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Amazon Blocks Arch Linux Handbook Author From Releasing Kindle Version
An anonymous reader writes "We've all heard the horror stories of Amazon swindling the user out of their content on the Kindle, but this time they've managed to do it preemptively: by blocking the GFDL licensed Arch Linux Handbook from the Kindle Store."
Reasons include: "We’ve reviewed the information you provided and have decided to block these books from being sold in the Kindle Store. The books closely match content that is freely available on the web and we are not confident that you hold exclusive publishing rights. This type of content can create a poor customer experience, and is not accepted. As a result, we have blocked the books listed below from being sold in the Kindle Store." The workaround: he uploaded a mobi copy to the Arch website.
This summary is confusing! Who is 'he'? When did this happen and who exactly is involved?
TBH I don't think Amazon is being that unreasonable. They've a right to ensure that people enjoy using their site, and their site would be less enjoyable if I had to wade through a bunch of content that is otherwise very easy to find on the rest of the web. Such as his website.
That isn't to say his book doesn't have some original content, but it likely doesn't have a lot of it when it comes down to it and when you start being super inclusive you can really flood the market place with a lot of low quality products.
Does this suck for him? Yes I'm sure it does, but there are plenty of sites out there dedicated to proving hosting to free books.
There is all kinds of spam in these bookstores. People go out and grab open licenced content and then package it as an ebook and try to sell it for $0.99 You wind up with 20 ebooks for The Tale of Two Cities listed in catagories like romance or science fiction. Makes the new release section a joke. On B&N there was once a problem where a publisher was selling machine generated books sourced from wikipedia.
The last link to the mobi version is incorrect.
subject says it
Amazon is saying they don't want to chance being sued over questionable content. Is this a problem? Unlike most of the anti-IP people here, Amazon deals with a harsh legal reality in relation to what they distribute.
Thank god someone out there is displaying common sense on these matters.
Ah yes, Arch Linux, the operating system where people brag about their superiority even though it comes down to copy/pasting commands from a wiki without understanding what the hell they even do. Who woulda thunk that the first published book is just a copy/paste of other people's work?
Summary incorrectly states that he's the author. He only did some editing, the content was written by the community.
This space for rent.
This is standard procedure actually. You have to show that you hold the copyright or they won't publish it. I published a book for an author of a book that's been on the web for years. He (the author) had to fully document that he wrote it or they would have pulled the book -- despite the fact that we had a contract agreement that I was supposed to publish it. They insisted that only the copyright holder can publish under the model we had selected and they made him document it. That policy actually makes sense. There's like 6,000 copies of most public domain books, most of which are easier to read or better formatted for the web.
Imagine if you weren't allowed to use roads because a bus company complained about your driving 3 times. --skunkpussy
Nothing stops someone from sideloading books onto their Kindle. Amazon does indeed have a right to decide what they will or will not sell in their own store, as long as Kindle users have other options -- which they have. I see little to take issue with here.
Palm trees and 8
First of all, the content isn't paid, so I am not sure how you can "swindle" users or authors. Nobody has been tricked here. Secondly, blocking the book for sale doesn't "swindle" the author either, it simply removes one publishing option. Given that the book is free anyway, he can post it wherever he wants. It's not like Kindles can't still read it. If there is super demand for it, perhaps Amazon will change their mind - doubtful, though.
I can't find anywhere that it says he was publishing them as FREE Kindle downloads. I understand it doesn't make any sense that he would try to actually sell the documentation that he has already published under the GFDL, but it would explain why Amazon blocked it's addition to the Kindle store if that were the case, no?
I've posted two books on Kindle, and both were approved within hours. That time was probably taken to check on anything that was wrong in the mark-up of the content. Do you really think Amazon is going to spent 3 hours parsing various websites to see if any content has been stolen or misappropriated? Of course not. The author just wants free publicity.
Book download link was broken - here's the correct url: http://archlinux.ca/arch_linux_handbook_3.mobi
plenty of free porn out there.
by TheSpoom (715771) Uncaring Linux user here. I have nothing to add to this but please continue. *munches popcorn*
The iphone 5 also has a Kindle app. So does the Ipad. So does the mac.
Good! Amazon has recently suffered from a severe problem in that companies like Hephaestus Press and Webster’s Digital Services have created "books" out of scraping public domain content like Wikipedia and slapping them between two covers (or digital equivalent thereof) and putting deceptive titles on them. For example, Hephaestus published the book Novels By Jerry Pournelle, including: The Legacy Of Heorot, The Mote In God’s Eye, The Gripping Hand, Footfall, Inferno (novel), Fallen Angels Starswarm, which looks like an omnibus edition, but which is actually scrapped Wikipedia content.
Sounds like they're finally cracking down on this practice, which is a good thing.
Lawrence Person (lawrencepersonh@gmailh.com (remove all "h"s to mail)
http://www.lawrenceperson.com/
True. But you still can't sit in the sunshine and read a book on it.
Some comments on the linked-to site question whether it's even allowable for Amazon to make the content available as a DRM encumbered Kindle eBook, because of this clause in the GFDL:
You may not use technical measures to obstruct or control the reading or further copying of the copies you make or distribute.
Yes, I am sure it is *not* the fact that his content was free elsewhere, but more likely the weak association with the rights of the work. I have two books published in KF8 format, (http://goo.gl/DkR4T) and (http://goo.gl/r6oDN), both also available as free non-KF8 epub/pdf downloads, and Amazon sent me a query as to the RIGHTS as (using some automated system I presume) they detected that the content was available elsewhere for free. I responded appropriately, as the primary copyright holder, and my material has remained published accordingly. And for those worried about GPL, etc, content, as the author, you can specify NO DRM!
leather-dog muksihs
Blog: @muksihs
I own a Kindle, an iPad, and an iPhone. I haven't turned on my Kindle in months and instead mostly use my iPhone and to a lesser extent my iPad to read content. I swore this would NEVER be the case because epaper was SO good and that a backlit screen would be difficult to use in many situations. Turns out that's not true and since I have my phone with me ALL the time and the Kindle almost never the phone turns out to be the predominant device I use.
Build it, Drive it, Improve it! Hybridz.org
DRM is optional for Kindle books sold on Amazon. They do not require it's use; it's up to the Author.
The licensing deal for ebooks licensed through Amazon is really very bad for consumers. You can pay more for an ebook than for a physical book, even one sold on Amazon. To lend a book to someone, you have to give up that person's email address to Amazon. (What other retailer has such a privacy-cringing requirement? Hey, you bought that sweater and want to lend it to your brother? Let's have that email address, first, buddy.) And, they can read it only for two weeks. And, you can lend it only once!
This is a spectacularly bad deal, far worse than the DRM on music ever was.
I refuse to buy any more ebooks from Amazon until the deal improves. Even if Amazon itself may not be responsible for this crazy restrictive license, it enables it, and consumers shouldn't just stand there and take it.
"We receive as friendly that which agrees with, we resist with dislike that which opposes us" - Faraday
Or you could just lend your brother your kindle. Then he can read your books without doing all of the above. Also DRM is optional on Amazon.(the author chooses if DRM is used)
Just like any other publisher, Amazon does not want to dilute the value of its market offerings by reselling content that is available freely elsewhere.
Note that this does not stop Barnes & Noble Nook store from providing compilations of public-domain works. The downloadable products do say that they are freely available from Project Guutenberg or otherwise, but the easy access to a collection of 20 or 50 works at $0.99 is an undeniable value.
Too bad that this author couldn't spin it that way, because most of these public-domain compilations are available on the Kindle, too.
Kriston
This is not an Amazon vs Linux case
It's a case of Amazon refusing to sell a "book" that was essentially written by a community, that can be gotten online for free (it's wiki stuffs).
And that "author" of that "book" happens to be a "packager", not an "author" in the truest sense.
I dunno what's going on with Slashdot lately.
Truly, I don't !! And I've been visiting Slashdot for a long-long-time !
Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
Not much value when there are hundreds of people creating compilations of public-domain works because they purchased a $.99 book titled "How to make a fortune selling books on Amazon! $$$". These bookstores just need to sign a deal with Project Guutenberg and integrate the free stuff into a free section of the store.
I never met a device with batteries I couldn't remove. Just ignore the warning it contains no user serviceable parts. On the other hand, if it bricks when you give it that treatment, don't buy it.
Who is John Cabal?
The rootkits on music CDs that could damage your CD drive were worse then this?
Most free programming/systems administrator/etc. free books seem to be available only as PDF, which is pretty much unusable on a Kindle.
Does the Slashdot hive mind know of any sources for free computer books suitable for a Kindle or Nook (Calibre solves the epub to mobi problem)?
This page accidentally left blank
I use my iPhone outside all the time--I have it mounted to my bike as a bike-computer. If I ride at the wrong time--say, 1 o'clock or so--the sun makes it unreadable unless I futz with the angle.
But it's a worthwhile point--much like cameras, the best e-reader is the one that you have with you.
guess I am too old (at age 33) to read something substantial on a tiny screen
back when the PDA rage was going on, yea no problem, I could sit there and stare at it all day, not anymore, me need large screen!
Amazon theoretically pays royalties of 35 to 70 percent of the retail price of their Kindle e-books to the copyright holder. However, what is not perhaps so widely known is the 'Amazon Gotcha' which is: "As the publisher, you (the author) set the "list price" for your content. Amazon.com reserves the right to set the retail price at our sole discretion. See the Pricing Page and Terms and Conditions for information on how royalties are calculated. Please note, We reserve the right to set the retail price we charge for the books you provide to us. We may offer your book at a price below your list price if, for example, the price at which a competitor sells your book, or the price at which we sell a physical edition of your book is lower than your list price. In that case, if you chose the 70% royalty option, your royalties will be calculated off of this offer price for sales that qualify for the 70% royalty option. If you chose the 35% royalty option, you will be paid off of the original list price you chose.
What does this mean? Amazon can set the price at anything they want to, including "zero." Guess what 70 percent of zero is? So...when Amazon is restricting content as TFA refers to, by claiming that the content is already 'freely available on the web' they are dissembling since a goodly portion of their kindle store is already 'free.' The main reason for Amazon's action is more likely embodied in the Amazon statement "we are not confident that you hold exclusive publishing rights." Amazon is happy to sell content for free because it builds their Kindle brand but they don't want there to be any chance of a copyright violation coming back to them as a costly claim.
"I never met a device with batteries I couldn't remove. Just ignore the warning it contains no user serviceable parts. On the other hand, if it bricks when you give it that treatment, don't buy it."
But can you easily do this with each device ON DEMAND? I doubt you or anyone else goes through the long process of battery removal in most brick like devices when you want it to really be off, for sure!
I'm talking about devices where you can pop out a battery within a few seconds, you're referring to the large ocean of devices which, yes, the battery can be removed, but you're not going to get it out within a few seconds or minutes and replace it, rinse, lather, repeat.
i consider all electronic devices with batteries you cannot remove mobile spy platforms, off or on. screw them all.
"I never met a device with batteries I couldn't remove. Just ignore the warning it contains no user serviceable parts. On the other hand, if it bricks when you give it that treatment, don't buy it."
But can you easily do this with each device ON DEMAND? I doubt you or anyone else goes through the long process of battery removal in most brick like devices when you want it to really be off, for sure!
I'm talking about devices where you can pop out a battery within a few seconds, you're referring to the large ocean of devices which, yes, the battery can be removed, but you're not going to get it out within a few seconds or minutes and replace it, rinse, lather, repeat.
You can shit can this post as much as you like, and mod up the fly by nights who bring nothing to my point but you and I know I'm right.
all through college you listen to the 'engineer' and 'computer' kids and professors shit all over the 'liberal arts morons' and 'worthless degrees like english'.
then you get in the real world and try to, you know, fucking write something. turns out those 'morons' in 'liberal arts' were actually doing something that is every bit as difficult as creating an OS kernel or a graph algorithm.
things like 'fact checking' and 'editing' evolved over centuries, centuries of the craft, yes, the fucking craft of this thing called 'writing', which is as technical and difficult as any other field of human endeavor, from metallurgy to blacksmithing to CPU architecture.
the difference nowdays is that writing is fucking debased and devalued by society due to various factors that have barely, if ever, been studied. then we wake up one day and wonder why the fuck we are so ignorant. because we threw the writers and editors in the garbage can, because, after all, the work they did was 'worthless'.
Excel.
You too can sell linux because the license allows it. SuSE linux doesn't get banned from Amazon stores because the majority of the code is freely available.
So why is it a problem here?
Amazon are probably being lazy rather than evil.
But if the book is sold for "ridiculous prices" then undercut him.
Care to provide evidence for your claim? I've bought many books from Amazon, not one of them contains an advert.
Bad analogies are like waxing a monkey with a rainbow.
Power-point
APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
How does one preemptively swindle something?
Amazon doesn't have to sell every book that is tossed its way. And yet people can still release their books, and others can still read them on the kindle.
Who is being swindled here?
No need to do that
http://www.aiyiagroup.com Hot dipped galvanized steel coil