| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
Mark
Joined: 22 Mar 2007
Posts: 1240
|
 Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2012 7:33 pm Post subject: |
 |
|
DRM-locked ebook files can still be copied for backup purposes (at least on PCs running Windows). You just need to know what directory your ebook software uses.
On my PC, all ebook downloads show up in various directories under Documents (My Documents under an earlier version of Windows).
Sony Reader downloads are in three different subdirectories under My Books (the directory names have changed with several releases of their PC software).
Adobe Digital Editions files are in My Digital Editions.
Kindle files downloaded by the Kindle for PC emulator are in My Kindle Content.
The DRM is a separate issue, but the files themselves can be copied. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
MissRubyJones
Joined: 22 Apr 2008
Posts: 78
|
| Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2012 9:16 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Mark wrote: | DRM-locked ebook files can still be copied for backup purposes (at least on PCs running Windows). You just need to know what directory your ebook software uses.
On my PC, all ebook downloads show up in various directories under Documents (My Documents under an earlier version of Windows).
Sony Reader downloads are in three different subdirectories under My Books (the directory names have changed with several releases of their PC software).
Adobe Digital Editions files are in My Digital Editions.
Kindle files downloaded by the Kindle for PC emulator are in My Kindle Content.
The DRM is a separate issue, but the files themselves can be copied. |
So, theoretically, you could open Sony/ADE/Kindle files with another software? I'm curious about this for several reasons -- one, I've noticed that e-books that I've borrowed from my library and downloaded to my Aluratek reader do not "disappear" the way ones I've downloaded to my Kindle do. Two, I've noticed that some ePub e-books I've bought automatically open with ADE, while others do not. Could this be the difference between DRM files and non-DRM files? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Mark
Joined: 22 Mar 2007
Posts: 1240
|
| Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 1:35 am Post subject: |
|
|
If you aren't familiar with it, download some ebooks from the Baen free library:
http://www.baen.com/library/books.asp
They offer 5 or 6 formats, all DRM-free. You can try to read the downloaded files with various ebooks & ebook management programs, then try the same programs on an ebook you know has DRM.
One awkward way to test for DRM is to try to open & edit an ebook in Calibre (if you have it downloaded & installed). Calibre doesn't work well with DRM ebooks.
My understanding of the way Adobe DRM works (pdf & epub) is that you have a limited number of devices registered with Adobe, and all the registered devices can read DRM-protected ebooks downloaded for any one of the registered devices. Two Sony ebook management programs on my PC & 3 Sony Readers are using up 5 of the 6 registered device slots I can use. I don't know if the copy of ADE on my PC is also using a slot, since that is managed directly with Adobe while all my Sony slots are managed through the Sony eBook Store. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Diana
Joined: 23 Mar 2007
Posts: 1044
Location: Washington DC
|
| Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 7:33 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Call me crazy, but I don't give a rat's ass about DRM. Haven't lost a moment's sleep over it.
Agency pricing sent me off on a quest for good books to read at a fair price. I've actually had a good time with it. I discovered Moriah Jovan, Annemarie Hartnett, Saranna DeWylde, Alanna Cocoa/Olivia Brynn, Marie Force, Dee Carney -- all new to me authors. I've bought a few from Carina. I've bought backlists from Marsha Canham, Barbara Samuel/Ruth Wind, Theresa Weir/Anne Frasier, Anne Stuart. I've haunted the ebook bargains thread here on the Potpourri board. My Kindle runneth over with good books.
In all of 2011 I bought exactly one $7.99 agency priced book. The lesson the big publishers taught me is that I don't need them and I don't miss them at all.
_________________
Diana |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
jaime
Joined: 23 Sep 2011
Posts: 356
|
| Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 8:43 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I believe DRM is no deterrent against piracy and no match for computer literate people. You only have to do a simple google search to see how easy it is to strip it. If you are so inclined and are pissed off enough. And knowing human nature, locking something up only makes folks want to unlock it. And the Internet is full of people with tech savvy.
I think the mayor publishers are being very shortsighted and quite frankly dumb on several fronts, and if they don't change their tune they'll go the way of the dinosaur. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Linda in sw va
Joined: 27 Mar 2007
Posts: 4707
|
| Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2012 4:45 am Post subject: |
|
|
| jaime wrote: | I believe DRM is no deterrent against piracy and no match for computer literate people. You only have to do a simple google search to see how easy it is to strip it. If you are so inclined and are pissed off enough. And knowing human nature, locking something up only makes folks want to unlock it. And the Internet is full of people with tech savvy.
I think the mayor publishers are being very shortsighted and quite frankly dumb on several fronts, and if they don't change their tune they'll go the way of the dinosaur. |
I strip the DRM off every book I buy so that down the road should I want to switch to another company's ereader I can do so without a problem. I can also shop wherever I want and then convert the file to be read on my ereader. I think it's ridiculous that I should even have to do this, I can't see that it's going to deter thieves, heck they scan and upload digital copies of books that have never even been in ebook form.
IMHO DRM is more about protecting the company you purchased it from so it can't be read on any other device. Amazon has changed up their DRM a couple times to make it harder to strip but there are those out there just as equally determined to strip it.
Linda
_________________
"The Bookshop has a thousand books, all colors, hues and tinges, and every cover is a door that turns on magic hinges." ~ Nancy Byrd Turner |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Kristie(J)
Joined: 23 Mar 2007
Posts: 1100
Location: Southwestern Ontario, Canada
|
| Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2012 12:47 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Diana wrote: | Agency pricing sent me off on a quest for good books to read at a fair price. I've actually had a good time with it. I discovered Moriah Jovan, Annemarie Hartnett, Saranna DeWylde, Alanna Cocoa/Olivia Brynn, Marie Force, Dee Carney -- all new to me authors. I've bought a few from Carina. I've bought backlists from Marsha Canham, Barbara Samuel/Ruth Wind, Theresa Weir/Anne Frasier, Anne Stuart. I've haunted the ebook bargains thread here on the Potpourri board. My Kindle runneth over with good books.
In all of 2011 I bought exactly one $7.99 agency priced book. The lesson the big publishers taught me is that I don't need them and I don't miss them at all. |
I've also discovered some great new authors and have picked up the back lists for those authors you mentioned - and been ecstatic to do so! But sadly, I have 'dropped' many authors -very much against my will -due to the agency pricing thing. That's what makes me so VERY angry. It's one thing if I give up an author because I choose to it's quite another to be forced into it because the bastard publishers - yes I shall call them that - overprice ebooks to the point they are charging, here in Canada at least, several dollars more than a print book. Today's review for the newest Meredith Duran book for example will be one I doubt I will get as my reading is about 95% ebooks now and I refuse to pay more for them. This case - print version is $7.99, eversion is $11.70 in Canada. Bastards!!
I can't even console myself with the thought of getting it used since I know I simply won't - it's ebooks or nothing anymore for me. The few print books I'm reading are ones I bought quite some time ago. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Diana
Joined: 23 Mar 2007
Posts: 1044
Location: Washington DC
|
| Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2012 8:27 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I pretty much went cold turkey so I feel your pain. I gave up quite a few authors I thought I couldn't live without. Sad for me, bad tor authors. I think the market will eventually correct itself but that may not happen until the old dudes with a stranglehold on the big publishing houses have died off.
_________________
Diana |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
desiderata
Joined: 23 Oct 2007
Posts: 226
|
| Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2012 8:31 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: |
I feel your pain. I've simply stopped buying agency books altogether. There are plenty of other things to read and if it's something I HAVE to have, I'll go to the library and read it in print. I prefer ebooks, but I'm not that particular. |
Same here. I don't buy agency ebooks, for me the cutoff is the paperback price. I won't pay more for an ebook, I feel that paying the same price as for the paperback is bad enough.
If I really want to read an agency book I borrow from the library or head to the UBS. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Jane A
Joined: 23 Mar 2007
Posts: 714
Location: So Cal
|
| Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2012 8:48 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Diana wrote: | Call me crazy, but I don't give a rat's ass about DRM. Haven't lost a moment's sleep over it.
Agency pricing sent me off on a quest for good books to read at a fair price. I've actually had a good time with it. I discovered Moriah Jovan, Annemarie Hartnett, Saranna DeWylde, Alanna Cocoa/Olivia Brynn, Marie Force, Dee Carney -- all new to me authors. I've bought a few from Carina. I've bought backlists from Marsha Canham, Barbara Samuel/Ruth Wind, Theresa Weir/Anne Frasier, Anne Stuart. I've haunted the ebook bargains thread here on the Potpourri board. My Kindle runneth over with good books.
In all of 2011 I bought exactly one $7.99 agency priced book. The lesson the big publishers taught me is that I don't need them and I don't miss them at all. |
This! I have bought one or two more agency priced books over the past year than you have, but for the most part I'm done with those authors, unless I can get them through the library. There is an abundance of good books out there that cost much less and they satisfy my "need to read". For those of us that read alot, paying so much for books is just not financially feasible. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
PWNN
Joined: 11 Apr 2010
Posts: 817
|
| Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2012 9:00 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Kristie(J) wrote: | This case - print version is $7.99, eversion is $11.70 in Canada. Bastards!!
I can't even console myself with the thought of getting it used since I know I simply won't - it's ebooks or nothing anymore for me. The few print books I'm reading are ones I bought quite some time ago. |
With Australia I read that there are tariffs/duties on non Australian publishing to protect the local book biz. Is there a similar one in Canada? I know there are prohibitions on non Canada sellers (I think Amazon broke it and paid a huge fine to operate there) which is why B&N still doesn't sell there w/o a U.S. address (easily faked) or U.S. credit card. If so the price hikes for non U.S. buyers aren't under the control of the U.S. publishers - though if that's true I wonder why it doesn't seem to be in effect across the board.
_________________
"My safe word is monkey" |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Kristie(J)
Joined: 23 Mar 2007
Posts: 1100
Location: Southwestern Ontario, Canada
|
| Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2012 9:34 am Post subject: |
|
|
| PWNN wrote: | | Kristie(J) wrote: | This case - print version is $7.99, eversion is $11.70 in Canada. Bastards!!
I can't even console myself with the thought of getting it used since I know I simply won't - it's ebooks or nothing anymore for me. The few print books I'm reading are ones I bought quite some time ago. |
With Australia I read that there are tariffs/duties on non Australian publishing to protect the local book biz. Is there a similar one in Canada? I know there are prohibitions on non Canada sellers (I think Amazon broke it and paid a huge fine to operate there) which is why B&N still doesn't sell there w/o a U.S. address (easily faked) or U.S. credit card. If so the price hikes for non U.S. buyers aren't under the control of the U.S. publishers - though if that's true I wonder why it doesn't seem to be in effect across the board. |
To be honest, I'm not sure if I pay taxes on the books I get through Amazon or not. I don't think I do. Because I have an iPad with both Kindle and Kobo, I do a lot of comparing to figure out which is the best price and the price through Kobo is higher since they charge 15% sales tax. If I get through Amazon, I do have to consider the dollar difference since I'm paying in US funds. But at the moment our dollar is almost on par, so even considering that most of the time it's less expensive through Amazon. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
PamelaM
Joined: 15 Mar 2010
Posts: 166
|
| Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2012 10:31 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Jane A wrote: | | Diana wrote: | Call me crazy, but I don't give a rat's ass about DRM. Haven't lost a moment's sleep over it.
Agency pricing sent me off on a quest for good books to read at a fair price. I've actually had a good time with it. I discovered Moriah Jovan, Annemarie Hartnett, Saranna DeWylde, Alanna Cocoa/Olivia Brynn, Marie Force, Dee Carney -- all new to me authors. I've bought a few from Carina. I've bought backlists from Marsha Canham, Barbara Samuel/Ruth Wind, Theresa Weir/Anne Frasier, Anne Stuart. I've haunted the ebook bargains thread here on the Potpourri board. My Kindle runneth over with good books.
In all of 2011 I bought exactly one $7.99 agency priced book. The lesson the big publishers taught me is that I don't need them and I don't miss them at all. |
This! I have bought one or two more agency priced books over the past year than you have, but for the most part I'm done with those authors, unless I can get them through the library. There is an abundance of good books out there that cost much less and they satisfy my "need to read". For those of us that read alot, paying so much for books is just not financially feasible. |
I am so at the same place ladies! There are so many interesting new authors to explore outside of agency priced books in the ebook world. Although I love my ereader, my library reserves for April are now at five books with new releases. If anything is a DIK, I will head to the UBS in a month or two. I will purchase the new Jennifer Ashley and the 2 Sherry Thomas ebook new releases for my ereader library...yeah, I'm human  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Elizabeth Rolls
Joined: 26 Mar 2007
Posts: 1026
Location: Australia
|
| Posted: Sun Mar 18, 2012 6:52 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Kristie(J) wrote: | To Elizabeth and any other authors who may be reading this, I think in the long run authors lose out in lost sales. The publishers may pay a few cents more if the eBook is priced higher, but I dare say they lose in the matter of lost sales with readers refusing to purchase a higher priced eBook.
And hopefully I've made it clear that in no way do I hold authors responsible for this state of affairs. As Elizabeth has pointed out, as readers themselves, they have the same frustration with these inflated prices. |
Clear as day, KristieJ. And yes, all writers are readers, too. In fact we were addicted readers long before we became writers.
Most, if not all, the posters here are informed enough to know writers generally have very little, if any, say in pricing policies.
Elizabeth |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Diana
Joined: 23 Mar 2007
Posts: 1044
Location: Washington DC
|
| Posted: Sun Mar 18, 2012 10:21 am Post subject: |
|
|
Not to mention the long term consequences. After years of buying every book talked about or kerfuffled over in Romancelandia, I have well and truly broken the habit. I won't go back. Me multiplied by a few million other book buyers who have moved on will make recovery difficult if not impossible for the NY publishing mob. They've alienated formerly loyal customers. And every time I read another article about publishing being in dire straits, it's clear that the executives who got them there are still clueless when it comes to what their customers want. The business model that pays out millions in advances to Snooki and Scott Turow is no longer viable. But they keep on keeping on.
_________________
Diana |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
