Oct
21
The Library is making me a criminal
Filed Under Uncategorized |
Its a fact. The public library here has tempted me to perform illegal acts. What? you may ask … well here’s the deal.
I was told by a friend that worked at the library in a neighboring town that they offer downloadable audio books. All you need is a library card and you can set up an account and download books to listen to on your computer or mp3 player.
Awesome. I love listening to books while I’m running, driving, or mowing it makes the time go by faster. So I drive in to town, hit the library and get myself a card. Excited, I head back to my office and log into their website. I end up over at NetLibrary.com - who is the actual offering site for these audio books. I create an account and start browsing downloads. They don’t have a ton of books, but there’s a couple thousand in all different subject areas and genres. I settle on one that I’d like to listen to and download it.
While its downloading I decide to read the instructions on the screen and read about how they use DRM (Digital Rights Management) to control the loan period. Basically its a time-stamp on the audio file that only allows it to play until the license expiration is reached. So for example the book I downloaded will only work for 20 days. After that, any attempt to play it will result in a message alerting the user they have to update / renew the license.
Reading further, I see that the files will not work with an iPod. Screetch, hold on … beep-beep, back the truck up. Doesn’t work with an iPod ??? By far the most popular music player out there, and these audio books - designed for portable playing can’t play on them ?
I do a little research and it appears that Apple’s iPod doesn’t support DRM. great. wonderful. Read carefully because this is where the illegal part comes in…
I would never have thought this - ever - but what thought went through my mind… There has to be a utility to remove the DRM stamp so I can play this on my iPod. … illegal, instant criminal, law breaker
yes I could go to the library, check out the book on cd, spend 30 minutes ripping the cd to mp3, copy to my ipod and delete it all when I’m done (because frankly they take up too much space) - but that’s a pain. I want to download the book straight to my iPod and listen … and now I can’t.
…or apparently I could if I wanted to break the law and use a utility to strip the DRM stamp out…