4 ms·
I'm a comic book fan, and a while back I started buying comics digitally from Dark Horse's digital store. Being also a HN reader, I'm very aware of what these c
by dendory 14y ago
I'm a comic book fan, and a while back I started buying comics digitally from Dark Horse's digital store. Being also a HN reader, I'm very aware of what these companies can do, how accounts are closed without notice, wiping all your previous purchases, etc. So obviously as my spending went up in that one digital store, I became concerned of what could happen, especially reading their FAQ that clearly state all my money gave me nothing other than a right to access their online system. So I did like any good geek and I poked around, used a few web developer tools, and found a way to save those comics to PDF, for backup purposes. Now, whenever I buy a new title, the first thing I do is save it as PDF, before even reading it. So now I'm no longer worried about what this company might do, and I encourage everyone who buys goods digitally to do the same. Of course it sucks that we have to do this, but right now that's the only option. Don't let yourself at the mercy of faceless corporations.
- davidw 14y agoI wonder how difficult it'd be to create an end-user app... User plugs Kindle into the computer, user runs app, app backs up user's books, free from DRM. I guess people could use it to pirate as well, but c'est la vie.
- DanBC 14y agoBypassing a technical copyright protection mechanism is a criminal offence, isn't it? I agree that it's the sane thing to do. "Back up your documents" is important advice.
- tomp 14y agoNot in europe. Here, it's fair use.
- rmc 14y agoIANAL Fair use usually applies to copying the work or publishing it, or making a dervied work from it (y'know all the thing that the copyright holder usually only has legal rights to do). Merely transforming the work yourself and keeping it yourself, wouldn't really count as anything that copyright law has any say over. Since it's not explicitly illegal, it's legal. You don't need 'fair use rights' when you tear up a book in frustration, or your kid scribbles on it. Likewise you can copy your file locally and mangle it if you want. Copyright law only gives the copyright holder some rights to some things. It's not like they own every single copy of the book/film/file completely. This is why there was a new law in the USA (the DMCA) which explicitly criminalized breaking DRM. They needed a new law for it. (However you may enter the territory of hacking a computer system (which is broadly "doing something to a computer that the owner doesn't want").
- fluidcruft 14y ago> You don't need 'fair use rights' when you tear up a book in frustration, or your kid scribbles on it. Wasn't there a big battle lost in Utah by a store where you could take "your" purchased DVDs/VHS and the store would modify/edit them (to improve family friendliness -- also often included removing gay-tolerant elements)? As I recall the directors weren't happy, sued and won.
- regularfry 14y agoAgain, this is not the case in Europe. For instance, format shifting is technically illegal in the UK, even for your own use.
- dthunt 14y agoIt's fair use in the States, too, when the result is exercise of fair use. The fact that provisions in the DMCA could allow someone to go after a linux user using mplayer to play his DVDs doesn't mean that someone will pursue that case - it would create a serious risk of getting provisions of the law stricken by the courts.