Amazon's Kindle in copyright kerfuffle - bit-tech.net Forums

CardJoe · 12th Feb 2009, 10:11

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/bits/20...ht-kerfuffle/1

Amazon's latest incarnation of its Kindle ebook reader introduces text-to-speech capabilities - but at least one publisher is claiming it violates copyright law.

Bauul · 12th Feb 2009, 10:54

Douchebag. Case closed.

Tyrmot · 12th Feb 2009, 11:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bauul

Douchebag. Case closed.

+1

naokaji · 12th Feb 2009, 11:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyrmot

+1

+33345325352

proxess · 12th Feb 2009, 12:08

most pathetic patent... how many times have i heard/read this?

Cupboard · 12th Feb 2009, 13:28

That is really silly. Does the "voice" even sound any good?

Flibblebot · 12th Feb 2009, 13:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by proxess

most pathetic patent... how many times have i heard/read this?

Well, if the publishers have their way, you should only be able to read it. You'd need to pay extra to be able to hear it

Drexial · 12th Feb 2009, 19:44

With rediculous copyrights like this, no wonder the arts are dying. Technically it's illegal for me to barrow a book from a friend, theoretically the libraries are illegal as well. This is absolutely rediculous.

teh DG · 12th Feb 2009, 22:18

I suspect this is down to one or both of two things:
1) they copyright holder has sold rights to a third party and is contractually bound to enforce the rights,
2) it's being used as a negotiating tool to increase royalties. Copyright holders may be inclined to agree one thing when a product's success is unknown, and then want something better once the product is a proven success (and the other company is in a poor bargaining position, to boot). Company A takes a risk and it pays off, company B starts thinking it "deserves" a bigger share of the spoils it never took any risk for. Well, companies are hardly unique in this.

Joeymac · 12th Feb 2009, 22:29

This should set a legal precedent... Amazon's sole defence is telling them to **** off.

cyrilthefish · 12th Feb 2009, 23:46

Random question:

Is it just me or is 99% of patent litigation nowadays nothing but sheer greed attempting to destroy innovation?

Pretty much every single thing patent related in the past few years has resulted in a urge to *facepalm* so far...
English patent law is bad enough, but at least we don't have software patents *yet*.

I just can't help thinking that the entire patent system is so broken now it should just be scrapped and started over, it seems it only exists to feed patent trolls nowadays

The Jambo · 13th Feb 2009, 01:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by cyrilthefish

Is it just me or is 99% of patent litigation nowadays nothing but sheer greed attempting to destroy innovation?

Pretty much every single thing patent related in the past few years has resulted in a urge to *facepalm* so far...

Every patent related lawsuit anyway, yes. I havent really seen one that didnt result in a facepalm.

DXR_13KE · 13th Feb 2009, 01:17

my patent troll detector has just exploded from the insane amount of stupidity of this act!!

Xir · 13th Feb 2009, 09:45

Well...i can understand the part about "rights for audiobooks sold seperately"
Especially since audiobooks seem to be a growing market.

It's the only part that makes any kind of sense, though

azrael- · 13th Feb 2009, 12:58

I was just wondering... If I read the through my glasses the letters will/might be distorted. SURELY that makes the information reaching my eyes derivative as well. Subsequently my glasses need to be "authorized" to do the reading process. At a fee, of course.

naokaji · 13th Feb 2009, 13:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by azrael-

I was just wondering... If I read the through my glasses the letters will/might be distorted. SURELY that makes the information reaching my eyes derivative as well. Subsequently my glasses need to be "authorized" to do the reading process. At a fee, of course.

Worse, they could act as a mirror and someone else could see the text, since that would be too hard to enforce as a law I'd suggest going to jail 5 years before you purchase the product containing the information just to make sure.

nicae · 26th Feb 2009, 21:36

I say sue the punk who's voice is replicated by the Kindle! He's the one distributing the content without a license to people's ears! :B

12th Feb 2009, 10:11	#1
CardJoe Player Character bit-tech Staff Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 8,011	Amazon's Kindle in copyright kerfuffle http://www.bit-tech.net/news/bits/20...ht-kerfuffle/1 Amazon's latest incarnation of its Kindle ebook reader introduces text-to-speech capabilities - but at least one publisher is claiming it violates copyright law. __________________ this is joe's non-bit-tech blog

12th Feb 2009, 10:54	#2
Bauul Sir Bongaminge Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Godalming, near Guildford Posts: 1,553	Douchebag. Case closed. __________________ Pentium 4 CPU 3.4 Ghz \| 1Gb + 2x512Mb Corsair DDR2 667 Mhz Sapphire Radeon HD 4770 512Mb\| WD Raptor 36Gb, Seagate 300Gb \| Asus P5LD2 SE Ibanez RG 470 Japanese Edition \| 1991 Japanese Lo-TRS Tremolo \| V7 S1 Custom V8 HSH Pickups

12th Feb 2009, 12:08	#5
proxess Victim of AdvancedModernCapitalism Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: The town of Love, Funchal Posts: 601	most pathetic patent... how many times have i heard/read this? __________________ Netbook: Asus eeePC 901; 12Gb SDD; Custom Ubuntu 9.04 Minimal Compiz Standalone. Laptop: Intel Centrino Duo T5500 1.66ghz; 2048mb RAM; ATI Mobility Radeon x2300; Hitachi 120gb iPod Classic 120GB; Maxtor 160GB External; Ubuntu 9.10 x64 and Windows 7 x64.

12th Feb 2009, 13:28	#6
Cupboard I'm not a modder. Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Bury St Edmunds/Durham Uni Posts: 1,848	That is really silly. Does the "voice" even sound any good? __________________ i7 920, 8800GTS 512, 6GB Corsair all in an Intel DX58SO; 3*320GB RAID5; CM Stacker Samsung Q45.

12th Feb 2009, 23:46	#11
cyrilthefish Hypermodder Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: UK Posts: 840	Random question: Is it just me or is 99% of patent litigation nowadays nothing but sheer greed attempting to destroy innovation? Pretty much every single thing patent related in the past few years has resulted in a urge to facepalm so far... English patent law is bad enough, but at least we don't have software patents yet. I just can't help thinking that the entire patent system is so broken now it should just be scrapped and started over, it seems it only exists to feed patent trolls nowadays __________________ AMD Phenom x3 720 @ 3.4Ghz \| Gigabyte GA-MA785GMT-UD2H \| 4GB DDR3 \| ATI 4890 1GB\| 1TB Samsung F1 \| 64GB Corsair P64 SSD

12th Feb 2009, 19:44	#8
Drexial Supermodder Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 297	With rediculous copyrights like this, no wonder the arts are dying. Technically it's illegal for me to barrow a book from a friend, theoretically the libraries are illegal as well. This is absolutely rediculous.

12th Feb 2009, 22:18	#9
teh DG What's a Dremel? Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 1	I suspect this is down to one or both of two things: 1) they copyright holder has sold rights to a third party and is contractually bound to enforce the rights, 2) it's being used as a negotiating tool to increase royalties. Copyright holders may be inclined to agree one thing when a product's success is unknown, and then want something better once the product is a proven success (and the other company is in a poor bargaining position, to boot). Company A takes a risk and it pays off, company B starts thinking it "deserves" a bigger share of the spoils it never took any risk for. Well, companies are hardly unique in this.

12th Feb 2009, 22:29	#10
Joeymac Multimodder Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 224	This should set a legal precedent... Amazon's sole defence is telling them to **** off.

13th Feb 2009, 01:17	#13
DXR_13KE Madeira's banana is the best!!! Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Madeira ; Portugal Posts: 6,485	my patent troll detector has just exploded from the insane amount of stupidity of this act!! __________________ RENEGADE X CONTEST! <---- CLICK if you want to win a free Command & Conquer 4 beta key!

13th Feb 2009, 09:45	#14
Xir Supermodder Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Germany Posts: 534	Well...i can understand the part about "rights for audiobooks sold seperately" Especially since audiobooks seem to be a growing market. It's the only part that makes any kind of sense, though __________________ SN25P A64 3700+ (San Diego) 2 GB DDR400 OCZ Platinum EL 2-3-2-5 1T X1800XT 512mb Sapphire 200GB Samsung SP2004C

13th Feb 2009, 12:58	#15
azrael- Ex nihilo nihil fit Join Date: May 2008 Location: Aarhus, Denmark Posts: 1,180	I was just wondering... If I read the through my glasses the letters will/might be distorted. SURELY that makes the information reaching my eyes derivative as well. Subsequently my glasses need to be "authorized" to do the reading process. At a fee, of course.

26th Feb 2009, 21:36	#17
nicae Multimodder Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 98	I say sue the punk who's voice is replicated by the Kindle! He's the one distributing the content without a license to people's ears! :B __________________ C2D E8400 :: PNY 8800GT 512MB :: 2x2GB G.SKILL Pi Black DDR2 800 4-4-4-12 :: Asus Maximus Formula :: WindowsXP SP3 :: 2x320GB HDDs RAID0 :: Zalman CNPS9500 LED :: OCZ Freeze :: SevenTeam ST-550PAG 550W