I just checked Adobe's website at
http://www.adobe.com/epaper/ebooks/freebooks.html
and it looks like they may have changed the book.
I download the 4.05 reader and their copy of Alice
(after answering more
nosy questions that I'd generally put up with,
but this was for investigative purposes) and
their current copy appears not to have
any references to Project Gutenberg. (Although
it does appear to be PG's text, based on the
somewhat unusual emphasis style.)
Project Gutenberg's license only restricts
further terms of redistribution if the Project
Gutenberg trademark is used. (Which
is actually the Right Thing in this case, because
the actual text is in the public domain, so
the only lever they have on further distributor's
behavior is via their trademark rights.)
Adobe seems to no longer have any reference
to PG in their book, so they are not bound,
legally, by PG's use conditions or ethics.
Incidentally, the new Document Security dialog
on the book appears to no longer have the "read
aloud" restriction. Still mentioned as "Not
Allowed" are printing, changing the document,
selecting text and graphics, and adding or
changing annotations and form fields.
Oh, and every now and then there's an
embedded advertising page.
So, not quite as bad as what was mentioned
up top, but still pretty obnoxious. There
are tens of thousands of on-line books out there
that don't requiring knowing your personal
or hardwarde information, and I think I'll
stick with listing those for now. And I'll
be happy to list other freely readable
books that folks here want to contribute to
Gutenberg or other etext archives.
John Mark Ockerbloom
Editor, The On-Line Books Page
http://digital.library.upenn.edu/books/
Slashdot Mirror
I just checked Adobe's website at http://www.adobe.com/epaper/ebooks/freebooks.html and it looks like they may have changed the book. I download the 4.05 reader and their copy of Alice (after answering more nosy questions that I'd generally put up with, but this was for investigative purposes) and their current copy appears not to have any references to Project Gutenberg. (Although it does appear to be PG's text, based on the somewhat unusual emphasis style.) Project Gutenberg's license only restricts further terms of redistribution if the Project Gutenberg trademark is used. (Which is actually the Right Thing in this case, because the actual text is in the public domain, so the only lever they have on further distributor's behavior is via their trademark rights.) Adobe seems to no longer have any reference to PG in their book, so they are not bound, legally, by PG's use conditions or ethics. Incidentally, the new Document Security dialog on the book appears to no longer have the "read aloud" restriction. Still mentioned as "Not Allowed" are printing, changing the document, selecting text and graphics, and adding or changing annotations and form fields. Oh, and every now and then there's an embedded advertising page. So, not quite as bad as what was mentioned up top, but still pretty obnoxious. There are tens of thousands of on-line books out there that don't requiring knowing your personal or hardwarde information, and I think I'll stick with listing those for now. And I'll be happy to list other freely readable books that folks here want to contribute to Gutenberg or other etext archives. John Mark Ockerbloom Editor, The On-Line Books Page http://digital.library.upenn.edu/books/