04:20 PM by NatCh in E-Book General | News

The Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property (PRO-IP) Act of 2007 is now officially the law of the land. It creates a "IP Czar" ('cause "czars" have worked out so well, historically, apparently) chosen by the Senate and reporting directly to the President, forms a brand new division of the Department of Justice for him or her to be Czar over, specifically for the purpose of protecting intellectual property, and defines penalties for copyright infringement.

The usual supporters are saying the usual sorts of things: that it'll protect content creators, and reduce infringement. The usual opponents are saying their usual things, that copyright laws are already stacked massively in favor corporations and against consumers. But I do think it's interesting to note that this is apparently a less severe version from what was originally opposed, evidently the DOJ objected to it on the grounds that it could put them in the position of becoming de facto free legal support for even extremely well-heeled copyright holders (i.e. the RIAA).

Personally, I find myself wondering if this is really the best use of Federal resources at this particular point in time. Surely we have enough to juggle without adding a new legal bureaucracy to the mix?

Source: PC World, and NewsOxy.com.

10:11 AM by Bob Russell in E-Book General | Deals and Resources (No...

If you are looking for a very nice book scanner, and you have a compatible version of Windows, now might be a good time to buy. The Plustek OpticBook 3600 is available at TigerDirect for $229.99 after instant savings.

For those of you who are not familiar with the device, it stands out because it is a flat bed scanner with excellent edge scanning capabilities, so you can scan a book easily without having problems with the scan in the binding area. It also makes the process less destructive on the book being scanned (you don't have to force it flat on the glass to scan it). And it comes with a great suite of software to finish the job.

TigerDirect lists compatible versions of Windows as Windows 2000, Windows 98, Windows XP, Windows ME. Don't know if it can work on Vista or not.

It's a little smaller than a multifunction printer, but it's not small. So you'll also need a place to put it near your computer. To be honest, if I had a nice place in my office to tuck it, I'd buy one myself. It's a great product!

I don't know if they have an updated version of the product or not, but I would like to see them on the market. Regular flatbed scanners are a pain to use. Auto sheet feeder scanners are nice if you can cut apart and destroy a book. And overhead camera systems are probably going to be the best answer in the future, but for some reason I haven't seen any cheap options yet so that will probably taka a while, and binding issues will still remain.

Hey, you bargain hunters might even find a used one out there for more savings.

Links...
Plustek Product Page
Tiger Direct Product Page
Previous MR review

06:00 AM by Alexander Turcic in Miscellaneous | Week in Review

It's time again for our roundup on all the stuff we posted on our frontpage this past week.

E-Book General - News and Commentary

• Textbook Torrents says final goodbye

E-Book General - Deals, Freebies, and Resources

• Free Ebook: Peter J. Schakel, Reading with the Heart: The Way into Narnia

E-Book Devices - iRex iLiad

• iRex hints at releasing all the iLiad code

Miscellaneous - Announcements

• Welcome DMcCunney to the team!

07:21 PM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | News

Remember Textbook Torrents? A few months ago they were forced to shut down after receiving complaints from publishers for distributing torrents of textbook files -- only to reopen shortly after. Well, apparently textbook publishing oligopolists have now laid down the smack on the torrent site operator himself. According to TorrentFreak:

Geekman [admin of Textbook Torrents] told us that he felt that when it became clear to the copyright owners that simple threats to the site and its host wouldn’t be sufficient to close down the tracker, he himself became the next logical target: “We got word from several credible sources that there was a lawsuit in the works against myself personally,” he explained.

Geekman told us that he was sorry to have to shut down the site without notice, but in the absence of others immediately stepping up to take over the running of the site, he had no alternative. He also said that he was disappointed that nobody stepped in with a replacement site when TextBook Torrents was down for 3 weeks in August, but hopes that someone will do so now.

Textbook Torrents is gone, but the last time I checked, Piratebay was still offering torrents of pirated e-books. Shutting down individual sites is not going to help solve the problem of piracy. It's merely shifts Internet traffic to another place. What we need to begin with is more transparency in textbook pricing. Well, and perhaps some affordable larger-format e-book devices.

Thanks to Danny for the news!

04:20 AM by drago in iRex | iRex Developer's Corner

Karel of iRex made the following statement over at the iRex forum:

However we are looking into the possibility of releasing all the remaining code of the iLiad to the community to allow further community development. But we are open for suggestion on this.

04:15 AM by Alexander Turcic in Miscellaneous | Announcements

Ladies and gentlemen from far and near,

It is my great pleasure to formally announce that Dennis McCunney has joined the Mobileread team. Dennis has been a member since 2007, and it's not an exaggeration to describe him as a most helpful and enthusiastic e-book follower.

Most of you may have seen Dennis' remarkable coverage of the recent Sony event in New York City. So what'd be more appropriate than naming him Mobileread's official "New York Editor"?

Welcome aboard, Dennis! Very glad to have you with us.

08:15 PM by Patricia in E-Book General | Deals and Resources (No...

C S Lewis's Narnia Books are still in copyright. So is this commentary, but the author has posted a copy online.

Available at:
http://hope.edu/academic/english/sch...gwiththeheart/

The author, Peter J Schakel, says:
Although Reading with the Heart: The Way into Narnia has been out-of-print since the mid-1980s, I continue to be contacted by people wanting to obtain a copy of it. Because reprinting it is not feasible, I have decided to make it available electronically. This site contains the entire book, including index, in HTML format. Original pagination is indicated by page numbers inserted in brackets [<--p. 1], for convenience in citing material from it.

This is a copyrighted book. ... Individuals may print copies of the book for personal use; but no part of the book may be reproduced for publication or sale without prior permission of the author.

06:00 AM by Alexander Turcic in Miscellaneous | Week in Review

Here it is again, our weekly roundup! Enjoy!

E-Book General - News and Commentary

• Sony campaign: Man will live in a store window, reading for 30 days
• Sony Connect bookstore to reach 100,000 titles
• Sony PRS-700 Reader launch in New York City
• Amazon Kindle 2 info, photos leaked

E-Book Devices - iRex Digital Reader

• iRex Digital Reader: Going to receive a review unit - post your questions

E-Book Devices - Sony Portable Reader PRS-700

• The Sony PRS700: the Newest Member of the Sony Reader Family

E-Book Devices - Sony Portable Reader PRS-500/505

• Sony Reader to be introduced in Holland in 2009

Miscellaneous - Lounge

• Get well soon, David!

Miscellaneous - Announcements

• Reminder : Houston, Texas (USA) meetup October 4, afternoon / evening
• Last reminder: MobileRead Reader Meetup in Houston, TX tomorrow