6 ms·

Some books on Amazon are DRM free. The publisher is the one who decides if they want to use it.

by RexRollman 14y ago

listic 14y ago
How do you see which books are DRM-free before purchase?
- noste 14y ago
  At least some books mention that "At the publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied." in the book description field. For example: http://www.amazon.com/Pirate-Cinema-ebook/dp/B0089LOEBS/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1351023851&sr=1-2 http://www.amazon.com/Pirate-Cinema-ebook/dp/B0089LOEBS/ref=...
  - donniezazen 14y ago
    Is there a way to tell if this book has DRM? http://www.amazon.com/Neuroscience-Exploring-the-Brain-ebook/dp/B008QWSV2S/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1351042693&sr=1-1&keywords=neuroscience+exploring+the+brain http://www.amazon.com/Neuroscience-Exploring-the-Brain-ebook...
    - jbrechtel 14y ago
      Yes. This part in the details section: "Simultaneous Device Usage: Up to 4 simultaneous devices, per publisher limits" means that it has DRM.
- bduerst 14y ago
  This I would also like to know.
oneandoneis2 14y ago
Yeah, but even if they're DRM-free Amazon can still take them away - http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4682392 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4682392 Until they offer a cast-iron, legally-binding guarantee that any ebook I buy from them cannot be taken away from me, they don't get my money. If I buy a book, it's my book: If the bookshop I bought it from takes it back, then that's theft. As far as I'm concerned, the same holds true for ebooks. I buy it, it's mine. Period. Until Amazon agrees with me, I don't buy their ebooks. It's that simple.
- mapleoin 14y ago
  They can't take them away from you if you backup your DRM-free books on a different media.
  - vadman 14y ago
    Why should the grandparent jump through the hoops though? Also, isn't stripping DRM from Amazon ebooks against the TOS? Potentially exposing him/her to some legal trouble?
    - nodata 14y ago
      O'Reilly will put your ebooks into your Dropbox folder if you let them. Amazon could do that. Problem solved. Link: http://shop.oreilly.com/category/customer-service/dropbox.do http://shop.oreilly.com/category/customer-service/dropbox.do
    - mhurron 14y ago
      Backups are 'jumping through hoops' now? As others have said, breaking the DRM for personal uses (backups, changing devices) should be perfectly legal in the US and probably most of Europe as well.

Some books on Amazon are DRM free. The publisher is the one who decides if they want to use it.

listic 14y ago

How do you see which books are DRM-free before purchase?

noste 14y ago
At least some books mention that "At the publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied." in the book description field. For example: http://www.amazon.com/Pirate-Cinema-ebook/dp/B0089LOEBS/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1351023851&sr=1-2 http://www.amazon.com/Pirate-Cinema-ebook/dp/B0089LOEBS/ref=...
- donniezazen 14y ago
  Is there a way to tell if this book has DRM? http://www.amazon.com/Neuroscience-Exploring-the-Brain-ebook/dp/B008QWSV2S/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1351042693&sr=1-1&keywords=neuroscience+exploring+the+brain http://www.amazon.com/Neuroscience-Exploring-the-Brain-ebook...
  - jbrechtel 14y ago
    Yes. This part in the details section: "Simultaneous Device Usage: Up to 4 simultaneous devices, per publisher limits" means that it has DRM.
bduerst 14y ago
This I would also like to know.

oneandoneis2 14y ago

Yeah, but even if they're DRM-free Amazon can still take them away - http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4682392 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4682392 Until they offer a cast-iron, legally-binding guarantee that any ebook I buy from them cannot be taken away from me, they don't get my money. If I buy a book, it's my book: If the bookshop I bought it from takes it back, then that's theft. As far as I'm concerned, the same holds true for ebooks. I buy it, it's mine. Period. Until Amazon agrees with me, I don't buy their ebooks. It's that simple.

mapleoin 14y ago
They can't take them away from you if you backup your DRM-free books on a different media.
- vadman 14y ago
  Why should the grandparent jump through the hoops though? Also, isn't stripping DRM from Amazon ebooks against the TOS? Potentially exposing him/her to some legal trouble?
  - nodata 14y ago
    O'Reilly will put your ebooks into your Dropbox folder if you let them. Amazon could do that. Problem solved. Link: http://shop.oreilly.com/category/customer-service/dropbox.do http://shop.oreilly.com/category/customer-service/dropbox.do
  - mhurron 14y ago
    Backups are 'jumping through hoops' now? As others have said, breaking the DRM for personal uses (backups, changing devices) should be perfectly legal in the US and probably most of Europe as well.