Cory Doctorow Crowdfunds His New Audiobook to Protest Amazon/Audible DRM (kickstarter.com) 76
Science fiction writer Cory Doctorow (also a former EFF staffer and activist) explains why he's crowdfunding his new audiobook online. Despite the large publishers for his print editions, "I can't get anyone to do my audiobooks. Amazon and its subsidiary Audible, which controls 90% of the audiobook sales, won't carry any of my audiobooks because I won't let them put any of their digital rights management on it.
"I don't want you locked in with their DRM as a condition of experiencing my work," he explains in a video on Kickstarter. "And so I have to do it myself."
He's promising to sell the completed book through all the usual platforms "except Audible," because "I want to send a message. If we get a lot of pre-orders for this, it's going to tell something to Amazon and Audible about how people prioritize the stories they love over the technology they hate, and why technological freedom matters to people.
"It's also going to help my publisher and other major publishers understand that there is an opportunity here to work with crowdfunding platforms in concert with the major publishers' platforms to sell a lot of books in ways that side-step the monopolists, and that connect artists and audiences directly."
it's the third book in a series which began with the dystopian thriller Little Brother (recommended by Neil Gaiman) and continued with a sequel named Homeland. ("You may have seen Edward Snowden grab it off his bedstand and put it in his go bag and go into permanent exile in Hong Kong in the documentary Citizen 4," Doctorow says in his fundraising video.) The newest book, Attack Surface, finds a "technologist from the other side" — a surveillance contractor — now reckoning with their conscience while being hunted with the very cyber-weapons they'd helped to build. "There are a lot of technologists who are reckoning with the moral consequences of their actions these days," Doctorow says, adding "that's part of what inspired me to write this...
"Anyone who's been paying attention knows that there's been a collision between our freedom and our technology brewing for a long time."
Just three days after launching the Kickstarter campaign, Doctorow had already raised over $120,000 over his original goal of $7,000 — with 26 days left to go. And he also promises that the top pledge premium is for real....
"I don't want you locked in with their DRM as a condition of experiencing my work," he explains in a video on Kickstarter. "And so I have to do it myself."
He's promising to sell the completed book through all the usual platforms "except Audible," because "I want to send a message. If we get a lot of pre-orders for this, it's going to tell something to Amazon and Audible about how people prioritize the stories they love over the technology they hate, and why technological freedom matters to people.
"It's also going to help my publisher and other major publishers understand that there is an opportunity here to work with crowdfunding platforms in concert with the major publishers' platforms to sell a lot of books in ways that side-step the monopolists, and that connect artists and audiences directly."
it's the third book in a series which began with the dystopian thriller Little Brother (recommended by Neil Gaiman) and continued with a sequel named Homeland. ("You may have seen Edward Snowden grab it off his bedstand and put it in his go bag and go into permanent exile in Hong Kong in the documentary Citizen 4," Doctorow says in his fundraising video.) The newest book, Attack Surface, finds a "technologist from the other side" — a surveillance contractor — now reckoning with their conscience while being hunted with the very cyber-weapons they'd helped to build. "There are a lot of technologists who are reckoning with the moral consequences of their actions these days," Doctorow says, adding "that's part of what inspired me to write this...
"Anyone who's been paying attention knows that there's been a collision between our freedom and our technology brewing for a long time."
Just three days after launching the Kickstarter campaign, Doctorow had already raised over $120,000 over his original goal of $7,000 — with 26 days left to go. And he also promises that the top pledge premium is for real....
| $10,000 | You and Cory together come up with the premise for his next story in the "Little Brother" universe. |
| $75 or more | All three novels as both audiobooks and ebooks |
| $40 or more | All three novels as audiobooks |
| $35 or more | All three novels as ebooks |
| $25 or more | The audiobook and the ebook of Cory's new novel, Attack Surface |
| $15 or more | The audiobook for Attack Surface |
| $14 or more | The new book Attack Surface in ebook format as a .mobi/.epub file |
| $11 or more | The second book in the series, Homeland, in ebook format as a .mobi/.epub file |
| $10 or more | The first novel in the series in ebook format as a .mobi/.epub file |
| $1 or more | Cory will email you the complete text of "Little Brother," the first book in the series, cryptographically signed with his private key |
Cory's Right (Score:2)
After I got the announcement, it took me five minutes to make my pledge. But I'm a slow typist.
Re: (Score:3)
Likewise if there is an issue with Audible making a profit,
Re: Cory's Right (Score:1)
From your comment I've definitely gotten the idea that you're serious, but I'm not quite sure what it is that you're serious about.
Are you sure that you've actually read the article?
Re: (Score:2)
Well, he has the problem we all face: In a capitalist world, you have to sell something if you want to eat. Artists, too.
Re: (Score:2)
Check your premise. Nowhere does he state he hates capitalism -- just monopolies and digital rights management. He doesn't have a problem with Audible making a profit, just that they're *requiring* his works have DRM to be distributed there. He is a bit annoyed at the percentage they charge, but that's a universal complaint.
And he *does* give all his stuff away on his website. There you can download DRM-free ebooks, as well as places to buy physical copies and other stuff.
Re: (Score:1, Troll)
This is fairly typical of the liberal elite.
- They are the ones in mansions, saying that the protestors are peaceful and good, while banning protests in their own neighborhoods and beefing up their private security.
- They are the ones claiming racism and unfairness in the systems while themselves climbing from the projects to billionaire in a matter of decades without giving back
- They hate laws, capitalism, kneel in disrespect for everything that made them millionaires and through their actions severely di
Re: (Score:2)
You're not seeing the joy in this.
Doctorow subverts the entire publishing empire:
- Instead of finding a publisher, doing the work, waiting for the marketing to catch up with the printing, he gets YOU to finance the advance.
- He gets a huge advance, and YOU funded it!
- All the money up front, he doesn't have to worry about people making and distributing copies because he made all of his net up front
- He gets to flip off standard distribution methods by going completely around them. Most all authors must pay
I was wondering what Amber Benson did these days (Score:3)
Apparently, she is the voice on these. Nice!
Unfortunately, audio-books are not for me. I get too distracted and fare better with the written version.
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Unfortunately, listening to audiobooks impairs reaction time on complex drives [sciencedirect.com]. It's safer than talking (whether on the phone or to a passenger) but it's more distracting than the radio. If you have a stress-free commute then they may improve reaction times, but that's when you need good reaction times the least.
Re: (Score:2)
Has a name here : "Driving without due care and attention." When convicted, former drivers can expect several months income worth in fines, and possibly up to a couple of years loss of license, in addition to whatever charges are accrued for the incident that brought this behaviour to the attention of the rest of the universe.
A hint : don't do this if driving in Britain. Give the road due care and attention, and anything left over you can devote to the audiobook.
Audible has DRM? (Score:5, Insightful)
Funny... the pirate book sites I know of are *full* of Audible-sourced infringing audiobooks. If Audible uses DRM, it's clearly not effective.
Re:Audible has DRM? (Score:5, Informative)
DRM is never effective. It cannot be. For audio, you just do an analog re-recording (at basically imperceptible quality loss) and that is it.
The whole idea is completely stupid. In the arts, you get paid because people _want_ to pay you. But some greedy morons cannot get over thinking this is "their" content and they have a right to control it after it gets out into the world. Whenever a scientifically sound look was taken at things, they universally found that copyright infringement does not impact sales. Some people pay, some do not. But you cannot force those in the second camp into the first one. They will just do without and you will lose some from the first camp as well, because DRM makes for s significantly worse and more expensive product.
Re: (Score:1)
...The whole idea is completely stupid. In the arts, you get paid because people _want_ to pay you. But some greedy morons cannot get over thinking this is "their" content and they have a right to control it after it gets out into the world. Whenever a scientifically sound look was taken at things, they universally found that copyright infringement does not impact sales. Some people pay, some do not....
When it comes to small independent producers of creative content, your statements are wrong. If you want the content, you need to pay for it. Payment is not a matter of "want", it's recognition anyone who works is entitled to a fair return for their labors. As such, payment is a moral responsibility, not a personal option.
Many of those "greedy morons" produce content for their livelihoods. I know of several very creative designers, in various crafts, who were forced to stop publishing their work. When a per
Re: (Score:2)
payment is a moral responsibility, not a personal option.
Says you.
I have no love of the creative industrial complex, but, the mindset that encourages breaking DRM or like strategies ultimately hurts almost all the independent creative individuals struggling to get a fair return for their efforts.
Bullshit. DRM only hurts paying customers.
If people do not want to pay the big guys, they are not likely to pay the little guys either.
[citation needed]
Re: (Score:2)
...The whole idea is completely stupid. In the arts, you get paid because people _want_ to pay you. But some greedy morons cannot get over thinking this is "their" content and they have a right to control it after it gets out into the world. Whenever a scientifically sound look was taken at things, they universally found that copyright infringement does not impact sales. Some people pay, some do not....
When it comes to small independent producers of creative content, your statements are wrong.
Nope. Please stop claiming the same tired old nonsense and look at the actual facts. Especially small producers of content reduce their sales if they use DRM.
Re:Audible has DRM? (Score:5, Insightful)
DRM is never effective. It is only a punishment for those who play by the rules.
Re:Audible has DRM? (Score:4, Interesting)
Depends on the goal.
The goal to prevent all piracy isn't possible, so you have to define the real goal of DRM.
For a lot of it, it's just to stop casual sharing. You know, to keep people from downloading it and casually emailing it to their friends to enjoy. For this, the DRM doesn't have to be very strong - it just needs to stop the average user from passing around the files to all their friends.
For some, it's just to achieve a delay in distribution to the point where the economic benefits have been realized. This is what things like Denuvo and the like do. Everyone knows it won't last forever, but if it lasts long enough that a good chunk of the sales are met, it's good enough. Thus, if it lasts a couple of weeks until the next big game release of the season happens, it's good enough - pirates have short attention pans and releasing last month's hotness just doesn't have all the fame compared to what everyone is wanting now. The only reason you keep it is if you're planning DLC, and games where the DLC is done often have the DRM patched out because it's now just the long tail of sales, the money's been recouped and every extra is just a bonus, so who cares if it gets pirated anymore.
For Audible, catalog items don't generate much. But a big new release you want to capture at least a bunch of new subscriptions. You also want to capture things like book clubs and such. Casual piracy protection is a huge thing since people will generally share things if they can.
Honestly, I think Barnes and Noble Nook had the best DRM. The books were encrypted, but teh decryption key for them could be derived offline. Given a name, and the credit card, you can derive a key which will decrypt the book encryption key. So yes, you could send your copy of a book to someone else, if you were willing them give them your full name and credit card number.
Re: (Score:2)
IF you don't trust your friends, use a prepaid CC.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
My favored site is invite-only, sorry. I got in because I happened to know someone who could issue the invite.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Sorry I can't show you 'the good stuff,' but there are plenty of pretty-good places that are more open. I know some for non-audio books. Library Genesis for a start. Comics from getcomics.info. Everything from TPB, as ever. Sometimes people find interesting collections and post them on /r/opendirectories. I found a very good IPFS book archive there once. Audiobook focused sites are harder. There used to be a thriving ebook community on DC++, but I've not been there in years, so I don't know of it's still go
Re: (Score:2)
audiobookbay.nl (Score:2)
No account needed. Just paste the infohash from the description page of an audiobook into your bittorrent client.
Re: (Score:2)
Well ffmpeg can strip the DRM from all the various audible formats. However you might need to compile it yourself as your distro version might come without the necessary code compiled in.
For the .aa format 4 which is actually encrypted MP3 at 22.5kHz sampling and 32kbps . Problem is they used the Tiny Encryption Algorithm. It is hopelessly broken. The older .aa formats are not worth bothering with these days, and can't be downloaded anymore anyway.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
The .aax is AES but it's br
Re: (Score:2)
"MP3 at 22.5kHz sampling and 32kbps"
Eww. Why can't MP3 just die already?
Re: (Score:2)
Bear in mind the .aa audible format dates back to 1997. Back then the vast majority of people where on dial up and there was limited storage on portable media players. In fact there are some versions that predate "format 4" which store the audio as ACELP at even lower bitrate and sample rates. I would note that *all* the Audible formats are mono which does help. Someone reading a book is inherently mono to being with. Also speech compresses better than a general sound recording.
I would also note that the .a
Re: (Score:2)
The only thing DRM is effective at is to get people to stop buying content.
The course this takes is usually this: Honest person buys content. Tries to use it, jumps through the thousands of hoops he has to jump through to get it to rum, endures ads and all the other shit he can't get rid of, finally uses his content for maybe 5 minutes until it starts acting up for some reason, ceases to work for some reason, he gets NO aid whatsoever from whoever he bought the content from, gets frustrated, asks a computer
It won't tell Amazon a thing (Score:5, Insightful)
If we get a lot of pre-orders for this, it's going to tell something to Amazon and Audible about how people prioritize the stories they love over the technology they hate, and why technological freedom matters to people.
No: it'll tell Amazon there's a very small subset of its customer base that's willing to crowfund a minor author over principles - something it already know and doesn't give a rat's ass about, because the bulk of their revenue stream comes from people who don't give a fuck about DRM. Actually, there's a good chance those people aren't even Amazon customers in the first place.
Re: (Score:2)
I don't do audiobooks, but I just pre-ordered the Kindle version on Amazon.
"Alexa, read an audiobook." (Score:2)
No: it'll tell Amazon there's a very small subset of its customer base that's willing to crowfund a minor author over principles - something it already know and doesn't give a rat's ass about, because the bulk of their revenue stream comes from people who don't give a fuck about DRM.
More likely they won't know where to find your crowd-funded book or that you even exist. Not to mention Amazon's seamless integration of content and services across multiple devices. Listen to a chapter in your car and the next off your Echo Dot in the kitchen or bedroom.
Who has read some of Cory's stories? (Score:2)
I haven't had an opportunity to read his stories. Did you enjoy them?
Re: Who has read some of Cory's stories? (Score:1)
I can't post pictures. I have a physical copy of an actual paper version of a book. This is advertising to a demographic. If Cory is so free thinking he will remove all books, (virtual, physical and audible) from Amazon. But that won happen.
10k to pick next story, is there an only fans I can get socks pics on?
Re: Who has read some of Cory's stories? (Score:1)
there's a typo :-/
Re: Who has read some of Cory's stories? (Score:1)
Re:Who has read some of Cory's stories? (Score:5, Informative)
Yeah I read most of his stuff.
Overall, I don't think Cory Doctorow writes great stories. From a purely scenario perspective it is usually pretty flat. The drama is not particularly well written.
But he has a lot of ideas about where technology is going, how it could be used, and the good and bad aspects could be. The stories is mostly there for context. While the writing has flaws, it is still really entertaining to read for me. So I'll most likely read Attack Surface.
Re: (Score:3)
I also
Re: (Score:2)
I was reading one as email installments. Not a bad story, but I sort of bogged down halfway through. I could dig it up and continue. I'm also trying to read his short e-book about surveillance capitalism. Again, he writes well, but I'm finding it tough sledding.
I think the real problem is that I'm just biased in favor of dead trees and he doesn't do much of that. I've heard that the Kindle experience is nice, but Amazon is NOT nice, so I'm unlikely to go that route. I have an old Kobo here, but that is defi
Great idea except for use of Scamstarter (Score:2, Troll)
Re: (Score:2)
There is nothing wrong with Kickstarter. Some sanity on the side of the customer required though.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
There is very little fraud on Kickstarter. What most people complaining do not realize is how many projects actually fail in the real world, Kickstarter or not. These complainers get warned, warned and warned again, and they still take their own misconceptions above what is clearly spelled out to them. And then they complain they were not waned or "defrauded".
Kickstarter has a very clear and very well described business model. You bet on some project being successful. It is completely expected that a larger
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
It is not Kickstarter's responsibility to monitor anything. It is not their responsibility that some (few) people "take the money and run". It is clearly documented that neither is their responsibility. You are just one of those that think they bought a product. You do not.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
They should not be allowed to run a platform and take "no responsibility" while raking a percentage off of fraud.
And why is that? Because you would like to define how the world works? Your Bank also takes no responsibility if you transfer money to a fraudster, for example.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
Kickstarter is full of political donation organizations fueling Biden's coffers. ActBlue just got caught in massive campaign funding fraud.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Caveat emptor is not a good argument for allowing platforms that exercise no oversight and profit from scams to exist. I look forward to Biden's FTC clamping down.
Since what you claim is not true, there will be no "clamping down". They are entirely open about what they do and do not sell. That some people cannot read, and worse, cannot _think_ is not their problem.
Re: (Score:2)
Not a fan of his writing (Score:2)
I don't like DRM (Score:3)
And, when I buy a Kindle book, the first thing I do is remove the DRM and copy the .mobi file to my backups.
But... I'm aware I'm part of a small minority. And, I must say, Amazon's DRM is just about frictionless - I've never even noticed it, let alone had an issue with it (something I can't say about Adobe's ebook-related DRM). I can even put my own materials on my Kindle, easily enough.
So good for you, Cory Doctorow, I guess. But I have to wonder if this isn't as much "publicity stunt by a very minor author" as it is "taking a stand". Is he pulling his other stuff off Amazon's platform?
Re: (Score:2)
If he wants to release from free there is a thing called mp3s...
God I hate audible.com (Score:2)
The "Killer Feature" (Score:1)
I dislike Audible, but the reason I keep using it is that I have struggled to find an Audiobook player that will sync across multiple devices, and keep track of my position in multiple books. Normal music players don't quite cut it.
Based on my vast experience of just me listening to audiobooks, I wonder if this is part of the stranglehold on the audiobook market.
Re: (Score:1)
(Oh! I am totally looking for app recommendations if you've found something that works btw)
Re: (Score:2)
From my limited experience Google Play Books could work for you. They support audiobooks and should sync progress across devices.
But that would be jumping out of the frying pan into the fire.
Re: (Score:1)
My car's audio playback, the place I listen to audiobooks when driving to distant destinations and avoiding airplanes, which I've hated for years even before the damned virus, does keep track of my position in the recording, and starts right up as I pull out of the motel I got to in Missouri, after starting my trip in Virginia, on a destination for a motel in Texas, on the way to the final destination in Tucson. Yep, I drive it, not fly it. It is much more enjoyable to drive it than fly it, too, BTW, at
Audible alternatives ? (Score:2)
I'm trying to avoid Amazon where I can - without being religious about it (aka: If Amazon is the best source for something, I'll order there. I will look elsewhere intentionally, and order elsewhere even if it's a bit more expensive.)
For Audible, I haven't found any alternatives. I especially like the business model - right now I'm accumulating credits, but when I commute, I enjoy simply picking a new book for credits every once in a while and not think which one is cheaper or more expensive, and since wher
Re: (Score:2)
I'm trying to avoid Amazon where I can - without being religious about it (aka: If Amazon is the best source for something, I'll order there. I will look elsewhere intentionally, and order elsewhere even if it's a bit more expensive.)
For Audible, I haven't found any alternatives. I especially like the business model - right now I'm accumulating credits, but when I commute, I enjoy simply picking a new book for credits every once in a while and not think which one is cheaper or more expensive, and since where I checked my taste goes towards the more expensive books, I think I'm getting a good deal.
But if there's an alternative that I missed, and anyone knows it, please tell me.
I know several local ones in various countries, unfortunately they rarely have as wide a catalog as Audible. Don't know anyone internationally though.
Not Seeing The Problem (Score:1)
Doesn't like Audible's DRM? What's the problem? Press a set of CD's with no DRM, sell 'em in the good old capitalist tradition. If I want the content, I'll buy it and rip the CD's to MP3's, put 'em on the thumb drives in the car, and listen to them as I drive to distant destinations. Just because everyone else is downloading from the net doesn't mean that's the only way to do it. CD's don't have DRM. So, problem solved.
just wondering (Score:2)
how is drm much different that what he is trying to do with his "cryptographically signed with his private key" thing.
the thing is, though I am completely against drm and it can be a pain, especially to linux users. the one feature I do like it at least it is basically standard and you won't need hundreds of keys from different sources in order to read, view or listen to your different media rentals or purchases.
Re: (Score:1)
ego (Score:1)
""I don't want you locked in with their DRM as a condition of experiencing my work," he explains in a video on Kickstarter."
A kickstarter for someone whose work only Randall Munroe bothers with?
Once upon a time... (Score:2)