5 ms·
I think its important to clarify a few things. The article is noting that they blocked the downloading of books that use "Kindle Unlimited" which is a subscrip
by jacurtis 4y ago
I think its important to clarify a few things.
The article is noting that they blocked the downloading of books that use "Kindle Unlimited" which is a subscription, that runs $10 a month, for unlimited of select Kindle titles. Think of Kindle Unlimited as the book equivalent to Spotify Premium.
You can still download and un-DRM books that you buy individually from Amazon directly. This is an important distinction. Because you "own" the book you buy directly. You don't own titles through Kindle Unlimited, you are borrowing them.
The restriction from allowing the downloaded books on this service actually makes a lot more sense when you understand the service. This is no different than we see from any other service where you pay a monthly fee for access to content while maintaining an active subscription. For example you can download songs with Spotify, but they automatically expire after 30 days unless they "phone home" to confirm you still have a subscription. Netflix, HBO, Hulu, etc all let you download movies now, but they expire unless you maintain a subscription.
You don't own any of this content, it is just lent to you for the duration of an active subscription. Kindle Unlimited is no different, but for books.
The important part is that nothing has changed for books purchased directly from Amazon individually. This change is only for the Kindle Unlimited service.
- vaughands 4y agoJust a small note: it is not possible to unDRM books published post 2023 at this time. Amazon has changed their DRM scheme.
- themoonisachees 4y agoDon't they offer older DRM schemes for older devices? Surely you do not have to update your kindle (especially if it is older) to read newly published books?
- freeone3000 4y agoYou do, with updates issued back to the Paperwhite 1st gen. DX owners were issued a $100 trade-up credit last year.
- goosedragons 4y agoYes, and you can for now still get AZW3 files (that can be unDRMed) through Download for USB transfer if you have a registered Kindle even if it's new enough to handle their new KFX format. What is broken is that you can't use Kindle for PC/Mac to get AZW3 copies of books published on or after Jan. 3rd 2023 as it only lets you download with the latest version. As someone without a Kindle (and I'm certainly not buying one now) any new Kindle books would be locked down.
- unethical_ban 4y agoHoly crap, this is news to me. The only reason I chose Kindle over competitors was so that I could crack, and therefore own, the books I bought. I guess I'll libgen it up now, and order deadtree from non-Amazon stores to support the authors.
- goosedragons 4y agoYou can still break the DRM on books with Adobe DRM (like that used by Google Play books) or Kobo (they have their own DRM but also offer Adobe versions).
- brador 4y agoScreenshots + OCR will always be possible.
- SnaggyJoker 4y agoYou could always use a quill and ink too.
- alex_suzuki 4y agoOr even simpler, just memorize the book.
- SergeAx 4y agoHow's that "not possible to unDRM" thing works? The reader able to decipher the content to show it on screen means that everything it needs to decipher content is inside the reader, and can be extracted.
- throwaway2048 4y agoIt needs to be cracked first, which hasn't happened yet.
- xg15 4y ago> Because you "own" the book you buy directly. You don't own titles through Kindle Unlimited, you are borrowing them. Could someone please explain to me the concept of "borrowing" for digital books which can be infinitely copied?