3 ms·

There are DRM-free e-books but most aren't. The dominant e-book providers use DRM. That's why you need specific software to read e-books such as iBooks (soon to

by chmars 13y ago

There are DRM-free e-books but most aren't. The dominant e-book providers use DRM. That's why you need specific software to read e-books such as iBooks (soon to be available on the Mac, that wouldn't be necessary without DRM!), Kindle and Adobe's DRM-infested e-book reading app. DRM can be removed in theory but most users won't make it through Calibre and the necessary scripts. In addition, in many countries, removing DRM is illegal, and in almost all countries, offering software, knowledge etc. on removing DRM even for legal purposes such as personal use is illegal. Removing DRM is therefore not an approach compatible with a mass market.

DanBC 13y ago
> DRM can be removed in theory but most users won't make it through Calibre and the necessary scripts. I really hate Calibre, and I can't understand why someone hasn't forked it and released a limited set of tools just for DRM stripping. Obviously this is legally difficult but certainly do-able. > In addition, in many countries, removing DRM is illegal, It's weird that I am committing a criminal offence if I buy a DRMd ebook and rip it to a format I can use, but I'm not committing a criminal offence if I just download a DRM-free version of the same book.
- tjoff 13y ago
  The scripts are typically not tied to Calibre. Just execute them with command line arguments instead. Of course that doesn't change anything legally but technically making a simple "GUI" to de-drm ebooks is something that any high-level programmer could do in a few minutes.
- shmerl 13y ago
  There were such scripts already. Search for "Kindle Unswindle / Unskindle".
shmerl 13y ago
> In addition, in many countries, removing DRM is illegal, and in almost all countries, offering software, knowledge etc. on removing DRM even for legal purposes such as personal use is illegal. It's "illegal" while it shouldn't be, since it bans fair use (format/device shifting). So in practice people simply ignore nonsensical "laws" like these, since they "place unrealistic demands on reality" (the way Cory Doctorow phrased it). So removing DRM should be compatible with mass market no matter how many nonsensical laws will try to prevent it and tools to remove DRM are distributed through services hosted in countries which don't have such nonsense like DMCA 1201. It applies even to such elementary things like libdvdcss which one needs to play DVDs on Linux.
Zigurd 13y ago
O'Reilly sells e-books in multiple formats, and the e-books they sell on their site are all DRM-free. The retail price at oreilly.com is higher than at Amazon, but discount codes are easy to find. For example, authors are given cards to hand out with the discount code AUTHD printed on them.

by chmars 13y ago

DanBC 13y ago

> DRM can be removed in theory but most users won't make it through Calibre and the necessary scripts. I really hate Calibre, and I can't understand why someone hasn't forked it and released a limited set of tools just for DRM stripping. Obviously this is legally difficult but certainly do-able. > In addition, in many countries, removing DRM is illegal, It's weird that I am committing a criminal offence if I buy a DRMd ebook and rip it to a format I can use, but I'm not committing a criminal offence if I just download a DRM-free version of the same book.

tjoff 13y ago
The scripts are typically not tied to Calibre. Just execute them with command line arguments instead. Of course that doesn't change anything legally but technically making a simple "GUI" to de-drm ebooks is something that any high-level programmer could do in a few minutes.
shmerl 13y ago
There were such scripts already. Search for "Kindle Unswindle / Unskindle".

shmerl 13y ago

> In addition, in many countries, removing DRM is illegal, and in almost all countries, offering software, knowledge etc. on removing DRM even for legal purposes such as personal use is illegal. It's "illegal" while it shouldn't be, since it bans fair use (format/device shifting). So in practice people simply ignore nonsensical "laws" like these, since they "place unrealistic demands on reality" (the way Cory Doctorow phrased it). So removing DRM should be compatible with mass market no matter how many nonsensical laws will try to prevent it and tools to remove DRM are distributed through services hosted in countries which don't have such nonsense like DMCA 1201. It applies even to such elementary things like libdvdcss which one needs to play DVDs on Linux.

Zigurd 13y ago

O'Reilly sells e-books in multiple formats, and the e-books they sell on their site are all DRM-free. The retail price at oreilly.com is higher than at Amazon, but discount codes are easy to find. For example, authors are given cards to hand out with the discount code AUTHD printed on them.