kindle_diary_freedom

By Chris Scott Barr

How many of you actually appreciate having your legally-purchased digital media locked down by DRM? I’d be surprised if a single one of you said yes. The only thing it’s truly good for is aggravating the loyal paying customers. When you take away the DRM, people will still purchase the goods, as proven by Apple with iTunes. Amazon doesn’t seem to think along these lines, at least not with their ebooks. Fear not though, as you can now take those files you download from Amazon and strip them of their pesky DRM.

That’s right, a group has finally cracked the code on the AZW files and has provided the tools to convert them to simple PDF files. If you purchase an ebook, all you need to do is follow their instructions and you’ll have a file that you can actually do something with that doesn’t specifically involve the Kindle. Will this encourage piracy? Perhaps. However I think more people will be inclined to buy ebooks legally if they can actually use them on multiple (non-Kindle) readers.

[ I?Cabbages ] VIA [ Dvice ]

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9 COMMENTS

  1. I am pro DRM. The artists and publishers have worked very hard to produce the product and rightly deserve to be financially compensated and have their work protected from bottom feeders who plan to just parasite off of them. Without DRM, there is no initiate for artists and companies to continue to innovate because it pretty much becomes a thankless job. I am appalled that this 'group' has managed to crack the AZW code. I'm terribly appalled I tell you! I plan to protest by boycotting all ebooks that do not have DRM.

  2. “as proven by Apple with iTunes” This is sort of true, except for the fact that they raised prices and Amazons mp3's are always going on sale. So I tend to buy from Amazon, where the prices are better.

  4. Its about definitive ownership for most, not piracy, so don't be a clod. If I purchase a real book, I can put it on any bookshelf I want, take it with me in my car, on the plane, or even loan it to a friend when I'm finished with it. If I pay for a copy of something, that copy is MINE, not amazons, not itunes nor any other vendors, and I should be free to alter it or move it to any device I wish. I pay for my ebooks, but if they are not in a format that I can transfer when the device they are on becomes outdated, then I'm not interested and will go with the actual books instead. It would be different if there were any vendor willing to keep a list of what you purchased so that you could download what you purchased to any new devices, like Steams DLC game client does, but that would rob amazon of the chance to bilk me of more cash for something I've already paid for.

  5. I am a former DRM supporter. I do not download so much of a song illegally. I've done it in the past, but no more. The problem with DRM is that it A. does little to stop piracy and B. creates big inconveniences for paying customers. It is insulting and anti-competitive when a customer says you MUST use their hardware for listening to a song or book you purchased.

    Valve Software's Steam service is DRM done right. It actually provide the customer with benefitis: the software is always kept up-to-date, it adds some social networking, and all the software you purchase will always be available to your account without having to carry around the disks, etc. The average customer doesn't feel slighted, and it's all good.

    But with Amazon, it's easy for the average customer to feel slighted. It's a thinly veiled attempt to lock customers into using high prices hardware.

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