Just a few months ago in April, Microsoft announced it would be shutting down its DRM-locked eBook store. On Monday, July 1st, it will finally shut down the DRM servers that allow people to read the books they purchased there.
According to Microsoft's FAQ on the shutdown
What happens to books I've already purchased?
You can continue to read books you've purchased until July 2019 when they will no longer be available, and you will receive a full refund of the original purchase price.
There's more - even free ebooks will go away
What happens to my free books?
You can continue to read free books you've downloaded until July 2019 when they will no longer be accessible.
This also applies if the book is out of copyright, free, or has been annotated with your own notes and research.
According to author Cory Doctorow, who predicted this very event in a speech to Microsoft Research 15 years ago:
This puts the difference between DRM-locked media and unencumbered media into sharp contrast. I have bought a lot of MP3s over the years, thousands of them, and many of the retailers I purchased from are long gone, but I still have the MP3s. Likewise, I have bought many books from long-defunct booksellers and even defunct publishers, but I still own those books.
In the event a purchaser still has the same credit card they purchased an eBook from Microsoft with up to seven years ago, refunds for the original purchase price (not inflation adjusted) will be credited back to it. Those that do not still have the original purchase mechanism on file will receive a credit on the same virtual store that is removing their books.
Cold comfort considering a virtual book burning won't keep you very warm.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 29 2019, @02:28AM
"Reads for sure"
(Score: 4, Funny) by aristarchus on Saturday June 29 2019, @02:49AM (5 children)
Farenheit Minus 451? Or did they pull that book as well?
I have an original book by Euclid, he's long dead and we did not really have "publishers" back in the day, only copyists, but the book still works, even though the papyrus is getting a bit brittle.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 29 2019, @06:14AM
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 29 2019, @06:26AM (2 children)
Indeed, even physical copies are not forever.
(Score: 1, Troll) by aristarchus on Saturday June 29 2019, @10:03AM (1 child)
Well, no, but you just copy them before they start to degrade, with, you know, error correction! One of my favorite Bibble stories is how Jesus was crucified, died, and was buried, but on the third day, he arose, and saw his shadow, and said, "Yup, six more weeks of winter!" You see, error correction is only correct if you know what the error you were correcting against was, which means you knew already what the original was, but if that is what you are trying to correct. . . it is like TMB and libertarianism, a twisted, Okie version of libertariantardism from Groundhog Day.
(Score: 2) by Pino P on Tuesday July 02 2019, @01:22AM
That's not what my copy says. In mine, Jesus died, notified the inmates in Tartarus (spirit prison), rose on the third day, and miraculously granted a rabbit the ability to reason and speak [pineight.com]. This way, the rabbit could spread the enduring spiritual gifts of "faith, hop, and love" (1 Corinthians 13) by delivering eggs dyed red to represent Jesus's shed blood.
(Score: 1) by RandomFactor on Saturday June 29 2019, @01:51PM
It's just a submission quirk - when you fill out the Department field on a submission, the accepted version has the spaces in the department field replaced with dashes when it is displayed.
So if you put in 'Fahrenheit 451', you get 'From the Fahrenheit-451 dept.'
В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Saturday June 29 2019, @02:55AM (12 children)
This will be devastating for what might actually be zero people!
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Saturday June 29 2019, @03:13AM (11 children)
C'mon they sold what, like 50 Zune players? - at least a few of those people read...
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 5, Interesting) by ilPapa on Saturday June 29 2019, @04:02AM (10 children)
Man, don't you talk shit about my Zune. I still use my ZuneHD to listen to paranormal podcasts as I fall asleep. It's one of the most durable and useful pieces of tech I've ever owned. I like them so much that I went on ebay and bought a couple used ones to keep in case the first one broke (I'm not joking, this is absolutely true). Unfortunately, the first one never broke and I'm still using it every night and there are two other ZuneHDs sitting in my drawer. The PC software hasn't been updated in like a decade, but everything still works fine. It reads the RSS feeds of my favorite podcasts and downloads them onto the Zune automagically and no wi-fi or cell service is required. It saves where I left off so I can pick up where I left off.
I mean, fuck Microsoft. They're awful. But not because of the Zune.
You are still welcome on my lawn.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Saturday June 29 2019, @05:23PM (2 children)
This is great for you, and I'm honestly happy for you regardless of who made it.
Still, you gotta admit, not many people bought into the Zune - just like the Windows Phones.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by ilPapa on Saturday June 29 2019, @08:23PM (1 child)
I realize that. I remember years ago getting so frustrated with iTunes that I just went out and bought a Zune. It's an anachronistic bit of tech for sure. My daughter's friends have a good laugh at the fact that I listen to a Zune.
You are still welcome on my lawn.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Saturday June 29 2019, @11:31PM
starlord is with you on that one.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by toddestan on Sunday June 30 2019, @01:51AM (2 children)
Isn't the battery long gone in the Zune by now? Or have you replaced it? Or does it still work off of wall power if the battery is toast?
I still have, and occasionally use, my iRiver MP3 player from the early 2000's. I paid good money for it too, as that was back when 512MB was a considerable amount of flash memory. Being able to hold a few albums worth of music makes it still useful. It runs off of a AA battery, so it should keep working basically forever.
(Score: 2) by ilPapa on Sunday June 30 2019, @03:57AM (1 child)
You would think so, but no. And further, the phone jack has never failed or gotten wonky. This thing just will not fail. Once in a great while, I have to reboot it, but other than that, it's been some of the most reliable tech I've ever known.
No other mp3 (and lossless wma) player I've ever used (and I've tried a lot of them) has come close to being this good.
You are still welcome on my lawn.
(Score: 2) by iWantToKeepAnon on Monday July 01 2019, @03:46PM
"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." -- Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday July 01 2019, @05:04PM
I still have an ancient iRock MP3 player kicking around. I've had MP3 players since, but they've died. That iRock I bought in the Summer of 1999 (I think it's the 520 model.), still works and is the only piece of tech I bought that utilizes the old Smart Media Card memory card. Both of which still function and that MP3 player has seriously long battery life on a single AAA battery. Hold's a whopping 128MB 1/2 split with built-in and the SMC.
My daughter is fascinated by a tiny device that plays her some music.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by Fluffeh on Monday July 08 2019, @04:08AM (2 children)
What carries the data out of interest?
(Score: 2) by ilPapa on Monday July 08 2019, @06:14AM
Oh, I dock it to charge it via USB and all my podcast subscriptions are updated.
You are still welcome on my lawn.
(Score: 2) by ilPapa on Monday July 08 2019, @06:17AM
Also, since you asked, the PC Zune client is dead simple to use and an elegant interface (believe it or not). It's one of the best bits of software MS ever made. It's getting really long in the tooth right now, but it works great and doesn't try to take over my computer the way iTunes does. It does exactly what I need and nothing more.
You are still welcome on my lawn.
(Score: 1) by RandomFactor on Saturday June 29 2019, @03:09AM (4 children)
they considered farming it out to Barnes and Noble or any such thing.
В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Saturday June 29 2019, @03:18AM (3 children)
Considering the fact that they're issuing refunds, I doubt the number of people affected is even 10,000 - just not worth the effort. Besides B&N has one foot in the grave, too.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 1) by RandomFactor on Saturday June 29 2019, @01:54PM
Yeah, I just want B&N to live a little longer :-\
В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды
(Score: 3, Informative) by HiThere on Saturday June 29 2019, @04:27PM (1 child)
Did you notice the bit about "refunds if you still have the same credit card"? That's not too likely to be common. I don't have a single credit card from seven years ago. Most were expireed by the bank, and the new one has different security encodings.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Saturday June 29 2019, @05:26PM
Oh, yeah, some bean counter here is totally expecting 90+% of these "refunds" to end up in the various states' unclaimed property offices - in an escrow account, paying interest to Microsoft for years to come, and most will end up never being collected.
BTW, if you haven't checked your applicable unclaimed property offices' websites to see if you've got anything hanging out there, you should. My wife just claimed $30 from about 6 years ago, and she's found hundreds more there for friends and family.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 29 2019, @03:24AM (3 children)
If it has DRM, simply do not buy it.
(Score: 1) by anubi on Saturday June 29 2019, @05:29AM
Worse yet, build it into something else.
When it goes away, everything else you had that depended on it is rendered useless.
Had that happen to me. Once. I became super shy at adopting any subsequent single source stuff.
I can still read and edit my CAD stuff that is now over 30 years old. ( Futurenet Dash2 running under DOS ). Everything still works just like it did 30 years ago. Many modern executive types seem to have no idea just how important the physical machines and documentation is to their business.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 5, Insightful) by rigrig on Saturday June 29 2019, @11:48AM (1 child)
You cannot buy anything which is DRM-encumbered, only rent it for an unknown time.
No one remembers the singer.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 29 2019, @04:04PM
Unless you're a scofflaw that breaks the crypto!
(Score: 2, Interesting) by ChrisMaple on Saturday June 29 2019, @03:35AM (4 children)
This is why we have cameras. If a book is worth reading, it's worth photographing every page.
(Score: 5, Touché) by Kymation on Saturday June 29 2019, @04:15AM (1 child)
Then store the photos in the cloud!
Oh wait....
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday July 01 2019, @05:07PM
Store it in the cloud for the convenience, but also store it on an external HDD for backup.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 29 2019, @08:37AM (1 child)
On my new phone some apps prevent screenshots being being taken under specific circumstances so now are we just heading into the day when taking a photo of a book is blocked just in case the text is copyright?
I had email open in Firefox Klar, tried to take a screenshot, it failed. Extremely frustrating to be denied taking a screenshot. It's my device.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 29 2019, @09:19AM
Just read the point about DRM.
About storing photos: Compress it. It is possible to store a few hundred monochrome pages in less than 2MB. It's easy today, even with artificial scarcity of storage being propagated as hell to pull more money from users.
(Score: 5, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 29 2019, @04:26AM (1 child)
The only time they will make something that doesn't suck is if they start making vacuum cleaners.
(Score: 2, Redundant) by Pslytely Psycho on Saturday June 29 2019, @11:57AM
Well that doesn't make sense. Vacuum cleaners are suppose......err......oh....never mind.
Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 29 2019, @05:40AM
https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=19/04/04/1010255 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 29 2019, @09:27AM
All those books are on libgen without DRM.
(Score: 4, Touché) by Mer on Saturday June 29 2019, @09:57AM
Nice how both of their answers, while correct in the end, start with "You can continue to read..."
Shut up!, he explained.
(Score: 2) by fido_dogstoyevsky on Saturday June 29 2019, @09:58AM
But a nonvirtual microsoft burning will...
Seriously, is this result of digital restrictions a surprise to anybody? If it is, it serves them right for buying anything from a bunch of mindless jerks who'll be the first against the wall when the revolution comes.
It's NOT a conspiracy... it's a plot.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Gaaark on Saturday June 29 2019, @10:20AM (2 children)
"Don't buy DRM ANYTHING: PIRATE it instead! You'll be able to read it no matter what!"
Thanks for the reminder, Microsoft!
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday July 01 2019, @05:19PM (1 child)
Instead of pirating, see these fine sites:
http://www.gutenberg.org/ [gutenberg.org] Public Domain Electronic Books.
https://librivox.org/ [librivox.org] Public Domain Audio Books.
https://archive.org/ [archive.org] Internet Archive - If it's not here, it's probably not anywhere, or isn't legal to download.
There are also, No DRM (DRM Free) publishers and I would highly recommend purchasing from them.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Gaaark on Monday July 01 2019, @10:23PM
Yeah, I haven't bought an ebook except through humble-bundle, and Gutenberg has some good books.
Humble-bundle FTW!
Microsoft for the D'OH!
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2) by Rupert Pupnick on Saturday June 29 2019, @12:52PM (4 children)
I know that with the success of YouTube and similar services, we are living in a world where literacy is not as important to the functioning of society as it used to be and all that, but...
I must confess to not RTFEULA for my Kindle. In the extremely unlikely event that Amazon no longer chooses to stay in this business, am I screwed?
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 29 2019, @01:05PM (2 children)
They've already screwed Kindle users by remotely deleting ebooks on a whim while in business, so of course you'll be screwed then.
(Score: 2) by Rupert Pupnick on Saturday June 29 2019, @01:22PM
You’re right, it already happened almost ten years ago. Think twice before buying a Kindle (got mine as a gift), buying a new e-book, or even turning the WiFi interface on...
https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/18/technology/companies/18amazon.html [nytimes.com]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by HiThere on Saturday June 29 2019, @04:33PM
The time I remember it wasn't on a whim, it was a legal requirement. They either didn't have or lost the right to sell the copyright work....Orwell's 1984. But they revealed that they designed the system so that they COULD remove already purchased works. And substitute alternative versions.
I'm sure that if they'd been planning they wouldn't have chosen that particular work to reveal that particular capability.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 3, Informative) by stormwyrm on Saturday June 29 2019, @01:28PM
Numquam ponenda est pluralitas sine necessitate.
(Score: 5, Informative) by cellocgw on Saturday June 29 2019, @03:14PM (4 children)
Unless this no longer works, https://www.epubor.com/how-to-convert-lit-to-epub-free.html [epubor.com] and http://www.convertlit.com/download.php [convertlit.com] or https://www.softpedia.com/get/Office-tools/Other-Office-Tools/ConverLIT-GUI.shtml [softpedia.com]
I haven't tried these, since I went nowhere near Microsoft's ebooks in the first place. Rather obviously, do this while your local authorization key still works.
Physicist, cellist, former OTTer (1190) resume: https://app.box.com/witthoftresume
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 29 2019, @04:49PM
DL 1nna za torretz with GB books innit
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 29 2019, @07:05PM
Problem is this is only a 'work around' not a solution to the true problem.
( and perhaps not even legal to do, in this particular case since they are pulling your 'right to read'. for those that care )
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 29 2019, @07:31PM (1 child)
What about Calibre [calibre-ebook.com]?
That should work too, no?
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Monday July 01 2019, @10:42PM
I guess it depends on what format MS books came in. I dunno and can't be bothered looking, lol.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 29 2019, @07:03PM (1 child)
Just one more example of why.
Anyone remember this? Its only been 10 years.. https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/18/technology/companies/18amazon.html [nytimes.com]
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday July 01 2019, @05:23PM
Yeah, I don't own a Kindle, either. Kindle is the epitome of selling your soul, because it's cheaper right now.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Saturday June 29 2019, @10:20PM (1 child)
I would rather see them *not* give refunds to people, and let them be screwed. This should stand as a warning for anyone considering buying DRMed products.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 30 2019, @02:05AM
(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Sunday June 30 2019, @01:00AM (4 children)
Didn't Microsoft think of providing their customers a tool for removal of their DRM? They could even have packaged it as a software update for their e-reader.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 30 2019, @02:07AM (2 children)
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Sunday June 30 2019, @07:41AM (1 child)
And why are we quoting Cory Doctorow here? It was Richard Stallman who wrote "The Right To Read" half a decade earlier.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Monday July 01 2019, @04:08PM
They could, I suspect, allow the DRM on existing devices to keep working -- but no longer having to check in with headquarters.
(Score: 3, Touché) by Joe Desertrat on Sunday June 30 2019, @09:58PM
Ha ha ha ha ha! That was a good one!