• tutus@sh.itjust.works
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    1 month ago

    What are people’s go-to for eBook buying stores? Preferably DRM free.

    I try to not buy Kindle books but I usually end up back there as it’s either much cheaper (not just slightly) or can only be found there.

    • ExcessShiv@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      1 month ago

      I usually just borrow e-books from the library, download as epub and strip the DRM from the file so I can read it, and return the eBook to the library right away for the next person to borrow it.

      • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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        1 month ago

        I’m too lazy, I just borrow from the library and use them on the device. Stripping the DRM takes some level of effort, and I don’t intend to keep the books anyway, so I just let the DRM do its thing and turn off the wifi so they don’t disappear until I’m done w/ them.

        Works fine on my SO’s Kindle, and I’m considering getting a Kobo and hope it’ll work there.

        • EngineerGaming@feddit.nl
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          1 month ago

          I wouldn’t like the surveillance this would indirectly cause. My guess would be that a library app would need an internet connection… And I would not trust my reader to ever be online.

          • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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            30 days ago

            It needs an internet connection for the initial download and DRM check, but then you can go offline. So it doesn’t need a constant internet connection, only when you want to load new books onto it. I’ll have books on hold and checked out between times I access the internet to load books on (so I’ll load a few, go offline, once I’m done go online and fetch the books I’ve checked out in the meantime).

            I have no issue w/ my eReader being online occasionally to fetch updates or get new books.

            • EngineerGaming@feddit.nl
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              30 days ago

              Well yeah, my issue is needing internet connection at all - as well as having my reading in the library app itself being spied on, even if my reader did have an OS I trust to be online.

              • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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                30 days ago

                And for me, I honestly don’t care too much if Libby knows what I read. If I did care, I’d just get DRM-free books, either legally or not, and bypass the library entirely.

                • EngineerGaming@feddit.nl
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                  30 days ago

                  I do just that. You do you. Even though the topics aren’t dangerous, I am still uncomfortable having them recorded tied to my passport.

                  • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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                    30 days ago

                    I’m having trouble following. If you check a book out at the library, the library has a record that you checked it out, no? So the only real difference w/ you stripping the DRM is that they won’t know how much of it you read (if that’s even tracked) or if you read it at all. And I also highly doubt the DRM check shares any of your personal data (esp. if you live in the EU, as your instance would suggest), so the publisher would only know that this specific license is in-use, and the only way to connect that to you is by talking to the library.

                    Also, how is it tied to your passport? Mine is tied to my name and address, which my passport is also tied to, but the library system is local (US city and state) and therefore would require a fair amount of extra work to link (i.e. legal subpoena). So the only way the two would ever be connected is if I’m being investigated for a crime and they’re looking for motive, which I’m sure they could come up with any number of ways. Granted, w/ the NSA revelations, the barrier for “legal subpoena” could be quite low and the lookup nearly instantaneous, but the only way they’re looking at it is if I’m already suspected of a crime (otherwise, why bother?).

                    You do you of course, I just don’t see how stripping DRM from a library book really protects you, the interesting data is already present just by checking the book out. You might as well just pirate from the internet directly and skip the library entirely…