If you have a Kindle and "bought" ebooks over the years, you have a week to download and back up your files before Amazon blocks you from doing that.
There are scripts (see the thread below) that will bulk-download.
It's a reminder that Amazon is a rapacious monopolist.
Still wondering why Mohammed bin Salman hacked Bezos's phone.
What was the goal?
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/jan/21/amazon-boss-jeff-bezoss-phone-hacked-by-saudi-crown-prince
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/22/technology/jeff-bezos-hack-iphone.html
https://www.wired.com/story/bezos-phone-hack-mbs-saudi-arabia/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/01/29/apple-iphone-bezos-hack/
This coalition of billionaire oligarchs running a war on democracy seems to have strong links to the fossil fuel industry.
https://www.dw.com/en/jeff-bezos-blackmail-and-the-saudi-crown-prince/a-52142510
https://www.vice.com/en/article/who-made-the-spyware-used-to-hack-jeff-bezos-phone/
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/01/bezos-hack-amazon-saudi-mbs-whatsapp/605755/
@Npars01 @dangillmor It was about WaPo and Khashoggi.
It was an early indicator of Bezos' pliability when he did nothing after Jamal Khashoggi's horrific assassination. Since then criticism of Saudi Arabia via WaPo has dried up.
There is another way...
irc://irchighway/ebooks
I can't vet the link because I use an irc app but you get the idea - we buy what we can if they let us, we take what they hide if we can't buy it.
@rouxdoo @dangillmor The other option, of course, is to buy from almost any other outlet (like Kobo), download the ACSM file, and crack that. It works exactly like cracking Kindle books - you just need an additional plugin for Calibre which imports them.
Or use a library. Or buy the paper book.
But please don't pirate fiction, especially genre fiction. It destroys the books you want to read and the livelihoods of the authors who provide them.
I predicted this outcome when Kindle first debuted. I have never bought an e-book because of it.
Are you familiar with the Wal-Mart digital media fiasco? This is not at all the first time this has happened. There were precedents, as well as the writing on the wall.
Good ask! It's been ages since I read about - not personally encountered - the incident. Here, found some:
https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna22413031
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/wal-mart-closes-movie-download-service-1.654648
That was just one incident, though, because Wal-Mart also backpedaled on an MP3 store and probably other things I don't even remember.
https://musically.com/2011/08/10/wal-mart-shutting-its-music-downloads-store-this-month/
https://phys.org/news/2011-08-walmart-online-music.html
> The company had attempted to kill its DRM servers in 2008βleaving its previous customers out in the cold if they were to need re-authorizationβbut later decided to leave the DRM servers online after receiving bad customer feedback.
@dangillmor **"... you have a week to download and back up your files before Amazon blocks you from doing that."**
Done.
Amazon's ongoing enshittification is very close to the breaking point for me.
You can use Calibre plus a plugin to remove DRM and download ebooks.
And then maybe go and buy a Kobe open source ereader.
fuck amazon
how do they do that? I mean, do they need access to your Calibre account?
Β»Amazon has occasionally removed books from its online store and remotely deleted them from Kindles or edited titles and re-uploaded new copies to its e-readers. In 2009, the company removed copies of George Orwellβs Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm, explaining the books had been mistakenly published.Β«
In case anyone wonders, what local backups might be good for.
https://www.theverge.com/news/612898/amazon-removing-kindle-book-download-transfer-usb
@dangillmor Folks looking to move away from Amazon but that still want to use their Kindle should check out Calibre and it's ecosystem. Helps ensure your amazon device doesn't become e-waste.
@dangillmor And here is the link to the download page for your kindle purchases...strangely, all of these articles seem to omit this vital piece of information
https://www.amazon.com/hz/mycd/digital-console/contentlist/booksAll/dateDsc
On each book Click on "More Actions" -> Download & transfer via USB
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