7 ms·
Ebooks are the worst offenders IMO. Most stores I’ve seen don’t even tell me the format or DRM, but I’m pretty sure it won’t be an open format
by tobyhinloopen 4y ago
Ebooks are the worst offenders IMO. Most stores I’ve seen don’t even tell me the format or DRM, but I’m pretty sure it won’t be an open format
- politelemon 4y agoWorst part for me is that even libraries, who want to promote openness and reading, are perfectly comfortable with delivering books using Adobe's horrible DRM delivery solution.
- sct202 4y agoLibraries have to play in the rules the publishers give them or else they get cut off from the supply of ebooks. They already have to pay more for the ebooks that expire after a certain number of loans.
- Mezzie 4y agoYeah, it's a major misconception to state that they're happy about it. Talk to librarians after hours and they will rant. (And most of us have personal DRM stripped libraries).
- Cerium 4y agoAt least Adobe DRM is trivially easy to break. Right click in the Adobe software and it has a "open document storage location" option. Then drop that DRM loaded PDF into Calibre and you get a free and clear PDF in your library. At that point I go back to the library and hit the return button.
- LarryMullins 4y agoWhy not get a DRM-free epub off the net in the first place?
- yshklarov 4y agoIn some cases these are not available. For instance, archive.org has many books that don't seem to be available anywhere else.
- neilv 4y agoI've started buying from ebooks.com exclusively, because they tell me it's DRM-free EPUB and PDF. I end up paying a big premium in practice over Kindle DRM and discounted paperbacks, but I'm doing my part to convince publishers to offer DRM-free.
- soco 4y agoSpeaking of buying DRM-free books, let me mention again The Humble Bundle. Not many books in there, but for a good cause: https://www.humblebundle.com/ https://www.humblebundle.com/
- neilv 4y agoI bought a DRM-free Schneier's "Applied Cryptography" from a Humble Bundle, and got a virtual pile of other interesting books at the same time.
- sam_lowry_ 4y agoSchneier's last book, Data and Goliath IIRC, was also available as an audiobook, so I bought it, listened...until it ended abruptly at 1/3 of the full length. How could he do this to readers, old fart!?
- avtar 4y ago_Some_ of their books are DRM-free. “But please note that eBooks.com uses Adobe DRM to protect most ebook files, so the device, or the software running on the device must be compatible with Adobe DRM. If you'd prefer to obtain your books without DRM, you can browse our DRM-free section.” https://support.ebooks.com/hc/en-gb/articles/214119286-Guide-to-ebook-reader-devices https://support.ebooks.com/hc/en-gb/articles/214119286-Guide...
- tren 4y agoYes, unfortunately this is the case (I work for ebooks.com). Most publishers require us to use DRM and Adobe DRM really sucks, but there isn't other options out there and we don't have the resources to make something better. We focus quite a bit of effort on educating publishers about moving to DRM-Free as it makes everyone's lives easier and from what we've seen increases publisher sales numbers. https://about.ebooks.com/should-we-sell-your-ebooks-without-drm/ https://about.ebooks.com/should-we-sell-your-ebooks-without-... https://about.ebooks.com/sales-jumped-54-when-this-publisher-went-drm-free/ https://about.ebooks.com/sales-jumped-54-when-this-publisher...
- bccdee 4y agoI like using the Kobo store, because it sells some of its books DRM-free. When it does use DRM, it lists the book as being DRMed, and Kobo DRM is easy to remove anyway.
- irrational 4y agoAre you aware of Calibre?