This is not an anti-Kindle rant. I have purchased (rented?) several Kindle titles myself.
However, YSK that you are only licensing access to the book from Amazon, you don’t own it like a physical book.
There have been cases where Amazon deletes a title from all devices. (Ironically, one version of “1984” was one such title).
https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/18/technology/companies/18amazon.html
There have also been cases where a customer violated Amazon’s terms of service and lost access to all of their Kindle e-books. Amazon has all the power in this relationship. They can and do change the rules on us lowly peasants from time to time.
Here are the terms of use:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201014950
Note, there are indeed ways to download your books and import them into something like Calibre (and remove the DRM from the books). If you do some web searches (and/or search YouTube) you can probably figure it out.
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it’s the same with Google Books. you can’t copy text from the book you bought into your notes. you’re not allowed to copy text. i want to buy books legitimately for my research, but i cant use any of this shit.
What do you mean? Bookmarks with no labels and highlights with no indexing isn’t enough for you? What do you want, integration of open source note taking software with Google Books?!? That’s ridiculous, nobody would ever use that…
Okay but for real. I got through college using One Note’s snip tool to take pictures of the text and paste it into my digital notes. So that’s a way to do it. It does suck that we have all this tech but we won’t let it talk to each other because rich people have to get richer, even around academia.
It does suck that we have all this tech but we won’t let it talk to each other because rich people have to get richer
This is my biggest personal disillusionment and frustration with the world. If companies would commit to open interoperable data standards and allowing access through APIs, there’s so many things in life that would be better. We could have our tech actually work for us.
i used the notes feature once and something happened and they all disappeared. all of the work was just gone. cool 😎
Oof that sucks.
Everyone should generally assume that unless you have something tangibly in your hand, you either do not own it or you may very easily and/or suddenly lose access to it. You could test this by trying to access the content without having to sign in to something.
All these streaming and subscription services should be considered ease of access conveniences. In other industries, you pay a premium for something to be prepared for you to consume. In the subscription industry, you’re paying less because you’re not paying for the content but for a license to temporarily consume the content (and probably because your info is being sold to advertisers).
Fun Fact: If you were to rip a Bluray to your computer, you’re legally not permitted to watch that movie if you’re no longer in possession of the disc. This is because you’re not purchasing the content of the disc but the license to view the content. Decrypting DRM is illegal not based on whether you own the content but because the DRM encryption itself is separately copyright protected.
Fun Fact: If you were to rip a Bluray to your computer, you’re legally not permitted to watch that movie if you’re no longer in possession of the disc.
Not sure why you think this.
You can legally rip a Bluray for backup purposes. If you sell or give away the Bluray, you have to delete the backed up copy. If it’s lost, stolen, or unintentionally damaged, you do not.
However, you cannot bypass the DRM to watch it or when you’re creating the backup. This is true regardless of whether you still possess the physical disc.
Decrypting DRM is illegal not based on whether you own the content but because the DRM encryption itself is separately copyright protected.
Bypassing DRM is illegal because the DMCA explicitly prohibits the circumvention of technological measures that control access to copyrighted works, and there isn’t an exemption for personal use, personal backups, or fair use in general.
Not sure why you think this.
You just reiterated what I said.
If you were to rip a Bluray to your computer, you’re legally not permitted to watch that movie if you’re no longer in possession of the disc.
=
You can legally rip a Bluray for backup purposes. If you sell or give away the Bluray, you have to delete the backed up copy.
Technically, if the FBI were to ask you to prove ownership of a digital copy and you had lost the disc, it would be illegal to retain that digital copy.
Bypassing DRM is illegal because the DMCA explicitly prohibits the circumvention…
Yes. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act is a law that covers copyright protections.
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Readarr + calibre makes it very convenient and easy (the rest of the arr suite is great for other forms of media too)
Too bad there’s no easy way for a tech illiterate dumb person such as myself to read a step-by-fucking-step instruction to get it all working for myself.
You basically need 3 things: readarr, a torrent client, and a VPN.
There are plenty of step by step guides and videos for most things, especially popular tools like this. The servarr wiki has install and setup instructions for all of the core arr suite apps as well, both install guides and quick start guides: https://wiki.servarr.com/readarr
Qbittorrent (torrent client) is also easy to install on windows or Linux: https://www.qbittorrent.org/ . You’re also welcome to pick another one, I just like qbittorrent.
Vpn installs vary from vpn to vpn, but pretty much all of them should also contain step by step install instructions
There are plenty of step by step guides and videos for most things, especially popular tools like this.
And of which you provided zero directions on where to look.
The servarr wiki has install and setup instructions for all of the core arr suite apps as well, both install guides and quick start guides: https://wiki.servarr.com/readarr
I read through the site and it gets to a part where it assumes I know how to setup a port reverse proxy on a server. Definitely not friendly for tech illiterate people such as myself. So this is a dogshit instruction.
Qbittorrent (torrent client) is also easy to install on windows or Linux: https://www.qbittorrent.org/ . You’re also welcome to pick another one, I just like qbittorrent.
Cool. Now where the hell do I find the books? Your instructions also suck for tech illiterate people.
Apologies for sounding rude, but you guys all preach this shit but there’s nowhere to read where they teach dumb morons like me to do this without already knowing high level networking protocols and manual VPN configuration management. And it’s really frustrating.
Just download a book on tech savvyness.
🤦♂️
For finding guides and videos - just search for {thing you want to setup} setup guide, there are plenty of results for almost everything. Also, I then showed links to where to setup readarr and qbittorrent.
The only thing you need to get up and running is the OS specific guides (windows is download, run the installer, go to http://localhost:8787/ in your browser, and macos is similar. Linux is a bit of a mess, and I would recommend going the docker-compose route if you are on Linux instead) which are short and tell you every step. The reverse proxy is just a recommended guide for setting one up if you want to access it outside of your network - I don’t recommend doing it, and it’s not necessary at all (I don’t have that setup, all of my stuff is only accessible on my local network)
For finding books, use the readarr quick start guide - it goes over how to use the app, how to add authors and books to grab, etc. I also found this guide that appears to show how to do all of this including the install guide, adding authors and books, connecting to your torrent client, adding indexers, etc: https://www.rapidseedbox.com/blog/guide-to-readarr#05
Okay thank you for the elaboration. I am very dumb and impatient. We appreciate you
I know you guys conversed this far; just wanted to share with you that readarr functions like wet garbage compared to the other arr programs. Just don’t go in with high expectations with readarr, and if it ends up not working well (or at all), just know the other arrs are really top notch. Radarr works awesome and sonarr will literally keep your shows up to current for you. All that said too… there is a steep learning curve to this whole thing if you’re new to docker.
Vpn installs vary from vpn to vpn, but pretty much all of them should also contain step by step install instructions
Apologies for sounding rude, but you guys all preach this shit but there’s nowhere to read where they teach dumb morons like me to do this without already knowing high level networking protocols and manual VPN configuration management. And it’s really frustrating.
Respectfully, they literally said it varies depending on which you use and that the providers of the VPN you do end up using should provide you instructions.
Examples:
- https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/products/firefox-private-network-vpn/getting-started
- https://protonvpn.com/support/installing-protonvpn-on-a-router/
- https://support.nordvpn.com/hc/en-us/articles/19472023025169-Installing-and-using-NordVPN-on-Windows-10-and-11
(I just chose random VPNs I know that exist, this is not an endorsement or recommendation of these specific VPNs.)
Well, it would be if Readarr worked consistently.
The only issues I ever had were around authors having a bunch of books that weren’t released or were in different languages, that was solved by narrowing the profiles for what readarr finds which was a 2 minute task
Years of ongoing issues with their metadata server bricking its ability to search for content. It wasn’t an issue with your setup, it’s an issue with Readarr itself. They always fix it, but it’s kind of a joke how many times they’ve had the same problem over the years.
Looks like it’s Goodreads fault since it’s their api (which they are also killing at some undetermined date), readarr is switching to openbooks which should solve a lot of the problems but it’s slow going since readarr doesn’t really have consistent contributors
Jokes on you I pirates mine!
“I’m aware, Amazon just hosts things I got from libgen and the #bookz undernet irc channel.”
I do.
Ugh. I was looking for a Book and found it on Barnes and Noble. according to the blurb I was supposed to be able to download it after purchase. But after purchasing it I quickly found out that you can only download it if you have the Nook app. Which isn’t available in Canada. Where I’m from.
I was able to find the .apk and install it on my phone but the whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth.
Jokes on them, I have a Gen1 Kindle that won’t even connect to wifi.
My Gen 2 only had whispernet, which relied on the Sprint EVDO network, both of which no longer exist (the company and the network type).
There have also been cases where a customer violated Amazon’s terms of service and lost access to all of their Kindle e-books
Imagine where corpo can take your property because you did something they did not like…
Now open your eyes, peasants.
Imagine where corpo can take your property
Brave to assume that just because you paid money for something you own it.
The lesson is don’t get in bed with corpos who hold custody of your property…
Custody is 9/10th of the property law anyway ;)
yo ho yo ho…a pirate’s life for me…
Sorry, what are we talking about?
You are right I get my books for my kindle from torrents. I do not own them. I also don’t pay for them.
(Also library has epubs, librarys are great)
I do, I get them directly from IRC
How lol, Books are the only thing where I find it hard to … well, get a legal copy from cough
IRCHighway channel #ebooks, don’t use a web client, I won’t give you links but this should be enough to send you on your way
Thank you, I’ll find my way :)
Is there an ebook service like GOG is for games? DRM free so you can keep the books regardless of what happens to the service?
(I know it’s easy enough to remove it, but I’d rather support a service like that if I can)
Any of the third party reading apps and any epub file you store yourself. So if you buy an ebook from Amazon but get the epub version instead of Kindle then it’s protected from deletion. This is because you store it like any other document and your epub reader just reads the file.
DRM fuckery means your mileage will vary.
It is entirely possible to use a Kindle for epub only (that is, never “buy” a book from Amazon). There are lots of epub around, including from places like Gutenberg.
Additionally, the Libby app allows you to use your Kindle in conjunction with your local library’s electronic collection, which (in my case) is quite sizable and allows you to “borrow” DRMd books for a finite amount of time.
Also to add that amazon has been caught encouraging users to “refund” e-books and purchase a different one, without telling users that these refunds are clawed back from the Authors.
Then to double fuck the Authors they didnt give authors detailed statements - only payments of the monthly total, so any “refunds” were deducted from the total sales from that month and author paid the difference. This was only noticed when an author with an accounting/finance background noticed a negative payment statement one month and looked into this and found amazon routinely charging back authors, sometimes for multiple copies of ‘refunds’ that didnt actually get refunded, straight up stealing from the Authors.
I looked in to the whole DRM removal thing. From what I could tell, everything was majorly out of date, required a really old version of Calibre, and didn’t work with newer books.
Edit: So, this is out of date info. There’s a fork and it works with a fairly recent version of the PC app. Basically no fuss.
Calibre can be recent - the plug-in was abandoned but forked, but an old physical Kindle is beneficiary. However some books in the store are no longer available for those lately.
The DeDrm plugin and the most recent Calibre worked for me just yesterday on a brand new book. Something that’s easy to miss is that you need to put in the serial number of your kindle device and make sure you download the e-book for that same device. Otherwise the plugin won’t be able to decrypt it.
Yep, looked it up again today and some proper information has been posted publicly in the interim since I last tried. I was able to strip the drm from a handful of my books today using it and an older version of the Kindle PC app.
Glad you sorted it!
Was another change made recently? I’m unable to convert .kfx books.
Nvm, i was doing it wrong. lol
