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EdwardBontkowskiSecondPaper 4 - 28 Jan 2010 - Main.EdwardBontkowski
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> | UNDER CONSTRUCTION. | | | The E-Reader Privacy Invasion
-- By EdwardBontkowski - 31 Dec 2009 | | | So, at first glance, it appears that we may be heading directly towards Moglen’s hypothetical world of completely free reading material at the expense of any semblance of privacy. Not so fast, though. There is an alternative. Just as much as the free software movement is dedicated towards the “free” aspect of software, it is equally as dedicated to conserving the privacy of the users of software. As we have seen in other areas throughout the semester, the solution to this e-reader privacy issue already exists via free software. In this case, “FBReader”. FBReader is free software that allows the user to download e-books (from a large array of file formats) for use on their computer or mobile device. The key difference between FBReader and the commercial e-readers (besides the fact that FBReader is only software, not hardware) is that, because it is distributed under the terms of the GNU GPL, it does not track or monitor any information relating to what the user is reading. At the moment, FBReader is the safest e-reader with which to read e-books. However, unlike the other e-readers, it does not support proprietary formats with Digital Rights Management (“DRM”). | |
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- Obviously. But it is not hard to find the other software on the net that will remove the DRM from commercially-distributed ebooks. All the ebook formats have basically converged to the same design: a .zip or equivalent compressed archive of HTML and images, which is then wrapped up in some stupid DRM container.
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- What you should have emphasized is that because FBReader is portable free software, it can read any format ebook on any device running a free software operating system, which is everything. I use it to read on my laptop, as well as on my Nokia free software Internet Tablet, the N810, which makes a superb small-format e-book reader with its very high-quality screen. Nokia's N900 smartphone, which adds cellphone to the N810, would be the world's most adaptable pocket-size e-reader right now using FBReader. Using free reading software means complete ability to share electronic libraries with everyone on everything, and makes the tabletop non-destructive scanner, also known as a book-ripper, the tool for a populist, non-Google, uncontrolled and unsurveilled gateway from the world of books on shelves to the future omnipresent digital culture.
| | | However, given that it is this very proprietary-oriented infrastructure that likely causes these e-reader privacy problems (not to mention all sorts of other problems) to begin with, it would make little sense for free software to support such a format. And that is truly what is at the heart of all privacy issues. Proprietary software incentivizes the owner to invade the user’s privacy. Without things like the GNU GPL, companies can continue to insert ridiculously vague terms of agreement that allow for complete breach of privacy. In a world fast approaching Moglen’s hypothetical, this nearly limitless ability to monitor and track software users will become a pervasive and dangerous force. We must remember that free software not only provides a means to make software truly free, but also the means to make it truly private. | |
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- I think you've understood what I said pretty well. And I think you've seen why FBReader is such important free software. You could make the technical situation a little clearer for readers unfamiliar with the free world's tools and ways of working, as I say above. Considering a little more who owns and builds what might have been useful, so that people can understand how the copyright leverage is being contended for. These various fallings out among thieves are one of the reasons we're going to win in the end.
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