clients to handle ePub in an eReader DRM wrapper…

12-04-2008, 01:47 AM	#9
GntlmnBndt Zealot Posts: 135 Karma: 142 Join Date: Jul 2008 Device: iPod Touch, iPad	Well, several people have been saying that ePUB would not be much of a standard if it was wrapped in various, incompatible DRM schemes -- sounds like they are right. Essentially, the DRM will be the 'format'. Having said that, since I already buy eReader books (when I buy DRM-protected books, which I prefer to avoid, but eReader seems about the least restrictive), this sounds like a nice upgrade in capabilities for what has been a rather dated format. I hope/assume this also means that Fictionwise will start offering ePUB versions of their multi-format books in the near future? The Bandit

12-04-2008, 02:00 AM	#10
FizzyWater You kids get off my lawn! Posts: 4,220 Karma: 73492664 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Columbus, Ohio Device: Oasis 2 and Libra H2O and half a dozen older models I can't let go of	Wonder if the ePub change-over will make our ereader2html scrypt unusable?

12-04-2008, 10:39 AM	#15
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,931 Karma: 128903250 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Stanza needs to die a horrible death. We do not need another DRm scheme for ePub. The one we have is bad enough as it is. Stanza is going to make things nasty in the world of eBooks and DRM. It's not helping us at all. All it's doing is adding to the Tower or eBable. So all I can say to Stanza is go away. We don't need you. We don't want your new DRM. We don't want your nonsense. We just want to do away with DRM, not add to the problem.

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