Slashdot Mirror
Remote Kill Flags Surface In Kindle
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?"
There, I said it. Kindle remotely made me do it!
Well, that's what you get for buying content instead of just copying it from pirate bay or whatever. Maybe it's time for us to finally learn our lesson?
for when we vote stories down. "Stupid" kinda works, but IMO it's not specific enough.
Hail Eris, full of mischief...
E pluribus sanguinem
Unless they upload a replacement, the book would have to have all the possible tags attached. I'm assuming the books are on the device itself. Obviously, I don't know enough about the Kindle2.
Having to work for a living is the root of all evil.
Sometimes I wish Slashdot had a "baseless speculation" flag.
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?
No. But there inside your home on your desk inside your kindle is a flag so vile, so full of hatred, so very <insert your opposing political party here> that when activated it will only let you read books from Oprah's Book Club.
My work here is dung.
Kindle: The iPhone of readers. Proprietary schemes rock.
The article doesn't talk about the Kindle's other technological back doors at all, so colour me disappointed.
Still, as a parent of an autistic child, I know how valuable the TTS function can be in our computer programs. As an author, I'm saddened that Amazon's rolled over on this for the publishers' and Author's Guild panic. TTS is not the same as an audiobook performance, nor does it have that possibility any time soon.
ancarett, historian and zombie gamer
Read and Memorize. This page will self-destruct as soon as you turn it. *beep*
I think the first is more likely - although the second could be useful in other ways (the Kindle could automatically correct errors in books as they are found).
I pre-ordered a Kindle DX. Thanks to the information in this article I have changed my mind and I'm now canceling my order. I would be stupid to pay $500 for a device that can be remotely crippled, when cheaper ebook readers give me full control. What was I thinking?
...and they are internet capable? I'm going to laugh my ass off when some hacker reduces every ebook on every Kindle in the world to a useless pile of bits.
There is a war going on for your mind.
I was going to get my wife a Kindle for her birthday. She asked, "What's the point? The books are almost as expensive, and I can't send them to my mom or sister when I'm done. And what happens when the hardware breaks, and I need to get a new one? I don't want to be forced to get a Kindle just because those are the books I bought before. Fuck 'em."
My wife, the non-geek. She gets it.
Microsoft is to software what Budweiser is to beer.
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.
NT
The problem with socialism is that they always run out of other people's money. - Margaret Thatcher
How exactly is this a kill-flag? The headline is misleading as the remote switch does not actually kill the device itself but disables a software feature.
Unless (and even if) this is made clear to the consumer before they bye the product, I'm sure that there would be a good case of "defective product", which would mean, money back.
Of course, you don't get to keep your "Kindle", but you do get to keep your sanity.
---
I expect the following to start happening sooner or later:
* Someone write make a "Kindle emulator";
* Someone will pass out "hardware security bypass" designs (modding)
Oh, and I also expect a law suit sooner or later.
I wank in the shower.
This is just like when they invented books that can be remotely spontaneously combusted.
Buy a real book and then have it read to you by your girlfr... oh, wait, this is Slashdot. Ignore me :)
THE HONOUR OF THE KNIGHTS - CC Licensed Sci-Fi Novel
A "no turning the pages backwards" flag?
That would be for all those Choose Your Own Adventure cheaters.
Does it say they can do this anywhere on the box or on the ordering information? if not start a class action lawsuit. In the corporate world, this is how you fight.
Did a little poking around and found this is in fact true (at least basically so). Here's a listing with "Text-to-Speech: Not enabled" marked on it, and the drop down explanation being "The publisher has requested not to enable Text-to-Speech for this title."
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001ANURFO/
Can't one of those Blind Advocacy groups sue them for discrimination?
Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
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
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
And that's why my Kindle's flag will be a Jolly Roger.
__ Someday, but not this morning, I'll finally learn to use the preview button.
Sorry, dude, she just sounds like a total bitch.
-Dan East
This is my post. I wrote it. Is is a creative and inventive work which benefits society at large. Moreover, it is a concrete example of intellectual property. This post, that you are reading right now, belongs to me. It is mine.
This post is mine in the same way that my house, or car or clothes are mine. These words that I have written are given as much protection as freedom of speech or to vote. They need it. If just anyone is allowed to come along and copy them, or alter them, or include them in another work without my permission, then it will be as though my right to speak freely has been taken away, or I have been disenfranchised.
If someone else reads these words without paying me, or worse sells them to others to read, I will have been robbed. It will be as if my home was burned down, or my family sold into slavery. An injustice of the highest order.
These words need protections. Strong protections. This post needs to be defended, even as it is copied endless and effortlessly across millions of computers, each recopying it hundreds of times, at negligible expense. The worth of these words is worth more than all the bits it occupies in cyberspace. Indeed, their worth is worth more than the worth of cyberspace, and even society itself.
For if these words, if this post cannot be afforded the most stringent, uncompromising and sacred protection that our society has to offer, then our society will not be worth the bits it is represented on. The reality of digital worldwide transmission must not be allowed to compromise the most fundamental rights we have. The protection of this post is a challenge which our civilization must meet, or else our civilization must fall.
This post and all related materials, Copyright © ObsessiveMathsFreak 2009.
All rights reserved, worldwide.
None of the materials provided in this post site may be used, reproduced or transmitted, in whole or in part, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or the use of any information storage and retrieval system, without express permission in writing from the author, along with suitable monetary compensation.
Unauthorized use of the materials in this post are subject to prosecution to the fullest exent allowable by law.
May the Maths Be with you!
If you won't sell me an electronic book on the same terms as your paper books (e.g., I can read them aloud if I want to, with or without mechanical assistance), then the only money you're going to get is from me buying used books.
Which is to say: nothing, because you already got your money from the initial purchaser.
the memento flag:
you can only read the chapters once and in reverse order only.
the pulp fiction flag:
chapter order is randomized
the Bedazzled flag:
last page is missing in mystery novels
the pat robertson flag:
all naughty words like "gay" and "damn" are changed to "homo" and "golly"
they also introduced several modes:
leet speak mode:
so your p4r3nts can't read over your shoulder.
The beevis and bottomhead flag:
all accidental double entedres are bolded (heh heh).
Ascii art mode
speed reading mode: the words disappear from the page at defined rate.
Controverial undocumented ebonics and hot coffee modes.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
Can we get a White Flag? One that just allows us to surrender? How about a bloody pirate flag? One that shoots cannons at the other flags. I would like at least one device not try to screw me over. (Full Disclosure, I own a Kindle 2.)
I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
The Kindle has an awfully big price tag for a piece of hardware that gets defiant, by design, when you try to use one of its primary features.
...it's called the "do not buy flag". Screw you Amazon. Learn the hard way suckers.
So, how soon until Linux is running on the thing?
No it doesn't. That's like saying, "getting a job to stay alive is an endorcement of US capitalism, even though the only other options are starving or illegal activity (which can result in very nasty side affects)".
As for the quote, it's from the Unix fortune cookie program. Do a search, you can find it in lots of places.
The point is though, that just because I use tech, doesn't mean I support or endorse capitalism, the state, or any other damn thing associated with the production of the tech. Sure, maybe the "Western" should be dropped. I'll take that into consideration.
If you want to discuss this further, feel free to head over to RevLeft, make an account, and start a thread (in the Opposing Ideologies section at a guess, unless you are a leftist of some sort). Oh, that's a referrer link, I don't get anything from that except knowing how many people signed up because of it. If you really don't like it, just remove it. (I only mention that 'cause some person got uppity once.)
I wank in the shower.
I'm interested in the DX because of its native PDF reader, and nothing else. I probably would never buy a book from Amazon to read on it, because everything I want I can get as a PDF, whether it be something technical or literature.
Because of this, theoretically, I'd be immune to these issues, right? They're my own, drm-free PDFs which can't be remotely deleted or somehow blocked.
I like the *idea* of the Kindle in that I can carry millions of pages of whatever on a very light device with a good screen. I was trying out my mom's Kindle and I was shocked at how much I *really* liked it; the screen was really great and, while I didn't care for the slow page redraws, it wouldn't be a deal-breaker. Thus I like the DX idea even more; bigger screen, and drm-free content.
There's no faster way to kill a format than to restrict its use. I was considering kindle/ebook material, but not now. If I had purchased a book, and suddenly could not use TTS, I'd be ticked. You'd find me in the 'returns' isle of customer service.
It's all about your basic greed. Some publishers have said they don't like TTS because they feel it takes away from their audio books sales, and they want to turn it into a copyright violation. Excuse me? Have you listened to a computer read text? Not something you want to do for a long period of time. Believe me, TTS isn't going to impact audio book sales. Chances are, if someone buys a book in print, they won't be buying the audio book version, unless they really, really, really like it - TTS will have no sway in their purchase decisions. Nevertheless, if I bought the content, I can do what I want to with it, within copyright law, which includes fair use (a nasty phrase to media companies), which means if I want my computer to read it, that's my choice.
It's a slippery slope folks. I can imagine publishers moving to lobby for a DMCA rule against reading books aloud because they want control over everything whether it be print or electronic.
No, this development has killed the ebook prospect for me. I'll get my books in paper form, or PDF format where available. If there is any restriction whatsoever from being able to view, print, read, etc. any portion of any book, you'll find me in the 'return isle' demanding a refund (and no future business to the particular publisher).
And you can get a new kidney to replace that vodka-damaged one you have.
Even more conveniently it is web n.0 integrated and can signal the need for exams/maintenance.
It "should" not have a kill switch.
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.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"First things first -- but not necessarily in that order"
-- The Doctor, "Doctor
Or use most other e-readers. The local library is free and paper backs are cheap - I don't have to worry about someone messing with what I am reading...and if they do I can use the book to beat sense into them (please note hard covers are better for this option than paper backs).
I'll just set the kill bit on this and everything else you write.
Someone wants to protect their work to this extent should try publishing it in the a public building's unlit basement behind a locked door marked "beware of leopard".
You have a right to demand to protect your work, and I have a right to respect that right...and to go further and treat your work as if it does not exist.
(You won't be able to tell if I'm being sarcastic or not, because I would have set my sarcasm level equal to yours, but that'd be a violation of your copyright...so I will simply leave it undefined.)
the music industry has been eaten alive by piracy, simply because digital delivery is the most convenient (you consume it by yourself with headphones primarily), and it's easy to pirate
however, movies are best enjoyed in a moviehouse, not a 17 inch monitor alone by yourself in the basement, so while movie piracy will be an issue (it will kill the dvd aftermarket and blockbuster/ netflix), it won't threaten moviehouses
the newspaper needs to be current info, so online material is actually superior to thrown on your doorstep the next morning. so newspapers are withering and dying
conversely, books are best enjoyed on paper pulp: durable, zero power usage, cheap as heck
i never understood the kindle or the appeal of it and i don't think it will ever make a big dent in the book reading public apart from the technophiles (people who obsessively buy new tech on the coolness quotient are not necessarily practical people)
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
This is old news. The whole brouhaha over this happened months ago. The Kindle 2 came out, with text-to-speech. The Author's Guild whined like little babies claiming it would reduce audiobook sales (presumably they also want to charge you for reading to your kids.) They wanted the functionality removed completely. Amazon reached a compromise, that publishers could opt-out by requesting that it be disallowed on their books.
There's no point getting your panties in a bunch *now*. The horse is out of the barn. Nor is Amazon the one to complain to. The publishers and the Author's Guild are the ones to complain to.
If anything, Amazon deserves credit for putting the feature in in the first place without restrictions. Given their business model, you might have expected them to proactively design the feature to the publishers' requirements long before it was released. They might have been like Microsoft who preemptively crippled the Zune's sharing feature.
September 2011: Looking for Cocoa/iOS work in Boston area Cocoa Programmer Quincy, MA
The Kindle is a platform and distribution tool, however Amazon believes it is much more. I was listening to NPR the other day and one of the Newspaper execs was describing the contract to distribute their paper using the Kindle. Did you know that the Kindle contract is 70% for amazon and 30% for the content provider? Not only that but then amazon claims ownership of the content to distribute it to other platforms?
she acts that way, but shove a cock in her face and she sucks like her life depends on it. I don't think I've ever seen anyone so willing and eager to toss salad, either.
Technologically the Kindle makes my vast book collection look terribly old fashioned, if not outright obselete. But DRM has made it a non-starter for me. I'm perfectly willing to pay for content. I buy technical books with prices well north of $100. But once I've bought a book I want to be the one who decides if I'm going to have it read out loud to me, or how I back it up, and when in 5 years a competitor comes out with a reader that makes Amazon's Kindle look like a 1980s PC I want to be able to move all the books I've bought to it.
So I think I'll stick to paper, thank you very much.
"The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old......They literally know nothing." - Ben Rhodes
This is something the publishers insisted on so text to speech wouldn't impact sales of audio books. If you have a problem with it, blame the publisher.
Personally, I'd rather have an e-book with no text to speech than no e-book at all.
Don't buy from Amazon, enemy of your freedom!
This is my post. I wrote it. Is is a creative and inventive work which benefits society at large. Moreover, it is a concrete example of intellectual property. This post, that you are reading right now, belongs to me. It is mine.
This post is mine in the same way that my house, or car or clothes are mine. These words that I have written are given as much protection as freedom of speech or to vote. They need it. If just anyone is allowed to come along and copy them, or alter them, or include them in another work without my permission, then it will be as though my right to speak freely has been taken away, or I have been disenfranchised.
If someone else reads these words without paying me, or worse sells them to others to read, I will have been robbed. It will be as if my home was burned down, or my family sold into slavery. An injustice of the highest order.
These words need protections. Strong protections. This post needs to be defended, even as it is copied endless and effortlessly across millions of computers, each recopying it hundreds of times, at negligible expense. The worth of these words is worth more than all the bits it occupies in cyberspace. Indeed, their worth is worth more than the worth of cyberspace, and even society itself.
For if these words, if this post cannot be afforded the most stringent, uncompromising and sacred protection that our society has to offer, then our society will not be worth the bits it is represented on. The reality of digital worldwide transmission must not be allowed to compromise the most fundamental rights we have. The protection of this post is a challenge which our civilization must meet, or else our civilization must fall.
This post and all related materials, Copyright © ObsessiveMathsFreak 2009.
All rights reserved, worldwide.
None of the materials provided in this post site may be used, reproduced or transmitted, in whole or in part, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or the use of any information storage and retrieval system, without express permission in writing from the author, along with suitable monetary compensation.
Unauthorized use of the materials in this post are subject to prosecution to the fullest exent allowable by law.
Don't buy a kindle. Just don't. Don't even buy from Amazon if you can avoid it. abebooks is cheaper & doesn't fuck people over.
iLiad reads pdf file far better than Kindle and lets you take notes and annotate books. So you know it might actually be useful for reading stuff besides novels.
The Christian religion has been and still is the principal enemy of moral progress in the world. -- Bertrand Russell
I just want a simple e-ink display e-book reader with no whispernet, no wifi, no vendor lock-in, no drm, absolutely no advertising or marketing, especially where it is not disableable or disguised as extra "features".
It should at least be able to open pdf and plain text files. It should act like a generic usb flash drive, so no need for extra drivers or to install software on the PC. You just plug iit in the USB, copy the file to the reader from a PC and you're done.
It should take normal batteries, so you can buy new batteries at airports etc. and/or use nicads rather than rely on some built-in battery that you have to send it back to the manufacturer to replace.
It shouyld automatically sense if nicads are being used, and give you the option to recharge from the USB, os that you don't need to also carry a seperate charger.
On style/appearance, the device should ultra minimal and nearly all screen. No ugly fat plastic frame or ugly arrays of buttons.
At least 8GB storage, or even better, an SD slot. why in these days when you can buy 16gb thumb drives for $30 are even new devices like the kindle 2 limited to such a stupidly small 2GB?
the kindle is garbage, go REB1200!!
seriously how am I supposed to hold the dang thing when it's all slim, and what up with this terrible remote control garbage... I guess the e-ink stuff might be somewhat cool but even that flashes when you turn a page. REB1200 for life! : P
>The local library is free and paper backs are cheap...
But you have to drive to the library, pick up the book, and return it in a certain amount of time.
Wouldn't it be nice to download it, read it, and let the book simply "evaporate" in a certain amount of time?
I would not trust a Kindle to /purchased/ books. But I think it would be a fantastic platform for delivering borrowed content, just like library books, for free.
A work that expires before its copyright never enters the public domain and thus enjoys eternal copyright protection.
To me, this flagging ability should be viewed as a good thing.
All books should be available from the library FOR FREE. You go to the library, you borrow the book, and you return it in two weeks. You can re-check it out again for another 2 weeks if you want.
This flagging ability COULD allow this to be done without driving to the library. You COULD use this to NEVER buy a book. You simply "check it out" for 2 weeks and then it vanishes.
Now I'm skeptical that it will ever be allowed to work this way, but this is the way such devices SHOULD work. If I can go check out a physical copy for 2 weeks, why not a digital copy? If it's free, I don't mind if it vanishes in 2 weeks, just like a library loan would.
A work that expires before its copyright never enters the public domain and thus enjoys eternal copyright protection.
According to the latest Department of Homeland Security fear tactic, anyone engaging in "cyber-attacks" is now a terrorist.
Random House has begun vandalizing consumers' property without their consent. Did anyone sign a EULA permitting Random House to disable text-to-speech? If not, Random House is essentially conducting "cyber terrorism".
Now realistically, I'm not in favor of sending the CEO of Random House to gitmo... but you can see how there is a double standard for corporations vs. individuals.
Winston Smith, a loyal worker in the Ministry of Truth, clearly denies these allegations. "There is no need for such a capability, because history never changes."
By the way, Comrade Dimedici, some employees from MiniLove will be arriving shortly to escort you to Room 101.
No. The customer is right unless them being right interferes with another, bigger customer being right. Or it interferes with a number of other customers being right. That's the way it really works.
The way it should work is, the customer is only right if they are not wrong. In most of Europe, if you go into an establishment looking to have your butt smooched and every single one of your sniffy little needs met, you will be shown the door rather than letting you waste the employee's and other customer's time.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
In the article (someone has to read it, but what the hell, this is /.), the subject of piracy is not an issue.
The point you're all missing is that any legally downloaded copy of a book can be prevented from being accessed via TTS by a customer with some form of reading disability.
I have no axe to grind regarding the merits (or otherwise) of the technology, but the point is that if you have paid for the content, you should be allowed to access it however you want. Deliberately locking out legitimate users with disabilities is seriously bad medicine, and anyone who does so deserves all the bad karma he'll get.
I would like a cheap way to read the PDF and CHM files I already purchased on my computer to be read via an eBook. I want an open sourced eBook so I know they won't put in Killflags and take away my rights and freedoms for the eBooks I already bought.
Right now my eBook reader is my Laptop and Desktop systems.
Remember, Slashdot does not have a -1 disagree moderation, and no, troll, flamebait, and overrated are not substitutes.
The entire reason we bought Kindles was the text to speech function. Our school teaches dyslexic kids and any technology that allows these kids to read ANY book, whether or not an audio book version is available, is extremely useful.
Without unlimited text to speech kindles are reduced, from a useful teaching tool, to simply a nifty gadget. Without TTS, there is very little to justify the cost of these over other e-book readers.
Good job Amazon! You've just allowed your book publishers to kill a potentially HUGE market for these things - schools.
-ted
The truth is Amazon's implementation is is the best but still not good enough for me to purchase. Anything that [put arbitrary limitations on things is of no use to anyone. In there defense you don't necessarily have to buy books from the A**holes at Random Hose however.
Who cares about Kindle, device that has been made by greedy corporation to extort money. I have ThinkPad X61 Tablet PC with Vista and the touch-sensitive screen, 1400x1050 screen resolution, pen, screen rotation, full colour, support for all possible document formats (not same "fake" PDF support as has been announced for Kindle). Certainly there is a need for a specific document-centric computers but we will have to wait little bit more until we get hardware that betetr support all document formats, has a colour screen and is more expandable.
/me points to the tags below the summary.
tag: baselessspeculation
I have a Kindle (2), purchased just under a month ago.
While it is annoying that these flags exist, it is part of the TOS that you have to agree to.
Personally, the TTS feature is not of great value to me. If I'd been concerned with audio books, I would not have purchased a device to read them. Besides, it is clearly stated on the product page that the TTS is experimental and available where allowed by the publisher.
However, I fairly certain that the flag exists in the book itself and not in the Kindle. If a publisher decides to withdraw TTS rights, Amazon only needs to update the book in you server side library and upon next sync, you receive the updated book that blocks TTS. Otherwise, the Kindle's minimal storage would need to be used to maintain a database of disallowed content for the TTS tools. From a developer standpoint, that is poor implementation.
Any large scale functionality changes require a firmware upgrade. Currently my Kindle is unable to receive these as I have a hack to use custom idle screens. I have to remove the hack in order to update.
I long for the day that a Kindle-like app will make things free and universal as the Ipod has. However closer it brings us to that moment- it's not there yet and simply buying the book is a wonderful choice that gets people out of this discussion.
because the laughter heightens the experience
the death of the movie house was predicted because of tv in the 1950s for chirssake. and the business still grew. vcr, dvd, internet: it was all supposed to kill movie houses. every year the business does bigger business. why do people go to church instead of receive spiritual enlightenment at home by themselves? because we are social animals. despite babies and cell phones, people actually like the laughs and oohs of the crowds around them, it enhances the experience of the movie
not that there aren't asocial outliers such as yourself. there's always cranks
fact is, they could make movie tickets $20/ head, have crying babies and cell phones as mandatory background noise, and moviehouses would still do gangbuster business
sure, you can talk about home theatre systems, which most people can't afford, and you can talk about inviting your friends over, which is not something easy to coordinate. not even your closest friends want to watch the latest crank high voltage movie with you on the spur of the moment, out of other commitments, they don't like that movie, or they actually do hate your smoking, etc. and just try to coordinate more than 2 friends. no: you're watching alone. which is lame
the moviegoing experience has a long and profitable future ahead of it, in spite of all the whiny cranks. because, in the end, your spoken words don't actually match your actions (that is, you whine, but still go back to the theatre anyways). or, if you actually don't go to the movie theatres for what are actually minor complaints, then you are just a vanishing small minority that can be safely ignored: the chronically unsatisfiable crank. your opinion has no meaningful value as to the behavior of most of us, as your opinion and behavior is a tiny minority of actual human behavior that has no resonance
tv was supposed to kill theatres, then vcrs, then dvds, the internet, then hd theatre... bullshit, bullshit, bullshit
this is the reality of the "dying" cinema:
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
shows that you are childish too and unable to filter out things that really do not matter.
So use that back at them.
Tell them if it is so childish, why are they unable to let it pass? Pretty infantile to get wound up about childish things isn't it?
You can't use the Kindle for school books because too many students need to take notes on books, which Kindle doesn't support. Schools need to use the iLiad.
Specials needs kids are by definition a special market. You can't expect any product to cater to them without being so designed.
The Christian religion has been and still is the principal enemy of moral progress in the world. -- Bertrand Russell
I haven't seen the contracts, if any, that are signed when purchasing a Kindle or content for it, but this sounds like fraud and breach of contract. If they advertise that you get certain capabilities with the Kindle and can do certain things with the content and then disable these capabilities after sale, they have fraudulently advertised their products and have breached any contracts that may have been entered into unless those contracts authorize such behavior.
The world is waiting for a reader that is open-source friendly. Like an Android reader . . .
Once that competition comes, Amazon will back off the restrictions. Until then . . . we wait.
Amazon doesn't want to damage their core business of selling books. When a hardware maker builds a better ebook, things will change.
From the Kindle Content Return Policy:
http://cltracker.net -- powerful craigslist multi-city search
Kill Flags... less fun.
6 Flags... more fun!
If the material is pirated, it's not your own by definition; ideally it should be on a computer that's not your own either!
Drug dealers - already paid
Now there's a sentence nobody would have understood the year I was born.
True, you can't line the bottom of a parrot cage with a Kindle. Well, maybe once.
Good think your think pad and its operating system were not made by greedy corporations.
I just have to sit back and laugh at the people who willingly give third parties unreasonable control over them. The day e-books become mainstream is the day I will be a sad, sad panda... E-books could be used to *help* people, rather than enslave them. The e-books combined with a free (as in speech) text-to-speech system could benefit blind people in so many ways. Unfortunately, the entire system is under the control of evil people who think readers should have to pay multiple times for the same content.
Please do society a favor: If your college tries to encourage you to adopt e-books, reject the offer. We cannot let e-books replace paper. I know there is no way in hell I will ever purchase an e-book infected with DRM.
Another thing, DO NOT believe the crap the marketers will tell you about supposed "lower prices".They will still charge you $10 for a digital book, only now you can't resell it when you're done. IT"S A SCAM!
I say sue amazon into oblivion.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Will be activated when you try to read a book they ( or the government or a host of other organizations ) consider offensive, or containing forbidden language.
We need an OSS reader, but i know that isn't realistic due to the investment in the hardware.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
How long?
Nothing else, having native PDF in the kindle 1 would be nice.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
While I agree TTS on the discounted e-book may present a profit loss to publishers where the comparable audio-book is available, it should remain enabled in all other instances.
Now, should a user purchase a book with intent for TTS and, due to a disability or other, TTS was disabled for that particular work Amazon should allow refund or purchase of the audio-book at the price difference.
from 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
to 45 2F 6E 40 3C DF 10 71 4E 41 DF AA 25 7D 31 3F
I own a Kindle 2 and was seriously considering a Kindle DX for the PDF support but this particular show of a lack of interest in the consumer means I won't be buying another Amazon reader. I love the device, it's truly one of my favorite gadgets and I use it daily but I'm simply not willing to lose functionality just because some media company decides they haven't met their quarterly numbers and that they'll just squeeze it out of the consumer by retroactively revoking functionality, especially when it will have no affect on their numbers. These do nothing create nothing copyright holders who made their money due to risk management of creative endeavors are a dying breed...unfortunately due to an outdated and slow changing legal system they aren't dying fast enough for my taste.
Ah, what evil lies in the heart of Kindle... Only the Amazon knows!
This just in! Kill flags in Amazon Kindle!
In a world where file formats are hardware, your Kindle may ATTACK!
Amazon can remotely tell your Kindle to EXPLODE, killing anyone around you with a noxious chemical known as PETROCYANIDE.
Amazon can remotely tell your Kindle to DELETE YOUR BRAIN.
The Amazon Kindle can do all this and more!
Amazon has yet to respond to these baseless accusations, as nobody has yet told them that I have made them!
Spread the word sheeple! Amazon is out to get you!
I don't even want to go into how much of a crock this summary is. Fox News level shit, seriously.
You should not question your corporate overlords. We will discuss that with you during your re-education training.
Is anyone considering an ADA Lawsuit. Surely those with disabilities that make reading difficult could win this one on the principle that it's not an audio book but similar to an auto reader for the blind.
if you buy a device with such flags, you just plain deserve it. or you could ask for a redund.......oh wait......
It would be really neat if they had a self-destruct after reading flag. Inspector gadget style.
Like I said, I would not trust a Kindle with such functionality to purchased books, but such a device could revolutionize the concept of the public library. Every book in the world could be available for free.
A work that expires before its copyright never enters the public domain and thus enjoys eternal copyright protection.
THERE IS NO REMOTE KILL FLAG.
Previously purchased Kindle books are not having text-to-speech disabled remotely. The disabling only applies to books bought after the flag was implemented:
From mobileread forums:
"Here's an interesting twist. I just downloaded about 7 books from my Kindle's Archive that are currently listed as having TTS disabled, which I had purchased prior to the implementation of the TTS prohibition, and have found that all them still work just fine with the TTS feature."
September 2011: Looking for Cocoa/iOS work in Boston area Cocoa Programmer Quincy, MA
I actually own a K2. I have at least two books on which TTS has since been disabled. None of my books have changed, even though I've had whispernet on several times. They all still have TTS and there's no indication the files have been changed in any way whatsoever. I think the idea that Amazon is proactively replacing these files is just factually wrong. Nobody on Mobileread has reported this happening either.
Here are the search results for kindle books from Random House sorted by best-selling
And here is a Google Spreadsheet manually-populated with the list of titles to avoid
And the form to include new titles to that list
Happy rating!