why i'll never go e-book

[acroyear]

I Finally Got a Kindle and I Love It but I Am Scared of Fascism | The Awl:

Having learned all this, I went along and had a closer look at the current Kindle License Agreement. There is some simply petrifying stuff on there. For starters, you don’t “own” Kindle books, you’re basically renting them.

Unless otherwise specified, Digital Content is licensed, not sold, to you by the Content Provider.

They can change the software on you whenever they like:

Automatic Updates. In order to keep your Software up-to-date, Amazon may automatically provide your Kindle or Other Device with updates/upgrades to the Software.

That is how a totalitarian state would go about confiscating books, if they wanted to. There is nothing in this agreement to stop Amazon from modifying the Kindle software to make it impossible for you to read any of your own files on the device. Such a step is not actually forbidden to them by this agreement; they are under no obligation to protect any data you might be storing on there. That’s not to say that there aren’t laws at least in some states that might allow you to sue for damages; I’m just saying, there isn’t any promise made by Amazon to protect your data or preserve its readability.

They can also change the terms of the deal or simply shut down Kindle service entirely, anytime they like:

Changes to Service. We may modify, suspend, or discontinue the Service, in whole or in part, at any time.

Or they might decide to shut your account down:

Termination. Your rights under this Agreement will automatically terminate if you fail to comply with any term of this Agreement. In case of such termination, you must cease all use of the Software, and Amazon may immediately revoke your access to the Service or to Digital Content without refund of any fees. Amazon’s failure to insist upon or enforce your strict compliance with this Agreement will not constitute a waiver of any of its rights.

Keep in mind these are your books that you bought or collected. Can you imagine a bookseller or publisher asserting rights over the contents of your bookshelves in your house? That’s basically what we’re talking about, here.

Comments

[uncle-possum.livejournal.com]

Amazon already removed at least two books from Kindle without either asking permission of those who had "bought" them, or even telling them. After complaints, they offered any other title to replace the ones removed, and apparently thought that was sufficient.

This was covered in the library and publishing press, but got little emphasis in the general press. And, after a slight blip, sales do not seem to have been affected.

[dawntreader]

wasn't 1984 one of the books they removed?

[scifantasy.livejournal.com]

Yep. It was a height of irony.

[scifantasy.livejournal.com]

Which is why I de-DRM all the ebooks I buy from Amazon and store copies on my computer.

[thelongshot.livejournal.com]

Ditto, except that I have the additional step of not buying from Amazon in the first place. While many like the conviencence of having a device that is always connected, the downsides to that are plainly expressed here.

There are also plenty of DRM-free books out there. Maybe not major releases, but because of that they are more likely to get my attention.

[scifantasy.livejournal.com]

Well, my Kindle isn't always connected. In fact, it usually isn't connected at all--I usually just connect via USB.

[thelongshot.livejournal.com]

Well, you do need to connect to buy books from Amazon, right? Last I knew, you could only buy eBooks from the Kindle itself.

[scifantasy.livejournal.com]

Nope. I buy the books on Amazon.com on my computer, download to my computer's Kindle for Mac program (there's also Kindle for PC, Kindle for iDevice, and more besides), then open in my de-DRMer. The Kindle learns of the new book when I connect it to the computer and drop the new file in place.

Usually. You can buy your books from the Kindle's access to Amazon's Kindle Store, and I occasionally do, but normally, nope.

[thelongshot.livejournal.com]

That has changed in recent times. I remember when the Kindle was first introduced that you could only buy from the device and that you needed to get it off the device to put it on others.

I also remembered that back then, if you wanted to upload a book that was a different format that you had to send it to Amazon for them to upload it to your book. Nice to see that they improved some things about the experience.

[scifantasy.livejournal.com]

Well--Kindle will only read a few specific formats (mobi for real ebooks, though pdf is an alternative). Then again, stripping Amazon DRM leaves a mobi book that the Kindle can read just fine, and Calibre can turn my epub files (mostly from Baen Books) into mobi as well. The "send it" is still an option, just unnecessary for me.

[zombie-dog.livejournal.com]

For instance, the entire Vorkosigan series by Lois McMaster Bujold is currently available DRM-free and free of charge from Baen. I'm reading Cryoburn on my droid on the train. :)

This all reminds me that I've got to convert Tales to ePub format.

[thelongshot.livejournal.com]

Well, except for Memory, which isn't in any of the collected editions.

[dreamtigress.livejournal.com]

I want a Kindle, and had already thought I would store all the books I get on my own harddrive first. How does one go about the de-DRM-ing ? (Wow, that's totally not a word.)

[scifantasy.livejournal.com]

Check out Calibre (http://calibre-ebook.com/) for the storage and library maintenance, and Apprentice Alf's Blog (http://apprenticealf.wordpress.com/) for some instructions on de-DRMing. The most important utilities are available as Calibre plugins, too.

[dreamtigress.livejournal.com]

Kewl, thanks !

[jaythebarbarian.livejournal.com]

This is why I'm going nowhere near an ebook readers until there's one with A) no DRM. Maybe a watermark. but that's it. and B) can put books in any format I please.

Until then, I'm not paying a cent for any reader out there.

[dawntreader]

no "until then" for me.

i'm not paying a cent for any reader out there. i'll just continue buying books. i have shelves for them and that's okay. :)

[thelongshot.livejournal.com]

Readers themselves don't require DRM. For example, we have a Sony Reader and I almost never buy anything from Sony's store. I only buy DRMed books when I know how to strip the DRM from it.

As for converting books to other formats, see scifantasy's post above. Calibre is an excellent tool for converting just about any format to any other.

[shalandara.livejournal.com]

Other than price (because we don't have extra $$ to throw around) this is the main reason why I have not gone with any e-book format.

I am not surprised that it has been a major issue and has only caused one or two minor media stories on the matter. The majority of people out there are sheep and do not care about their rights at all, because they are blindly trusting The Powers That Be, whoever they are (government, corporations, etc).

I'm getting more and more curmudgeony as I grow older. :)

[thatliardiego.livejournal.com]

And people say Apple is controlling...

[acroyear70.livejournal.com]

well, the issue with Amazon and Kindle is the same as Apple's relationship to the records labels was before "itunes plus" came along - everything was tightly DRMed, and everybody blamed Apple when the reality is that deal was all the labels would allow at the time. Apple wasn't controlling any more than they had to be to get any product out there at all given the Luddite nature of the labels.

Amazon and BN are in the same (bad) deal, with publishers that are even more adverse to technological change than the labels were.

[immer-nachoha.livejournal.com]

If it was a totalitarian state deleting your books I don't think having physical copies would protect you. I have more likely things to worry about, and frankly having a Kindle has allowed me to get rid of several hundred pounds of books and a dozen bookshelves that I will no longer have to pack up and schlep every time I move, and still have room for a couple thousand more books on my kindle.

Slightly rambly, forgive me, I'm tired.

[chameleon613.livejournal.com]

This is actually one of the reasons why I don't have a Kindle and don't especially want one.

Although I could also see the argument that essentially Amazon is operating on an e-library model...although the point of that, given that part of the idea of an e-book is one of accessibility and ease of being able to tote around a whole stack of books, is a little weak. (The idea, as I understand it, is not to lug around a whole pile of books in a little container and periodically have one get lost.)

The point of a system like that, and DRM, was at least theoretically to prevent copying without giving due compensation to the creators of the product -- not to make it so that the publisher/retailer could reclaim goods at any time. Argh.