Did Paperback Digital go out of business?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The problem here is that it's not the publisher's fault or issue that PaperbackDigital went under. The publisher does not have to help you out.

But is was the publisher's decision to use DRM on their books; had they not done so, the customers wouldn't have a problem. The publisher is therefore ultimately responsible for the customers' problems.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by HarryT

But is was the publisher's decision to use DRM on their books; had they not done so, the customers wouldn't have a problem. The publisher is therefore ultimately responsible for the customers' problems.

If I do not misremember then the law in Sweden (and EU) is that a problem like this should be fixed by the shop. If the shop does not exist then the maker or the company that sold the item to the shop has to fix the problem. This they have to do within 3 years of the date you bought the item.

But if you are only renting the ebook maybe these kind of laws are not applicable? Or maybe in this case the publisher sold a DRM-free book to the shop.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by HarryT

But is was the publisher's decision to use DRM on their books; had they not done so, the customers wouldn't have a problem. The publisher is therefore ultimately responsible for the customers' problems.

Well, Mobipocket is also to blame for creating their DRM in the first place. No Mobipocket DRM, no problem.

It seems like a lot of people are at fault here. One of the problems I noticed with PaperbackDigital is they had a very poor selection of new ebooks. I'd look there and find the ebook I was looking for missing.

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

If a local brick and mortar book store was to go under, would you go to the publisher for support or would you just find some other shop to go to?

If a local brick and mortar bookstore went out of business it would not matter insofar as my being able to read a book I purchased from that store -- I would have a physical copy of the book in hand before I paid for it and I would leave the store with it in hand. Not quite the same with a DRMed product.

And I do think the publisher bears some responsibility if the publisher insisted that the product be DRMed. If it was the retailer that made the decision, then the publisher has no responsibility; but if the publisher told the retailer that the book can't be sold without DRM, then the publisher has responsibility.

[AnemicOak]

I agree the publisher holds the lions share of the responsibility. A lot of the DRM is insisted on by Authors & Agents, but the publisher decides how it's implemented.


Mobipocket should have some facility in place for when this happens. I mean they had to have approved the retailer, they had to know this would happen at some point.

[ProfJulie]

Originally Posted by Liviu_5

The question is if your drm is read by the device or the pc, not the format. I bought several drm pdf's from Amazon, changed computers, and obviously I still have Adobe reader on my new pc but I still cannot read the books, cannot redownload them and so on.

I don't understand why you have a probloem with your DRM PDF books (unless I am missing something). I changed over to a new computer and all I needed to do to transfer my PDF books over the computer so I could read them was "authorize" the new computer through Adobe's website - Adobe allows you to have up to 1000 devices registered with your user name). I can't remember where I bought the books (probably not amazon), but it worked well for me.

[julia]

Originally Posted by julia

i couldn't find an email address on their site. so i put a thread on one of their forum. will see what the reaction will be and let you know.

this is the answer i received from mobipocket today:

"We were not aware of the closing.
We also cannot offer a solution for books bought on other stores..."

[Liviu_5]

Originally Posted by ProfJulie

I don't understand why you have a probloem with your DRM PDF books (unless I am missing something). I changed over to a new computer and all I needed to do to transfer my PDF books over the computer so I could read them was "authorize" the new computer through Adobe's website - Adobe allows you to have up to 1000 devices registered with your user name). I can't remember where I bought the books (probably not amazon), but it worked well for me.

After reauthorizing Adobe, it gave me a message that the e-book in question has to be re downloaded; remember that you have some kind of e-mail/password or something like microsoft net passport that you use to authorize and during the years my e-mail address, passwords and the like changed quite a few times

[RWood]

Once upon a time in the US there was a company called Circuit City that sold a product called a DIVX player and DIVX disks. (This is not the same as the AV codec called Divx.) It was a view once DVD that for a fee you could unlock/upgrade to a full DVD. It went over like a lead balloon. Circuit City stopped selling and supporting it and quickly the lawsuits started. The end result was a bunch of free DVDs and a rebates and discount coupons at Circuit City.

Moral of the story: They will do little or nothing until they are forced to by the courts.

[JSWolf]

But in this case, I really don't think the publishers are at fault here. It is not their fault that PaperbackDigital closed. So going after them is a waste of time.

I really didn't think Mobipocket would do anything about it. The only thing you can do read on whatever authorized deviced the ebooks are authorized for and no others.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But in this case, I really don't think the publishers are at fault here. It is not their fault that PaperbackDigital closed. So going after them is a waste of time.

I really didn't think Mobipocket would do anything about it. The only thing you can do read on whatever authorized deviced the ebooks are authorized for and no others.

I think the MobiPocket license server knows the devices. I thought everybodies sites went down when the server was down. Thus, since they know they should be able to support it. I think I will complain in their forum about this decision and their not stepping up.

Dale

[julia]

Originally Posted by DaleDe

I think the MobiPocket license server knows the devices. I thought everybodies sites went down when the server was down. Thus, since they know they should be able to support it. I think I will complain in their forum about this decision and their not stepping up.

Dale

this is the answer i received today and which was put on their forum as well.
maybe if more people would react something could come of it.


"We are sorry. It is in a Mobpocket format. But the retailer stores are responsible for their eBooks and their clients. It is, however, a delicate situation.
We are trying to contact paperbackdigital. If they can provide us with certain informations, we might be able to do something for clients who have bought eBooks at their site. We are still working on this."

[tompe]

"clients" and not "customers"...

[julia]

Originally Posted by tompe

"clients" and not "customers"...

it could be just a matter of semantics...

[Blue]

We are presently looking into this. I have contacted paperback digital to discuss a possible solution. Paperdigital should contact you in the next month privately.

This looks promising!