> it is worth commenting that there are trivial ways to remove DRM from Audible files.
say i share with a loved one or close friend the de-DRM'd audiobook. now their computer becomes infected with a RAT, and 'my' file/audiobook fingerprinted with the proprietary fingerprint algorithm (to identify me as the unique purchaser, the same techniques are probably applied industry wide) is leaked online as a consequence (or their backup system is compromised or any kind of infosec violation out of the hands of my friend). next, Amazon corp identifies me. their immediate next step: lawsuit on me as an individual because 'my' file is now leaked on p2p filesharing sites and forums without me knowing about it.
capitalist-enforced DRM is cancer because it's artificial scarcity imposed on a non-scarce resource (computer data/audio file). it's the result of trying to work with the limited and violent toolsets of a capitalist economy.
the internet is still young and there are likely so many better options for publishing things.
for example, an author i've followed for a while by the name of Charles Eisenstein has a deal with his publisher, North Atlantic Books, to initially launch his book as paperback only, and then after a six month period, his whole book is available free to read on his website (also of course there's the wonderful Library Genesis).
i just wanted to add my two cents after seeing encouraging discussions/debates here on this page. hybrid strategies like Eisenstein's give me signals that ultimately make me feel hopeful for a post-capitalist society which would allow any child to listen to any audiobook (and be infinitely curious in whichever direction feels most natural for them), regardless of whether their parents can afford Audible/Storytel/whatever. i focus on a child's curiosity because they suffer the most from the capitalist commoditization of culture and science and more.
The audio fingerprinting is used by services like shazam to identify music, not a per user re-encode of every single song in order to find out leaks.
The watermarked music files I have come across only go as far as identifying the distribution service, not an individual.
From what I remember the metadata of account information is added as an editable extended tags. I actually don't know if audiobooks are even tagged by account in audible's case, it's true for iTunes.
Children will have access to free audio books in the US as long as libraries are around. I can get digital audiobooks for free from my library.
Libby/Overdrive and Hoopla are great, especially for children's audiobooks.
I don't know if your argument against using dedrm tools even makes sense. The point is that you shouldn't share your decrypted audiobooks. It shouldn't matter what happens to your friend's computer. More importantly, an audiobook isn't important enough to steal, that a giant leap.
Dedrming an audiobook is the only way I know to make sure that one day audible won't wake up and say, no we don't want you listening to that book anymore and just take it off their platform after I have paid for it. That's not a theoretical, that's already happened to some with certain kindle books.
the real question is: why not lend some brain power to an open source project? or write some kick-ass documentation... and always get involved in your local community project /s
say i share with a loved one or close friend the de-DRM'd audiobook. now their computer becomes infected with a RAT, and 'my' file/audiobook fingerprinted with the proprietary fingerprint algorithm (to identify me as the unique purchaser, the same techniques are probably applied industry wide) is leaked online as a consequence (or their backup system is compromised or any kind of infosec violation out of the hands of my friend). next, Amazon corp identifies me. their immediate next step: lawsuit on me as an individual because 'my' file is now leaked on p2p filesharing sites and forums without me knowing about it.
capitalist-enforced DRM is cancer because it's artificial scarcity imposed on a non-scarce resource (computer data/audio file). it's the result of trying to work with the limited and violent toolsets of a capitalist economy.
the internet is still young and there are likely so many better options for publishing things.
for example, an author i've followed for a while by the name of Charles Eisenstein has a deal with his publisher, North Atlantic Books, to initially launch his book as paperback only, and then after a six month period, his whole book is available free to read on his website (also of course there's the wonderful Library Genesis).
The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know is Possible by Charles Eisenstein: https://charleseisenstein.org/books/the-more-beautiful-world... (i love the final story 'A Gathering of the Tribe')
i just wanted to add my two cents after seeing encouraging discussions/debates here on this page. hybrid strategies like Eisenstein's give me signals that ultimately make me feel hopeful for a post-capitalist society which would allow any child to listen to any audiobook (and be infinitely curious in whichever direction feels most natural for them), regardless of whether their parents can afford Audible/Storytel/whatever. i focus on a child's curiosity because they suffer the most from the capitalist commoditization of culture and science and more.
"How does Audio Fingerprinting work": https://emysound.com/blog/open-source/2020/06/12/how-audio-f...