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Once libraries are nonexistent any modern fascist movement wouldn't even have to burn books, but flick one switch and they'd be remotely deleted from your Amazon Kindle or similar digital “library”.

Capitalists are already building the infrastructure to do this through DRM, so stop believing tech is apolitical - the defunding of libraries and paywalling of information are all part of this. :trantifa:

in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

Ghastly He/They
Ghastly He/They
• •
Perfectly a good time to learn how to use calibre to remove drm.
Ive done this. At one point i removed the drm of ebook i bought . And then stored them in an external hardrive for archive purposes
in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

Em
Em
• •
in fact we are already seeing this dynamic play out in American prisons (the testing ground for fascism) where for-profit companies (namely securus) are digitizing all incoming information onto tablets and even trying to get rid of physical books. And they can delete anything they want or take away the tablet at any time.
in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

DJ Sipe
DJ Sipe
• •
libraries are getting defunded because the citizenry doesn’t use them. The solution isn’t to keep up the funding, but rather get people to use libraries again. Funding follows the people in a democracy.
in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

Canadian Curmudgeon
Canadian Curmudgeon
• •
Excellent point. I'd like to share this on other social media...
in reply to Canadian Curmudgeon

Erik Uden 🍑
Erik Uden 🍑
• •
@CdnCurmudgeon please do! Take a screenshot or write what I wrote word for word (if you want credit me), I'm happy if the word spreads around - messages like these need to transcend the Fediverse as they're a pull factor to it.
@Canadian Curmudgeon
in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

Pattern-chaser
Pattern-chaser
• •

This hadn't occurred to me, but you're quite clearly correct. All the more reason for us all to support our #libraries, and keep them funded and open! 🙏

#Tech *is* apolitical, but the uses to which it is put are not! 😥

#books #reading #book #DRM

#tech #books #reading #libraries #book #drm
in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

Pattern-chaser
Pattern-chaser
• •

In a slightly different context, this is why I prefer to maintain a personal music collection on my own hard disk, where it cannot be taken from me. [I have several back-up copies, to ensure I don't lose it all.]

I also have a text/eBook collection on my hard disk too. 👍😀

in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

Aram Sinnreich
Aram Sinnreich
• •
this was a core argument in my book The Piracy Crusade. archive.org/details/ThePiracyC…

The Piracy Crusade : Aram Sinnreich : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Full text PDF of Aram Sinnreich's 2013 book The Piracy Crusade: How The Music Industry's War On Sharing Destroys Markets and Erodes Civil Liberties, published...
Internet Archive
Unknown parent

Kévin ⏚
Kévin ⏚
• •
@rm4 helping / adding to the @internetarchive would also be a good idea - they've already been attacked by big publishers for daring to lend books digitally, so they must be doing something right blog.archive.org/2023/08/17/wh…

Doors Open 2023: Go Behind–the-Scenes at the Physical Archive

Please join us October 11th @ 6-8pm as we take a peek behind the doors of the physical archive in Richmond, California. Register now.\n
blog.archive.org
@internetarchive
Unknown parent

Erik Uden 🍑
Erik Uden 🍑
• •

I have never heard any study suggesting that the Internet Archive, whose digital lending system functions akin to that of a library (INCLUDING **limited* copies being lent*), hurts authors or book publishers.

If you have such a study, as you're making this claim, please share.

There are even studies that show how video game or TV show piracy actually benefits the people behind it.

So, yes the Internet Archive is good for authors AND for preserving important literature corporations and the far right seeks to ban.


‘Just Enough’ Piracy Can Be a Good Thing

Small-scale piracy sometimes offers surprising benefits for IP rights holders.
MIT Sloan Management Review
in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

Comrade Ferret
Comrade Ferret
• •

@AndersBaerbock @kc @rm4 @internetarchive Let's also remember that back when piracy was new and laws around it were not so solid, there were many massive movements from artists to legalize it. There was a particularly large one here in Canada spearheaded by bands like Avril Lavigne, Billy Talent, and Barenaked Ladies.

Piracy is in the artist's interests. Know what isn't? Publishers and record labels. But I assume you have no problem with those.

@internetarchive @Kévin ⏚
in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

سیبزمینی
سیبزمینی
• •
torrent, data horde, self host libraries. Best ways to prevent such from happening.
in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

TheCityDweller :verified_gay:
TheCityDweller :verified_gay:
• •
Visible each day in China nowadays at every company surrendering to the Chinese dictatorship for "the huge market and $$$$$$$$$". The party doesn't like a book? "Oh it's gone on all devices".
in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

TheCityDweller :verified_gay:
TheCityDweller :verified_gay:
• •
People don't care anymore. The whole world adopts the US nightmare "I'll work hard without any rest or vacation until I can retire and to do this I need to own 4 houses by then and that's the only thing which counts and I'm ok with a dictatorship if I can have these houses".
in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

TheCityDweller :verified_gay:
TheCityDweller :verified_gay:
• •
Here in the US people move to the biggest theocratic GOP shitholes which ban abortions, ban books on LGBTIQ in schools and universities, ban medical care for transsexual people - but they don't care. HOUSE! LOW TAX!
For this, most US Americans would be ready for a theocracy or dictatorship.
Unknown parent

Patricia Lavatai
Patricia Lavatai
• •
@rm4
I keep a library of actual books.
in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

Kazii The Avali
Kazii The Avali
• •
descusion about fascist and similae
we are already nearing a fascist society. neatly anyone who fights agenst it where i live is called an anarchest so why not be one. rember foss and the fedi is a threat to them cause it is next to impossible to fully controll it.
in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

Listens to Baroque while coding murder.exe :newt:
Listens to Baroque while coding murder.exe :newt:
• •
stop calling everything you don't like capitalism.
in reply to Listens to Baroque while coding murder.exe :newt:

lainy
lainy
• •
mfw uber captalist carnegie built 2500 public libraries :pika:
in reply to lainy

Listens to Baroque while coding murder.exe :newt:
Listens to Baroque while coding murder.exe :newt:
• •
pretty typical behaviour for drug dealers! The first dose is free and after you're hooked up, you'll pay him money for reading books! How is this not fucked up?!!!
in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

Listens to Baroque while coding murder.exe :newt:
Listens to Baroque while coding murder.exe :newt:
• •
@ErikUden funded by the government with the money it takes from me while threatening me with violence if i refuse. You forgot this one. And if this isn't the definition of exploitation, I don't know what is.
in reply to Listens to Baroque while coding murder.exe :newt:

Erik Uden 🍑
Erik Uden 🍑
• •

@newt oh no how horrible the government uses your hard earned money (which you're making through an education provided by the government) to build libraries to educate people and keep information alive

Let's complain about that instead of the 700 billion military budget

The definition of exploitation is forcing you to work while most of the value you produce is going straight into someone else's pocket. The U.S. government is that, true, because there you're not even getting anything back for your money. Pay as high taxes as in Europe, sometimes even higher, you get no public transport, no good or free (secondary) education, no healthcare.

But then it's not just the government exploiting ya but also corporations, awesome country. Truly the land of the free haha

@Listens to Baroque while coding murder.exe :newt:
in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

Listens to Baroque while coding murder.exe :newt:
Listens to Baroque while coding murder.exe :newt:
• •
sorry, my education was provided by my parents. I didn't bother reading your post any further.
in reply to Listens to Baroque while coding murder.exe :newt:

Erik Uden 🍑
Erik Uden 🍑
• •
@newt lmao this thread is a trainwreck - still, no matter what country you're from, the money that's going to public libraries is not where you should start complaining about government spending.
@Listens to Baroque while coding murder.exe :newt:
Unknown parent

Erik Uden 🍑
Erik Uden 🍑
• •

Yes! I think some sort of federated archival system would be awesome, but I guess that already basically exists through torrents!

Individually? Not much! Organize, donate to FOSS institutions (web archive) and fight capitalism and it's final stage: fascism!

in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

Hal
Hal
• •
Which is why using Calibre is a political decision, as much as an economic/thrift one.
in reply to Hal

Erik Uden 🍑
Erik Uden 🍑
• •
@hal_palazzo Calibre is awesome! There's even a web version called Calibre Web, through which you can host your own online library!
@Hal
Unknown parent

Reina :anarchy_heart:
Reina :anarchy_heart:
• •
@rm4 I bought an 18TB HDD and am putting all the anime I watch on it. I keep everything available and seed it for others who try to download for a long time
in reply to Reina :anarchy_heart:

Erik Uden 🍑
Erik Uden 🍑
• •
@reina @rm4 That's so unfathomably based. I do the same thing with my 72TB seedbox. Stay strong, pirate! :blobfox_pirate:
@Reina :anarchy_heart:
in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

Joe Quinlan 🇵🇸 🇮🇪
Joe Quinlan 🇵🇸 🇮🇪
• •
A very astute observation, Erik.
in reply to Joe Quinlan 🇵🇸 🇮🇪

Erik Uden 🍑
Erik Uden 🍑
• •
@JoeQuinlan Thank you, Joe! I value your opinion as a union worker a lot and what you commented is precisely what I think each time one of your views, observations, and comments pops up on my timeline! :antifa:
@Joe Quinlan 🇵🇸 🇮🇪
in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

awwaiid (Brock Wilcox)
awwaiid (Brock Wilcox)
• •
it is only capitalist books that can be destroyed by the capitalist system
in reply to awwaiid (Brock Wilcox)

Erik Uden 🍑
Erik Uden 🍑
• •
@awwaiid authors need to survive, sadly! Sure, you can blame them for being sold through such stores and not just offered as a PDF / epub, but to be honest: the average reader can't use those.
@awwaiid (Brock Wilcox)
in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

C. R. Collins
C. R. Collins
• •

The average reader can download Calibre for their computer or free ereader software for their phone and buy direct from authors who offer this option on their websites. Hell, I ever dropped my prices for my Buy Direct option to encourage potential readers to do this. They will own the ebooks this way and not have to worry about vendors like Amazon or Apple deleting them. I'd really like to see this become more of a mainstream thing.

@awwaiid

@awwaiid (Brock Wilcox)
in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

TagNachtLampe
TagNachtLampe
• •
Thank you.
That's a new aspect.
Besides the weakening of cryptography, the waiting databases and so on.
in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

davecb
davecb
• •
Taks advantage of something that is political: other english-speaking countries. The internet archive has a site associated with University of Toronto, Kobo, the competitor to Kindle is headquartered here, and National Library is healthy. Our nazis have their own political party, though, called "reform", but it's last three leaders are pretty unelectable. And Australia is beating FaceGoogle at controlling media.
in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

David 🏳️‍🌈🇵🇸 he/they
David 🏳️‍🌈🇵🇸 he/they
• •
I wish we considered libraries to be shrines to knowledge instead of an afterthought.
in reply to David 🏳️‍🌈🇵🇸 he/they

Colin aka ManiacalV
Colin aka ManiacalV
• •
@SailorDisco
As a non-librarian person that's worked for 17 years as a dev at a library, I agree and also wish people knew we were a safe space and also have free internet and computers, DVDs and BluRays, video games, meeting rooms, a recording studio with mixing gear, free food pantries, a free phone, vending machines, public bathrooms, and a diverse staff. And that's just one little library.
@David 🏳️‍🌈🇵🇸 he/they
in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

Colin aka ManiacalV
Colin aka ManiacalV
• •

@SailorDisco

Been coming in here almost every day for nearly 20 years. I don't make as much money as I'd make back in the private sector, but I'd also make less of a positive impact on real people's lives back there.

17 years and I'm still here. 😄

@David 🏳️‍🌈🇵🇸 he/they
in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

Teedi P.
Teedi P.
• •
My biggest worry--which probably would've been considered paranoid 10 years ago--is all these digital editions getting tweaked. So offensive stuff gets re-written or "glossed over" with pretty speech or something else. After all, if there's anything we've learned from history, it's that the victors write it. So would it really be farfetched to think some digital bookseller wouldn't find a way to censor some works and sell them? If enough people don't know the book has been heavily edited, they'll believe it (and if you already have a hard copy, why get a digital one and notice the difference?). Give it a couple centuries and we'll have a completely unrecognizable Constitution and Bill of Rights printed in textbooks, the way we're going.
in reply to Teedi P.

Erik Uden 🍑
Erik Uden 🍑
• •
@caffeinatedbookdragon Strong agree on this one. 20 years ago people would be outraged, but through boiling the frog, books being censored by a media monopoly is pretty normal and accepted.
@Teedi P.
in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

SlightlyCyberpunk
SlightlyCyberpunk
• •

Not only are they already building the infrastructure for this; they're already using it. It's now been over a decade since Amazon was caught remotely purging copies of Orwell's 1984 and Animal Farm from Kindle devices...

gizmodo.com/amazon-secretly-re…

And not just the book itself -- they also removed notes people had saved to their devices about the book.

They've promised they won't do it again though! ...unless they have to, or they think it's in the customers best interest, or they don't get paid enough for the book, or if the customer agrees to it (potentially buried in an EULA or some other nonsense.)


Amazon Secretly Removes "1984" From the Kindle

Thousands of people last week discovered that Amazon had quietly removed electronic copies of George Orwell's 1984 from their Kindle e-book readers. In the process, Amazon revealed how easy censorship will be in the Kindle age.
Annalee Newitz (Gizmodo)
in reply to SlightlyCyberpunk

Erik Uden 🍑
Erik Uden 🍑
• •
@admin yeah I mean there's really nothing to worry about if Amazon promised to not do it again then that's like a legally binding statement kinda
@SlightlyCyberpunk
Unknown parent

Erik Uden 🍑
Erik Uden 🍑
• •

@kryvyifedir Another good and important point!

...you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.

Unknown parent

Erik Uden 🍑
Erik Uden 🍑
• •
@Lunchbox @kaleb_haugen wait I never even thought of this what the hell hahaha
in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

xs4me2
xs4me2
• •

It seems Orwell’s 1984 is slowly becoming a reality in large parts of the world…

“War is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength…”

Democracy is worth fighting for.

in reply to xs4me2

Erik Uden 🍑
Erik Uden 🍑
• •

@xs4me2 The same man that has written those words worked for the very institutions he warned people of. George Orwell was not only a colonial warlord but someone who worked for the British secret service to spy on people from the socialist or communist movements.

youtu.be/2Gz0I_X_nfo?si=iwalHi…


George Orwell was a terrible human being

Grab Atlas VPN for just $1.83/mo + 3 months extra before the BIG DEAL deal expires: https://get.atlasvpn.com/HakimSupport me on Patreon: https://www.patreon....
YouTube
@xs4me2
in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

xs4me2
xs4me2
• •
It is after the he went through these experiences that he wrote 1984…
in reply to xs4me2

Erik Uden 🍑
Erik Uden 🍑
• •
@xs4me2 True! Though a bit hypocritical - or reflective? Not sure.
@xs4me2
in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

xs4me2
xs4me2
• •
It is called learning from your experiences or faults. We are all entitled to do that, thought it is better to learn from others before. Education and knowledge helps ;)
in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

MCDuncanLab
MCDuncanLab
• •

😢 I resisted e-books for so long, because I love the physicality of books. but with 40+ eyes I love being able to expand the text when my eyes are tired, read without the overhead light at night, and get the next book in the series instantly.

Guess I'll go buy physical copies of all those N. K. Jemisin books I love.

in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

Miakoda
Miakoda
• •
Precisely why the books I have are on my local hard drive, compressed on to a 2nd hard drive, and backed up to a server I'm mostly in control of. Oh, and they've been stripped of their DRM if they had any.
Unknown parent

Erik Uden 🍑
Erik Uden 🍑
• •
@DanKen that's really good, though!
@Dan O'Ginnec
Unknown parent

Erik Uden 🍑
Erik Uden 🍑
• •

Good idea! Preserving books digitally and analog!

@stevenbodzin

@Steven Bodzin bike & subscribe
in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

Andrew
Andrew
• •

@rm4 I don't think FOSS has much to do with this?

Like, if I read a DRM-free ebook on Apple's iPad app, they can't delete it. They could maybe delete it from that device but I'd still have it. Whereas if I download an open-source ebook reader, that won't make my Amazon ebooks suddenly DRM-free.

I just think FOSS is a completely orthogonal issue to DRM and platformisation and I worry it's being kinda sold as a technical solution to a societal problem

in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

Zander The Lion 🔜 LosCon/MFF
Zander The Lion 🔜 LosCon/MFF
• •
This is why I store things on my own servers as backup. Not just DRM, but at any moment content can just disappear at a moments notice, even if you paid for them. I'd be worried about more important things if facism takes over (because you know, holy shit we are in trouble), but at least with capitalism I just have to worry about DRM and paywalls which can be, well, "dealt with".
in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

Petri Salmela
Petri Salmela
• •
Uh... All ebooks I have bought are non-drm ePub files. On my own hard drive and non-Kindle ebook reader. 😸
in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

Violet Madder
Violet Madder
• •
Potentially even worse, they could just silently EDIT the books.
in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

Pxtl
Pxtl
• •

small ebook sellers do sell drm-unencumbered ebooks but they're very rare.

It's very frustrating since music and podcasts are on open standards where the buyer's rights are protected, and yet ebooks are still wrapped up in nonsense.

in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

Brian
Brian
• •
If that happens they could use algorithms to make sure you don't even notice that your titles are slowly disappearing, and then blame it on a bug. You wouldn't really know if someone flipped a switch or if there was some bug. Pair this with social media algorithms and location tracking, and the "bugs" will seem like isolated incidents. Can I patent that idea now so they can't do it?
in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

E_Nonymouse
E_Nonymouse
• •
Take that a step further for giggles, so lets say society goes full digital. No physical money, no written texts of any kind.
Thousands of years after humanity blips out of existence, if someone or something else comes looking for proof of what used to exist here there'll be no written record of our existence.
Unknown parent

Erik Uden 🍑
Erik Uden 🍑
• •

Yes! Horrific example. Whenever libraries are sought to be controlled like this, you know the people in power are up to no good.

@Peternimmo

@Peter Nimmo
in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

E_Nonymouse
E_Nonymouse
• •
An alternate scenario: A full digital society would allow an existence only people in countries like China or Russia know, where they are told what to think and what not to think, if it's not an approved book it doesn't exist or it is deleted and the author imprisoned.
in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

Olympia Indivisible
Olympia Indivisible
• •
Digital rights management (DRM) is the use of technology to control and manage access to copyrighted material. Another DRM meaning is taking control of digital content away from the person who possesses it and handing it to a computer program.
in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

That Girl Over There
That Girl Over There
• •
Privatize to profit from.
That's what Republicans mean when they say "small government". It's also why they hate any kind of regulations or oversight and call it "control".
in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

bouriquet
bouriquet
• •
Keep your Kindle in a locked metal box wrapped in tinfoil and disable all external interfaces.
Back up onto hard drive.
So there…
The archive of forbidden texts.
in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

ChookMother 🇦🇺🦘
ChookMother 🇦🇺🦘
• •

Or worse, digitised books can be edited to suit the beliefs/ politics of whomever is in power.

Hang onto your printed-on-paper books, especially classics and non-fiction. Soon they may be the only source you can rely on.

Teedi P. reshared this.

in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

David Nice
David Nice
• •
I know it's an exception, but I was so pleased to wander into the middle of Essex town Saffron Walden on Saturday and see the library in an important building right on the central market square. And my childhood treasure house in Banstead, at the end of the high street, is better than ever. But the bookshop went - I reasoned that not enough residents were willing to fight for its survival. It's now a vape shop.

Erik Uden 🍑 reshared this.

in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

Unknowable@troet.cafe
Unknowable@troet.cafe
• •
"Authoritarian turn, Autoritäre Wende", I heard that term first from Arne Semsrott in his excellent presentation at the recent Chaos Computer Congress. I think this nails it, as the trajectory clearly points to that direction.
in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

UkeBLCatboy
UkeBLCatboy
• •

I just prefer reading books on paper :D

The library doesnt have most of my niche danmei novels though, so I get them all on amazon XD

At the end of the day, I am just a weeb, so I use whatever tech I need to take part in my beloved fandom community: here, insta for all the cosplayers worldwide, twitch for the vtubers, threads, X, reddit, discord, etc :D

I am everywhere, so I can share my passion with fellow fans all over the world :D

Thanks for the follow XD

in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

laund [moved]
laund [moved]
• •
this is why any ebook i read has to be in a drm-free format, which i back up to my own server.
Unknown parent

Teedi P.
Teedi P.
• •
That world and the classic "Twilight Zone" episode with Burgess Meredith, "Time Enough At Last" are my versions of hell.
in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

Hen Gymro Heb Wlad
Hen Gymro Heb Wlad
• •

It already happened when Amazon realised it had been selling books on Kindle where it didn't own the rights. They even deleted Orwell's "1984" from customers' Kindle devices.

theguardian.com/technology/200…


Amazon Kindle users surprised by 'Big Brother' move

Owners of Amazon's Kindle electronic book reader are protesting after they were mistakenly sold illegal copies of George Orwell's books - and then saw them deleted from their gadgets without their knowledge
Bobbie Johnson (The Guardian)
in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

Cegorach
Cegorach
• •

with books there's still physical media around

I have not so horrible fears for the next 2 decades there.

But other media? Libraries are now actively phasing out CDs/DVDs from their inventory. Instead they opt to rent digital services WITH DRM and horrible narrow portfolio.

The war is nearly lost there.

in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

Misuse Case
Misuse Case
• •
@chiraag The fact that a relative few platforms control access to e-books, whether they are for purchase or through library lending systems, and that said access can be revoked through DRM, means you can’t say “banning books in libraries doesn’t matter because people/the kids will just get it on the internet.” It’s easy to take that away, too.
@ಚಿರಾಗ್ 🌹✊🏾Ⓥ🌱🇵🇸 (he/him)
in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

paul
paul
• •
“No one is going to give you the education you need to overthrow them. Nobody is going to teach you your true history, teach you your true heroes, if they know that that knowledge will help set you free.”
― Assata Shakur
in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

ErosBlog Bacchus
ErosBlog Bacchus
• •
Again I say "piracy is curation" and furthermore I encourage everyone to practice hyperlocal data archiving of the sort that can't be deleted remotely. Make the bastards go door to door with guns and dogs and metal detectors.
in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

✊🏾WiseGuyEddie
✊🏾WiseGuyEddie
• •
OH SNAP. This is a great take. Never thought about this. Back to buying hard copy books again for me.
in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

csh
csh
• •

The first libraries in the US (pre-US) were not government run. Libraries can't cease to exist as long as we want them to exist.

It will suck if they lose government funding and there will be fewer of them but they won't be nonexistent.

in reply to Erik Uden 🍑

Grrrr, Darth Moose Shark
Grrrr, Darth Moose Shark
• •

this, this, this.

I have been cringing about this since otherwise sensible infosec colleagues started to move their entire lives into the cloud in the 2010s. And really, since all photos went digital as well.

Make local copies. Crack DRM and save your books that way if you can. Buy DRM-free stuff and print books and physical copies. Print the best of your photos on archival paper if you can afford that.

Of course, the information flood makes most of us too busy and overwhelmed to do it, but it is gonna be necessary.

⇧