Mastodawn

Rick Monro Feb 4, 2023

Discovered during the week I was unable to access a Kindle book purchased in 2013. Reason? The order was “too old”, and refund issued to buy again. Which was pointless as the book is now more expensive than when I bought it.

Subsequently discovered 66(!!) other ebooks no longer available for download.

Currently 40 minutes in to a support chat with Amazon.

About to learn, I think, whether we purchase ebooks, or rent them…

[Edit: documenting progress in this thread https://mastodon.online/@monro/109812445178130161]

Rick Monro (@[email protected])

Attached: 1 image The problem first appeared last week, when I attempted to open a book on my Kindle. The book cover appeared in my Library as normal. When I tapped on it, the following message appeared:

Mastodon

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Paul McBride Feb 4, 2023

@monro oh no. I do not like the sound of that!

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Rick Monro Feb 4, 2023

@ThePaulMcBride Not the most satisfying of outcomes, but at least I kinda have the books I want again (or will have 🤪)

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Paul McBride Feb 4, 2023

@monro sounds like a nightmare. I have a kindle purely because it is the best e-reader hardware. I wish I could have my own copy of the books in epub format though.

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Randi EEA Feb 4, 2023

@ThePaulMcBride @monro This is why i backup all my e-books using Calibre....

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Paul O'Malley Feb 5, 2023

@Reea
100% agree with you here. I go to the web, download the AZW version and import it into my calibre library.
Admittedly, I also have hundreds of books in Calibre from before I bought a Kindle, so I also use Calibre for managing all the other content on my Kindle also.

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`Da Elf Feb 5, 2023

@paulomalley @Reea #Calibre is absolutely Essential for managing my EBooks (some 600+) and yes I get some of it from Amazon.

Someone down a bit in the thread asks if it Cuts Amazon's DRM...why yes, yes it does.

On Android I use MoonPlus Reader (Pro) and it'll cheerfully display Amazon files, DRM or not.

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Angus McIntyre Feb 5, 2023

@elfin @paulomalley @Reea "Someone ... asks if it cuts Amazon's DRM ... it does."

Amazon's new DRM is reportedly uncrackable (or at least they can roll out new versions so fast the crackers have given up). It currently appears on books released after 2023-01-01, but will presumably roll back to earlier titles in due course.

The goal isn't to protect publishers/authors, but to lock buyers into Amazon's Kindle ecosystem.

"Nice library you got there, shame if you tried to go anywhere else ..."

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Vidar Hokstad / Galaxy Bound

@angusm @elfin @paulomalley @Reea

The moment I can't make a backup copy with DRM stripped, I'll go elsewhere and/or stop buying any DRM'd books until I can strip it again. I wish more readers would do the same.