Remote Kill Flags Surface In Kindle 630
PL/SQL Guy writes "The Kindle has a number of 'remote kill' flags built in to the hardware that, among other things, allow the text-to-speech function to be disabled at any time on a book-by-book basis. 'Beginning yesterday, Random House Publishers began to disable text-to-speech remotely. The TTS function has apparently been remotely disabled in over 40 works so far.' But what no one at Amazon will discuss is what other flags are lurking in the Kindle format: is there a 'read only once' flag? A 'no turning the pages backwards' flag?"
I'm done with Amazon (Score:5, Informative)
I was a customer for over ten years. Spent well over ten thousand dollars there in books and other items. But for the last several years their customer support has declined, their partner businesses engage in numerous disreputable practices that mirror the abuses at ebay, their manipulation of book rankings on so-called adult material (gay), and they seem intent on monopolizing the epublishing trade. I closed my account and won't look back.
Yes, the Kindle-DX looks like a nice machine. But what one gives up in basic rights as a reader is more than enough to keep me buying used books printed on dead trees for some time. And I can always scan the books I buy to load on an ereader with less virulent DRM limitations and corporate controls. I own an iRex iLiad, that while not the best manufacturer, at least they offer a free Linux development environment to download and install. Users are hacking new software on that platform. Does anyone here expect Amazon to allow that? Not me.
BTW: closing my account with Amazon took several phone calls and numerous transfers from one department to the next. They don't like it when customers attempt to leave them and make the process as difficult as possible. Yet another reason to never give them my money again.
Re:forget it (Score:5, Informative)
What you really want is a tablet PC running Linux if you are concerned about DRM. Any product where you don't have control over the operating system or environment will always be suspect to the whims of corporate lawyers.
Random house (Score:4, Informative)
Don't forget to direct your ire at Random House for doing this as well as Amazon for rolling over.
Call them and bitch.
http://www.randomhouse.com/about/contact.html [randomhouse.com]
Re:tags are in the books (Score:4, Informative)
Re:forget it (Score:2, Informative)
Was Stallman Right? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Was Stallman Right? (Score:4, Informative)
I first read that shortly after it was first published. At that time I thought the dystopian future he described was far fetched. Twelve years later I think he had great foresight. All the elements are now in place. The relentless re-education campaign that inures people to the loss of "little" freedoms here and there are preparing a generation that don't know any better. A generation of sheeple who aren't even aware of the blood-paid freedoms and rights which they are trading away very, very cheaply.
History will likely judge people like Orwell and Stallman as prophets of sorts.
Re:As my wife says, "Fuck 'em." (Score:3, Informative)
She obviously doesn't read anything from the Gutenberg project, which for me, is entirely the point of my Kindle.
This is what I'm reading currently. I've wanted to read this for years, but I'm cheap.
http://www.amazon.com/Greens-History-English-People-D/dp/0260218839/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1242313760&sr=8-10 [amazon.com]
$110 is the price for 125 year old books. It's only available used. Note: this is different than Green's SHORT history. This one is the big one, Green's Opus Magnum. The best history of the English People ever written to that point.
Got the entire text for free on Gutenberg and am reading it on the Kindle. At this rate, it won't take me long to be able to completely justify the entire purchase cost of the Kindle.
Re:They asked for it (Score:5, Informative)
Re:I'm done with Amazon (Score:5, Informative)
To remove my credit card from their database. Also, to remove my customer record. And finally, to let them know just how displeased I am with their business practices.
Re:They asked for it (Score:5, Informative)
It might not have been cashed because he (she?/they?) may have a clause in his contract saying he cannot accept money directly for his music.
Yeah...really...
Re:They asked for it (Score:2, Informative)
you do not violate copyright by merely downloading something. in the vast majority of cases, someone can only bring a civil action against you, not a criminal one, if you 'misuse' a copyrighted product.
currently, in a civil action you are protected by the privacy of your own home and communications, not to mention privity of contract/license.
in most common law jurisdictions you may infringe copyright by *copying* or *distributing* a copyrighted work without permission - usually in the form of a license.
if you distribute for money, then there is criminal legislation dealing with counterfieting, fraud and actual piracy.
in most jurisdictions, the mere downloading of copyrighted material for 'personal use' (ie: not 'for the purpose of supply'/'in the course of a business'), prior to the ease of digital copying/distributions, was utterly legal provided you did not alter it (ie: think book cover and content), creating a derrived copyright (a forbidden act under copyright law) in the process.
how this applies to modern digital copies is a question for the courts as a philsophical argument on theft and loss. (ie: no contract. no agreement. is there a physical loss? since most losses are purely economic it is unlikely that there are any actions in tort, which forbids actions of pure economic loss)
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1988/ukpga_19880048_en_5#pt1-ch6-pb5-l1g107 - s.107 really does clarify what is a crime and what is not.
Amazon killed my book. Here's why... (Score:5, Informative)
The following was from the first paragraph of the email:
I've requested a refund for "NAME OF BOOK OMITTED". Issuing a refund also removes access to the file. If the item is still on your Kindle, please delete that copy. After the refund is issued, you will no longer be able to access it.
Well, I watched for it, and not only was access to the file removed, The file is no longer present.
Amazon has the Kill-switch ability to delete content. I am going to assume they have the ability to delete my personal content I add to through the USB.
Re:They asked for it (Score:1, Informative)
Copyright is there to protect the artist.
No, it's not. Copyright was made to promote the creation of new works for the ultimate benefit of the public by granting a time-limited monopoly to the author. That's why all works should ultimately end up in the public domain.
Re:forget it (Score:2, Informative)
There are a few problems with tablets. Most important ones IMO are: power consumption and comfort of reading.
Maybe you should try something like Hanlin V3 [mobileread.com]. Cheap, reliable, and comfortable. Of course it runs linux, and you can get some free OS/software from OpenInkpot [openinkpot.org]
Re:TFA About Reading-Disabled Students (Score:3, Informative)
The government agrees with you here, which is why there is an exception to the DMCA act for the purpose of enabling TTS.
Amazon allowing this flag to be switched creates a very real problem for them when it comes time to go after any DRM crackers who are bright enough to claim their tools are only meant for enabling TTS.
http://www.copyright.gov/1201/2006/index.html [copyright.gov] - reference
Re:We need a "sensationalist" tag (Score:5, Informative)
It should be considered to be theft on a massive scale. What else would we call it when A deprives B of something that they paid for fair and square?
The problem with "buying" digital content these days is that the only way you can legally purchase it is by agreeing to 50 pages of legalese that basically strip you of any rights you could possibly have with regard to the information you're buying. Thus, you are giving them money without any assurance that you'll actually be able to make any use of what you're buying. Nice racket they've got going, huh?
Re:They asked for it (Score:4, Informative)
And more to the point: if I purchase a *used book*, none of the parties involved get any (more) money -- they got paid the first time.
But they'd certainly *like* to stomp out that "revenue leak", and eviscerate the First Sale Doctrine, as noted above...
Re:forget it (Score:4, Informative)
Take it as shorthand. Considering that (1) the proprietary Kindle product has kill switches, (2) other proprietary products and OSes have demonstrated their willingness to include kill switches, what you really want is some sort of machine and OS that is completely open to auditing, ensuring that you have the capability to do whatever is within your legal rights, despite any consumer-unfriendly corporate opinions to the contrary. The word Linux is just quicker to type.
Re:They asked for it (Score:2, Informative)
[citation needed]
Re:They asked for it (Score:5, Informative)
Session musicians - already paid
Studio Engineers - already paid
Studio rental - already paid
Production costs - already paid
Cover artist - already paid
Distribution costs - already paid
The only people who get paid copyright fees are the production company and the artist, I personally do not care about the production company (and if the music is more than a year old, they will have already been paid in full, or are incompetent) and if pay the artist anything even 1 cent it would be more than will ever see by me buying the music legitimately
Re:First post flag! (Score:3, Informative)
You think this is funny, but I'm not laughing.
Neither am I. I have friends who are visually impaired, and this will make it impossible for them to use the Kindle, at all.
If anyone's interested, there's a petition you can sign, which will hopefully convince Amazon to change their minds at http://www.readingrights.org/ [readingrights.org].
Re:They asked for it (Score:3, Informative)
I would say that they are terribly unethical if they don't offer refunds. Were I ever to change the licensing agreement in my software (which is already very permissive--about the only thing expressly banned is redistribution of copyrighted material outside of an out-and-out sale where all copies and backups must likewise be transferred to the new purchaser, or destroyed), of course I would offer a refund to anyone who disagreed with the changes. It's only right to do so.
Most of the pro-piracy sorts seem to paint all content creators with a very broad brush. I spent a few hours with my lawyer drafting up the most permissive license possible that didn't screw me over (and, in some ways, it really does screw me over--for example, there is no prohibition on reverse engineering, for example, so somebody could reverse engineer it and build a competitor relatively easily). The laws that you hate because they give power to the big guy also protect the little guy and let us actually make a living, too.
Kindle Content Return Policy (Score:5, Informative)
From the Kindle Content Return Policy [amazon.com]:
Re:Kindle Content Return Policy (Score:3, Informative)
From Amazon Customer Support:
If you check your records under the View Your Digital Orders link at www.amazon.com/your-account you'll see that you purchased this book in November of 2008. At that time, there was no text-to-speech function available for the Kindle (Original), and we had not yet made any announcements about Kindle 2 or its text-to-speech option, so there is no less functionality for that book now compared to when it was first purchased.
Additionally, we cannot refund Kindle purchases that are more than 7 days old. You can read the Kindle Content Return Policy and contact us via phone or e-mail from our Kindle Support pages here:
http://www.amazon.com/kindlesupport [amazon.com]
They do have a good point. When I bought it, there was no TTS anywhere, as the K2 hadn't been announced.
I wonder if they'll consider differently for books purchased more recently?