Could there possibly be a modern author better known for his extremely anti-DRM stance than Cory Doctorow? Certainly not many, at any rate. But Kobo owners visiting the WH Smith e-retail store and attempting to buy Doctorow's books would be forgiven for thinking otherwise: They've all been saddled with digital rights management. (Scroll down for the incriminating screen shot.) The Bangkok-based author Simon Royle brought this truly odd turn of events to our attention this morning; if you happen to be a regular reading of the KBoards, you may have already seen the thread Royle created just after 7 a.m. this morning. "I was happy...

  Starting next Sunday, March 3, readers across Brazil will have one more reason to know and experience the digital book—a reason they feel in their pockets. Booksellers, publishers and authors promote the first "Semana do Livro Digital," a local version of Read an E-Book Week, a traditional online event that's been running since 2004. The Brazilian week will offer thousands of free or discounted e-books from March 3 through March 9, the same time period during which the original Canadian Read an E-Book Week event will be happening this year. In Brazil, dozens of publishers and independent authors will be taking part...

By Nico Vreeland Ever since we first started ChamberFour.com, I’ve been staunchly anti-Kindle. I’ve disliked like Amazon’s DRM scheme, its reluctance to adopt library e-books, its inhuman use of “Locations” instead of page numbers, its attempt to hardball Macmillan by refusing to sell Macmillan books—the list goes on. When a Sony Reader was the only decent non-Kindle choice, I bought a Sony Reader. When the Nook Color came out, I got one of those. I’ve given my sister another Sony, and my mother a Kobo, and I’ve stayed firmly Kindle-less for more than four years now. But that changed last week, when I broke down and ordered the Kindle...

Are People Playing Games on their Kindle eReader? (Good e-Reader) Apple Sued for Planned Obsolescence of iPad 3 (Mashable) How Amazon Can Legally Sell Used Books (The Digital Reader) Kobo Books for iOs Updated with Redesigned Annotations Page and Other Improvements (App Advice) Kindle Daily Deals: Tears of the Jaguar by A.J. Hartley (and 3 others) ...

TeleRead posted earlier about an idea that was floated by Victoria Barnsley, a HarperCollins CEO, during a recent NPR interview: the idea of charging people for the privilege of browsing in bookstores. The idea was that they'd pay to browse, and then go home and order online from the vendor of their choosing. The analogy Barnsley gave with this was that of a high-end clothing store—say, for wedding dresses—charging a nominal trying fee that is taken out of the cost of your purchase. But I think that analogy is a faulty one, and I think the true analogy demonstrates why 'pay...

Would you pay to browse a bookstore's shelves? Victoria Barnsley, CEO of HarperCollins UK & International, discussed that concept during a recent interview on BBC's The Bottom Line with Evan Davis. "In America, certain shoe shops are charging to try on shoes. These people just go in, try them on and go and order them online,” Barnsley said. “I think the idea of a bookshop becoming a book club is not that insane, actually. You actually pay for the privilege of browsing.” Pay to browse. In a bookshop. [caption id="attachment_78843" align="alignright" width="161"] Victoria Barnsley, HarperCollins UK and Int'l CEO[/caption] The idea seemed crazy coming out of...

Copyright, Plagiarism and the Internet (The Guardian) U of Chicago Press Launches DRM-Free eBook Line (Boing Boing) Kobo Lowers Commission Rates on Affiliate Program (Good e-Reader) Bookish Launches New Website (Digital Book World) Kindle Daily Deals: The Pain Scale by Taylor Dilts (and 3 others)...

This has been a year of tech experimentation for me. I gave up my clunky-but-serviceable Kindle Touch in favor of a slick, front-lit Kobo. I relegated my iPad 2 to work functions, and picked up a more ergonomic iPad Mini for home use. And I experimented with various apps in search of a perfect reading platform. I didn't find it. It is with mixed feelings that I declare the Kindle app the 'winner,' and give up on iBooks. Here's why: The Kindle can sync personal documents. That's it. That's the killer feature iBooks and Kobo and all the rest lack, and it...

From the Ontario Book Publishers Organization (OBPO) today comes a bit of interesting news about a ten-day e-book promo that kicks off today on Kobo's Canadian site, Kobo.ca, which apparently involves an opportunity to win either a Kobo Arc or a Kobo Mini. (More on that later in the post.) Dubbed the 1001 Canadian Nights Promotion, the scheme involves "almost 360 titles across eight different categories" from 16 different OBPA members, "including small independent presses, children's publishers, specialty publishers of poetry and plays, academic presses and general publishers," according to a release. (A full 125 of those titles are Young Adult...

Tim Cook to Apple Investors: Keep Calm & Stop Listening to Rumours (GigaOM) University Libraries Test eBook Sharing (uNews) Amazon Launches Kindle Paperwhite in Canada (CBC) Kobo Hired Former Apple Director to Oversee International Strategy (Paid Content) Kindle Daily Deals: Seven Best American Stories of 2012 Books (and others)...

By Brian Howard Book Business, one of TeleRead's sister publications, spent the last two days soaking up the publishing wisdom on display at the Digital Book World conference at the Hilton New York. You can check their Twitter feed, @bookbusinessmag, for the full play by play. Below are some highlights. * * * [caption id="attachment_77159" align="alignleft" width="146"] Asra Rasheed[/caption] » Following the Children's Content in Context breakout session on Wednesday, we got to exchange a few quick words about our mutual love of the Android platform with none other than LeVar Burton, who was at the session to support Reading Rainbow CEO Asra Rasheed . "I'm a nerd," explained Burton during the session, with regard to...

Our friends over at Good E-Reader alerted us this morning to a Valentine's  Day promotion that's being planned by the good folks at Kobo: Starting this Friday, January 25, and running all the way through Valentine's Day (Thursday, February 14), the fantastic and too-small-to-be-believed Kobo Mini e-reader will be available for just $59.99—that's a full $20 off the Mini's regular retail price. According to Good E-Reader, "Patrons will ... also get a free [SnapBack] case in the color of their choice." Where can you take advantage of the deal? Unfortunately, it doesn't seem as if it'll be offered online, although I'm not...