Slightly off topic - Ebooks

[John Abreau]

On Sat, Feb 6, 2010 at 10:51 AM, Edward Ned Harvey <blu-Z8efaSeK1ezqlBn2x/YWAg at public.gmane.org> wrote:
>> Counterexample: Baen releases its books in a variety of formats,
>> including zip'ed HTML, but with no DRM of any kind.  And that includes
>> a lot of back catalog, not just new releases.  Try
>> http://www.webscriptions.com.
>
> Don't care about one counterexample.  It's barely significant, that is, if
> the material is even copyrighted.  Show me Harry Potter, or Twilight, or
> O'Reilly's IPv6 available publicly for free.  You can't because they won't
> do it.  They would never allow that to happen because their livelihood
> depends on the revenue.
>


While you're technically correct that O'Reilly isn't giving away their
DRM-free ebooks, that doesn't change the fact that they do indeed
sell ebooks without DRM:

http://oreilly.com/ebooks/

"""When you buy an ebooks thru oreilly.com you get lifetime access to
the book, and whenever possible we provide it to you in four, DRM-free
file formats — PDF, .epub, Kindle-compatible .mobi, and Android .apk
ebook — that you can use on the devices of your choice. Our ebook
files are fully searchable, and you can cut-and-paste and print them.
We also alert you when we've updated the files with corrections and
additions. """


Also, the books in Baen's free library are indeed copyrighted. Jim Baen
persuaded the authors of those books to release them for free.



-- 
John Abreau / Executive Director, Boston Linux & Unix
AIM abreauj / JABBER jabr-iMZfmuK6BGBxLiRVyXs8+g at public.gmane.org / YAHOO abreauj / SKYPE zusa_it_mgr
Email jabr-mNDKBlG2WHs at public.gmane.org / WWW http://www.abreau.net / PGP-Key-ID 0xD5C7B5D9
PGP-Key-Fingerprint 72 FB 39 4F 3C 3B D6 5B E0 C8 5A 6E F1 2C BE 99