Comments on: Death of Mobipocket format? Alas, Amazon may follow our predictions

By: Andrys

Andrys — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 23:37:38 +0000

The upside for Amazon? To -not- keep Mobi as an ongoing concern, they’d have to remove MOBI/PRC from compatible formats of the -very few- current formats on the Kindle.
The Kindle would be worthless without it. Few of us use only Amazon store books though we enjoy the ease of use there.

Since they own Mobipocket now, it seems smart to have one place for uploads in the future, in their now more tightly-reviewed DTP area.

News today is that they are dealing with the many horrifically-done public domain duplicates that have been proliferating and which have caused many complaints by customers at their forums as to quality and the confusion all those dupes cause. They’re not accepting more of the same, currently.

I’ve written my own thoughts about that development at my blog, linked at my sig.

– Andrys

By: David Rothman

David Rothman — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 23:27:34 +0000

Letting people access old Mobi-DRMed books on new hardware. Thanks. David

By: HeavyG

HeavyG — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 20:46:02 +0000

What would be the upside for Amazon to keep Mobi as an ongoing concern in a post Kindle world?

By: David Rothman

David Rothman — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 15:51:12 +0000

Thanks, Liz. Either way, this isn’t good news for the Mobi format or its users. David

By: Elizabeth Burton

Elizabeth Burton — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 15:37:09 +0000

It’s more likely just a revenue matter. Publishers whose uploads to Mobi are converted by Amazon for Kindle receive 50% of sales. Via the direct Kindle account, it’s 35%. Business-wise, ending Mobi sign-ups is a way to maximize the revenue stream.

By: David Rothman

David Rothman — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 14:42:37 +0000

Thanks, Alan. When I said death of the format, I meant from a development viewpoint. It’s is, yes, unlikely that Amazon will turn off the servers. But it won’t offer the client app for new machines–which for the end user is very bad news.

As for DMCA exemptions, I’m would advise checking with a lawyer. My recollection is that there are very very few situations where individuals can circumvent DRM. One way or another, we need corrective legislation.

Thanks,
David

By: Alan Wallcraft

Alan Wallcraft — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 14:29:40 +0000

I don’t think Amazon will actually turn off the mobipocket.com servers, because that would be a public relations nightmare for them. It might be a good thing, though, for an established DRM provider to disappear now that there are circumvention tools available.

In the US, almost everyone has given up on the Library of Congress for consumer oriented exemptions. When they were asked for a rule allowing circumvention when a provider closes down, their response was that the consumer should buy a second DRM-ridden copy from another provider. This simply won’t fly with the public if a major provider goes under. However, it is probably already legal today in the US to circumvent DRM for personal non-commercial use. The problem is there is no controlling legal opinion to that effect.

By: David Rothman

David Rothman — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 13:34:40 +0000

Yep, Rich–best friend, as the Orwell incident proved. If your old books are taking up too much of your time, Amazon may solve the problem for you. Thanks. David

By: Rich Adin

Rich Adin — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 13:23:52 +0000

Just one more reason to buy a Kindle and buy from Amazon. Amazon continues to demonstrate that it is the consumer’s best friend and should be rewarded for so being.