How many books does Stanza have?

Discussion in 'iOS Apps' started by Kamazar, Jan 5, 2009.

  1. spiffyone

    spiffyone Well-Known Member

    Dec 7, 2008
    2,562
    0
    0
    True, but one of the "points" brought up to "justify" music piracy is that musicians themselves "earn most of their money through touring" and the music companies are "evil little corporate entities". But that's not the case with writers. They own most of their money through properly licensing some of their rights to publishers, movie studios, etc. and usually have something of an understanding with their publishers. And that means they regard copyright protection in a different light than artists like musicians and as such are very aggressive in protecting said right.

    The stuff may be easier to pirate, sure, but ease of doing something doesn't make it right. And it's not the individual downloaders they'd go after, but the uploaders, hence my worry about (and warning to) the person supplying this sort of thing.
     
  2. Dr.Traveler

    Dr.Traveler Well-Known Member

    Dec 10, 2008
    355
    0
    16
    Yep. Add to that the fact it can open you up to lawsuits against you personally if you download the book and things become questionable.

    From what I've looked up online I don't think downloading the ebooks in the matter is kosher even if you have purchased another ebook copy of the same book. It seems you buy a license to something like a program.
     
  3. superbad

    superbad Well-Known Member

    Nov 6, 2008
    2,117
    9
    0
    CEO. Reviewer. Beta Tester.
    You need to stalk me?
    The ones that I got range from Dexter to Sookie Stackhouse novels, from LOTR to HP. Even then, all these books are BEST SELLERS/mainstream books.

    ALL of which came from highly successful authors. Do you think such a controversial site will be controversial hadn't the list of his/her pirated copies came from the minority you're talking about?

    Seriously, who would bother reading an unknown book no one has either heard of from reviews or other forms of media.
     
  4. superbad

    superbad Well-Known Member

    Nov 6, 2008
    2,117
    9
    0
    CEO. Reviewer. Beta Tester.
    You need to stalk me?
    i didnt say it was right. im just saying, this wrong will NEVER be corrected and just get more viral through the years so this discussion is not going to help anything.

    and see my previous post, most of these books have EARNED LOTS Of money for their writers, TV SERIES, mini series, films, apparel etc.

    you seem to defend the mid level writers which books arent even on drinkmalkl
     
  5. someone1guy

    someone1guy Member

    Jan 6, 2009
    8
    0
    0
    Holey Buckets, Batman!

    There are tons of great points on this topic. I tried to keep my earlier reply brief, just because I am not very articulate and thusly don't want to betray my stupidity.

    Is what is being done on drinkmalk illegal, so far as the law is concerned? Yes. Wordslinger is correct (as far as I have been able to determine) about copyright for printed works. Though publishing houses also get certain claim to the works as well, unless I misunderstood what I have read. No, there is little to stand on if a case were brought to court against anyone not licensed to distribute.

    Is purchasing a $12 book (on average at most ebook peddlers online stores), then not being able to transfer to your new device unfair to the consumer? Yes. Start buying more than 5 books and you begin to see a sizable portion of your income disappear when you upgrade. No one should be penalized by not being able to access their media just because technology upgrades at a staggering pace.

    Did the piracy of MP3s and movies affect their associated industries? Yes. We are begining to see (as someone pointed out) that iTunes is now going DRM free. Also, now when you buy most major motion picture releases you get the DVD/Blu-Ray with another disc that has the Digital Copy. As a side note, DRM on video games has also received some backlash. Steam is now releasing it's games DRM free.

    Can the same happen in the ebook world? Sure. Books are no different a media than Music, Motion Pictures or Games as entertainment as far as the end-user is concerned. (copyright differentiation aside). People want to access what they payed good money for, regardless of how fast technology evolves.

    Why do I do it? Because perhaps this'll help drive the point home that just because you lock up a persons media doesn't mean that its acceptable. Yes, if drinkmalk gets shut down, someone(not1guy) else would most likely step in to fill the gap.

    I certainly do appriciate the concern people have shown asking if I am aware of these ramifications.

    I am not sure what else to write, if there is actually anything else to say?
     
  6. superbad

    superbad Well-Known Member

    Nov 6, 2008
    2,117
    9
    0
    CEO. Reviewer. Beta Tester.
    You need to stalk me?
    I support your efforts.

    If you say you are aware of all the what-coulds, everybody should just shut up and enjoy the content as long as it's there.
     
  7. BulletDev

    BulletDev Well-Known Member

    Sep 20, 2008
    784
    40
    0
    produce applications under "Bullet Development"
    Vancouver, BC
    I haven't even tried Stanza. Is it worth the...... well "Free" price tier?
     
  8. superbad

    superbad Well-Known Member

    Nov 6, 2008
    2,117
    9
    0
    CEO. Reviewer. Beta Tester.
    You need to stalk me?
    It is now SOOO WORTH IT with d.milk dloadble content of mainstream books
     
  9. brewstermax

    brewstermax Well-Known Member

    Well, I see this as different than music. In music all of the content, whether on a CD or from iTunes, is still just digital. In books, you have both hard books and digital (e)books. This makes this a bit different, as hard books are almost always to be preferred over the digital copy. 90% of people are still going to be buying and using physical books.
     
  10. Vende

    Vende Well-Known Member

    Nov 11, 2008
    432
    3
    0
    #90 Vende, Jan 9, 2009
    Last edited: Jan 9, 2009
    Some of you guys really know a lot about copyright laws. Wow. I was just giving intuitive answers earlier, but some people here actually know the law pretty well here.

    I do think ebooks are the way to go, especially for college and graduate students who year after year spend thousands and thousands on books. Even with bad eyes, I'm very comfortable reading on a 3.5 inch screen, and don't forget the Kindle is impossible to find, the Reader is a huge hit, and if the 8inch ipod touch ever does come out, well, just it's a whole new ballgame. It's just a matter of getting more academic materials onto ebooks since that market's pretty much been ignored (really just literature so far).
     
  11. rudeboy690

    rudeboy690 Well-Known Member

    Oct 31, 2008
    53
    0
    0
    appshopper

    I was just on appshopper and saw a bunch of ebooks just came out. Some are more expensive then the book itself?? Brisinger was like $28??? Thats a bit much don't you think? I think I bought this book with a coupon for like $15.
     
  12. spiffyone

    spiffyone Well-Known Member

    Dec 7, 2008
    2,562
    0
    0
    It seems to be helping in that some people are learning more about copyright law and this discussion is good in the way all debates end up being: ideas are exchanged and processed.

    So?

    :confused:

    That's hardly an excuse for infringing on someone else's rights. I can understand the holder of that stanza account stating he wishes to "change the system" (although I hardly think it'll do anything of the sort). That's somewhat valid reasoning. I disagree with it, but who knows? maybe it'll work out. But stating "well, they've done made their money" is ridiculous. We live in a capitalist society. An individual wishes to have as many returns as possible off of their works. Just because it has earned lots of money does not mean they shouldn't earn more if there is a market for their works.


    [/QUOTE]

    It really doesn't matter what "level" they are on. Those that make the most returns make it possible for others to make as much or even more in the future. Think of it kind of like free agency in sports. There's a marketable skill and/or talent that very few possess that sells to a mass audience and makes the team owners loads of money, increasing every year exponentially, and every free agent that signs for a bigger contract makes it so that future free agents can score even bigger contracts. By defending the big names I also defend the "mid level" names and the small names and the no names who, y'know, kinda don't want to work the 9-5 job when they've got a novel that's just dying to be written and wish to make some sort of living off of their talents.
     
  13. spiffyone

    spiffyone Well-Known Member

    Dec 7, 2008
    2,562
    0
    0
    That's an issue that the market itself has to work out. There are people who will pay more for the ebook version, it seems, which I find quite odd. You aren't paying for paper costs, binding costs, etc. Hopefully consumers will get wise to this and demand lower costs for ebooks.
     
  14. superbad

    superbad Well-Known Member

    Nov 6, 2008
    2,117
    9
    0
    CEO. Reviewer. Beta Tester.
    You need to stalk me?
    Actually it does, matter. Taking into consideration what you said, has any BIGWIG writer given name to his/her co-writer? Well except Tolkien Jr for the hobbit.

    There has been argument directed to the lower tier writers but really... why do we have to take them into consideration when their works arent even pirated.
     
  15. someone1guy

    someone1guy Member

    Jan 6, 2009
    8
    0
    0
    As if on cue to our current conversation. Overdrive (server of ebooks to Fictionwise.com) is discontinuing service to fictionwise. This means that people who purchased books from fictionwise that are associated with overdrive (and their DRM verification/authorization mechanism) are left in an unsure situation.

    Fictionwise appears to be trying to minimize the impact this will cause by assuring customers that they are <i>trying</i> to get replacement copies out to those affected. However, Fictionwise's TOS and FAQ state that this is not a guarantee.

    This is doubly crummy because it seems that Overdrive pulled the wool out over night with very little notice.

    Want to know more? Google: "Fictionwise Overdrive DRM"
     
  16. DukeofAnkh

    DukeofAnkh Well-Known Member

    Nov 17, 2008
    64
    0
    0
    Melbourne
    #96 DukeofAnkh, Jan 10, 2009
    Last edited: Jan 10, 2009
    Before I start responding to other people's comments, I'd like to say that various studies have shown that giving away ebooks for free (Creative Commons licensed) actually increases sales by lifting exposure. That's why people like Cory Doctorow and Scott Sigler do it. I hope it becomes a more common thing because I do have issues with book piracy (that is, I don't actually want to do it). For me at least, it wouldn't reduce the number of books I buy; I buy quite a lot, it's my vice.

    Good job. Support the publishing industry, it's not doing so great.

    I only get free (legally free, ie Creative Commons) ebooks, atm. I don't object to paying for them in principle, but I think it would be nice if buying a paper book got you a free/discounted ebook version, since it doesn't exactly cost very much or anything to produce an ebook once a paper book is out.

    There are other ways of doing this. Google "text to speech". There are a bunch of ways, including instantish online services which will turn a text file into an mp3 for you (which you can then chuck into audiobooks in iTunes).

    I just want to point out that, in Australia at least, it's technically illegal to record TV shows. Or to do so and watch them more than once. Something like that. Of course, no one enforces that, but it does detract credence from the argument "but it's ok to record TV shows..."

    Also, again in Australia, libraries pay royalties based on how many books are available to be borrowed. Yeah, I thought that was odd too, but I have it on good authority. It's to do with the libraries' right to lend out the books.

    Technical point: if you don't sell through your advance, you never get royalties.

    It's true that most authors are midlist, and before someone else says that no one wants to read midlist stuff: I read genre fiction. With a few notable exceptions like JK Rowling, it's ALL midlist. I own a few of the books on Drinkmalt and the majority of those aren't bestsellers. Also remember that something that is a genre bestseller isn't necessarily a mainstream bestseller (in fact, it probably isn't). I'm not really arguing with you here, more agreeing with you and disagreeing with the poster below.

     
  17. Vende

    Vende Well-Known Member

    Nov 11, 2008
    432
    3
    0
    The following link/article is related to the thread. I think it's pretty neat but the article is unclear if the books self delete after a certain time (not sure why they'd have to) or you get to "keep" the electronic copy. I work a few blocks away from that library so I might check it out soon.

    And they DO run on ipods!

    http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/01/cleveland_library_among_first.html

    CLEVELAND — Eventually, paperbacks may become as antiquated as typewriters.

    Clevelanders will still be reading, of course. They'll still check out books from the library. But the books will be digital files, downloaded for free online and read on laptops and handheld devices.

    The Cleveland Public Library, with the other 29 libraries in the Clevnet system, made the presumption more plausible this week when it became the first library in the country to offer a new industry-standard format of electronic books.


    The new epub format endorsed by the International Digital Publishing Forum expands the types of devices patrons can use to read e-books, as well as play audiobooks, music and video.

    It can resize type to fit any screen, and it's compatible with PC and Mac computers, as well as iPods, Smartphones, PDAs and the hand-held Sony Reader, said David Burleigh of OverDrive, the Cleveland-based company that sells e-books to libraries across the country.

    It won't, however, work with the Kindle, a hand-held device similar to the Sony Reader, designed to work with Amazon.

    "As more libraries begin to offer electronic books, epub is the format that they're putting out into the market," said Michael Smith, executive director of the International Digital Publishing Forum. "I think reading habits are going to change in a big way... E-books are definitely an alternative as far as convenience, portability."

    Clevnet patrons have been downloading e-books online since 2003. But before, different publishers offered files in different formats, sort of like movies in the '80s sold in Beta and VHS, Burleigh said.

    Now publishers have agreed to use epub. That makes e-books more practical.

    Clevnet is starting with 143 epub titles -- a fraction of its available 10,000 files, he said. But the collection will grow daily.

    Already, e-books are beginning to catch on, said Cleveland Public Library spokeswoman Tena Wilson. Patrons downloaded more than 108,000 electronic items last year.

    Patrons can check out up to 20 at a time by visiting http://dlc.clevnet.org/.

    Similar to an online shopping site, the system allows users to search for and select a title, type in their library card number and download the item. If users have questions, they can e-mail the library and receive an answer within 24 hours.

    "We already have a dedicated crowd that comes to the site," Wilson said. "This will just open it up. As the collection grows, so does the format."
     
  18. DukeofAnkh

    DukeofAnkh Well-Known Member

    Nov 17, 2008
    64
    0
    0
    Melbourne
    That looks pretty cool. Of course, .epub is what Stanza uses, so that's good news for iDevice owners. When you do check it out, can you report back on how they make sure that you only have 20 books at a time? It would be annoying if they self destructed, but I can't think of any other way to do it. Sounds like, unless they're just giving books away, there'd be some sort of DRM. I'd be interested to know how they're incorporating it.
     
  19. Kamazar

    Kamazar Well-Known Member

    Dec 13, 2008
    6,509
    18
    0
    no, no, no, no, NO! to hell with ebooks, I want my treebooks! I love my physical books. I can read them easily, they're nice to hold, they don't run out of power... I know cutting trees down is bad and all that, but think of the lithum batteries, the millions of toxic lithium batteries being tossed into landfills this very minute!

    I like ebooks for their convenience, but I don't love 'em, and doubt I ever will.
     
  20. someone1guy

    someone1guy Member

    Jan 6, 2009
    8
    0
    0
    It is DRM'ed. Adobe Epub is a DRMed version of the open ebook standard. From what I could gather there are several things to note about this process.

    1. Unless I missed it these epubs will not work with Stanza. Only with Mac/PC with Adobe DE installed. And if you have registered your Adobe DE as anonymous you can't share between computers/devices, but if you register it with your Adobe ID, then you can read on an unlimited ammount of computers.
    2. Only one patron can check out a book from the system at a time (just like a library) and has a certain ammount of lend time before the DRM expires. If you finish the book you delete it from the Adobe DE bookshelf, that sends a message to the provider's tracker to free up the book for the next borrower.


    I am just guessing, but since an Epub file is just a zipped up directory, I wouldn't imagine that they would be too secure, as it would be relatively easy to get into the zip file and extract the contents... but that is just an assumption on my part.
     

Share This Page