How you loose at the Microsoft Free books game

[Sean Murphy]

So I figured out how you loose at the Microsoft Free books for the summer game. Here is the scenario. You have a Pocket PC and you have downloaded the books and you are reading away. Next you get a new Pocket PC and you have to activate it. Boom, there you go no more books. Any books that were released before your first activations are gone for good to you now. No access at all. That is a raw deal. I downloaded them just like everybody else and now I can’t use them. I don’t like it one little bit.

[sixsixty]

thanks for the reminder to check out whats free this week.

[ChristopherTD]

Possibly you have activated your new PPC with a different passport account than your original one?

I have moved books to 3 different PPCs in the last two weeks without any difficulty in re-activating and reading my ebooks.

[Sean Murphy]

I did have to use another passport because I had hit my 6 device limit (yet another stupid rule). I will have to request an additional device allotment from the government.

[Steven Cedrone]

thanks for the reminder to check out whats free this week.

See this post... (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=19049)

Steve

[freitasm]

I did have to use another passport because I had hit my 6 device limit (yet another stupid rule). I will have to request an additional device allotment from the government.

And that's why the Palm Media (now owned by Palm Gear, and once called PeanutPress) has such a good acceptance: readers for Windows, Windows Mobile, Palm, Mac OS X, Windows Mobile Smartphone, Symbia, and you unlock the books using the credit card number you used to purchase it.

Since you don't give your credit card number away, this is in essence secure for the publisher and for you.

[dh]

I did have to use another passport because I had hit my 6 device limit (yet another stupid rule). I will have to request an additional device allotment from the government.

And that's why the Palm Media (now owned by Palm Gear, and once called PeanutPress) has such a good acceptance: readers for Windows, Windows Mobile, Palm, Mac OS X, Windows Mobile Smartphone, Symbia, and you unlock the books using the credit card number you used to purchase it.

Since you don't give your credit card number away, this is in essence secure for the publisher and for you.

Of the secure formats, this is the only sensible way to go. If Microsoft had used this idea, there would be no need for messing around with programs like C-Lit. The publishers would be happy, the customers would be happy and MS would not be farting around with these dumb updates every couple of months.

I don't understand why anyone is going to buy a book that can only be read on an MS device. (and that's only if they're lucky!)

[Chuckwrox]

So I figured out how you loose at the Microsoft Free books for the summer game. Here is the scenario. You have a Pocket PC and you have downloaded the books and you are reading away. Next you get a new Pocket PC and you have to activate it. Boom, there you go no more books. Any books that were released before your first activations are gone for good to you now. No access at all. That is a raw deal. I downloaded them just like everybody else and now I can?t use them. I don?t like it one little bit.

YEAH! WHAT HE SAID! SOMEBODY GIVE ME MY MONEY BACK!


:roll:

[Jereboam]

So I figured out how you loose at the Microsoft Free books for the summer game. Here is the scenario. You have a Pocket PC and you have downloaded the books and you are reading away. Next you get a new Pocket PC and you have to activate it. Boom, there you go no more books. Any books that were released before your first activations are gone for good to you now. No access at all. That is a raw deal. I downloaded them just like everybody else and now I can?t use them. I don?t like it one little bit.

YEAH! WHAT HE SAID! SOMEBODY GIVE ME MY MONEY BACK!


:roll:

Ummm...those ebooks are free. And the activation limit was implicit when you installed MS Reader and when you purchased (if you have) LIT format ebooks. So if you now decide you don't like the activation process and limitations of DRM then it is unreasonable to demand your money back.

J'bm

[Chuckwrox]

My point, exactly! (Not much of a rip-off if you didn't spend any money, eh?)

[davidspalding]

So I figured out how you loose at the Microsoft Free books for the summer game. Here
You just figured this out?! People have been arguing about this for years. Welcome to the new age of DMCA.

The summer promotion secure .LIT ebooks were F-R-E-E. Only catch was that you had to grab them within 7 days, and take the yellow pill (http://www.locusmag.com/index/t128.html#A15463) of MS' DRM5 copy protection plan.

If you downloaded them on your desktop, and activated your desktop with the same passport account (duh) as your PPC, then you should be able to activate your new PPC and move the files over. I have all of them. And I can read them anytime. Yee-ha.

Or ... pirate ahoy ... download Convert LIT (www.google.com) (HREF is just to google.com, mod) while you can, and use it. See, you can lose if you follow Microsoft's plan, then wimp out and give up when you reach your activation limit. OR you can act in your own best interest, and keep reading those books. Choice is yours. Sorry to be gruff, but if you'd reviewed this summer's discusssions of the promotion, the Reader updates, and copy protection issues, you'd have had no bad surprise on the purchase of your new pda.

[Jereboam]

My point, exactly! (Not much of a rip-off if you didn't spend any money, eh?)

Oops. Sorry. Missed the rolleyes...my bad. 8O

Need....more....coffeeeee.

J'bm