The Danger of Ebooks
In an age where business dominates our governments and writes our laws, every technological
advance offers business an opportunity to impose new restrictions on the public. Technologies
that could have empowered us are used to chain us instead.
With printed books,
•You can buy one with cash, anonymously.
•Then you own it.
•You are not required to sign a license that restricts your use of it.
•The format is known, and no proprietary technology is needed to read the book.
•You have the right to give, lend or sell the book to another.
•You can, physically, copy the book, and it's sometimes lawful under copyright.
•Nobody has the power to remotely destroy your book.
Contrast that with Amazon ebooks (fairly typical):
•Amazon requires users to identify themselves to get an ebook.
•In some countries, including the US, Amazon says the user cannot own the ebook.
•Amazon requires the user to accept a restrictive license on use of the ebook.
•The format is secret and only proprietary user-restricting software lawfully supports it.
•The Kindle tells Amazon what page the user is reading, plus any notes the user enters.
•An ersatz “lending” is allowed for some books, for a limited time, but only by
specifying by name another user of the same system. No giving or selling.
•Copying the ebook is blocked by Digital Restrictions Management .
•Amazon can remotely delete the ebook using a back door.
In 2009, Amazon deleted thousands of copies of George Orwell's 1984. this way.
•Amazon can do anythingto a Kindle user through a universal back door.
Each one of these infringements makes these ebooks ethically inferior to printed books. We must
demand that ebooks respect the whole of readers' traditional freedom
>>9370403
well be just fine
>>9370403
Take off your tinfoil hat, cunt.
Nobody gives a flying fuck about your hentai browsing history.
Or you can stop being a fucking retard and just pirate all of your ebooks like everyone with half a brain does
>>9370532
>pirate
I prefer the phrase "receive from an online russian lending library"
>>9370403
no one buys ebooks m8, and my kindle isn't even connected to the internet
>>9370413
>my information capital is worth nothing and that's why data brokers buy and sell it
you fucking tard
>>9370403
>Kikedle
your fault you got memed
>>9370595
its so they can sell products
who gives a fuck its just capitalism
>>9370957
Worst case scenario I can think of is a few years from now employers being able to see your browsing and posting history for a small fee on some site, or maybe government agencies or businessmen blackmailing politicians for whatever their agenda is. Might be my paranoia, but it's well within the realm of possibility.