Find eBook Readers Blog   Reading in the Digital Age

DMCA Rules Updated

The  Copyright Office of the Library of Congress has revised the copy-prevention and access control anti-circumvention exemptions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).  It may now be legally ok to:

• Circumvent the Content Scrambling System (CSS) of DVDs for the purposes of incorporating short portions of motion pictures for use in educational settings, criticism and commentary, documentary filmmaking and noncommercial videos.
• Jailbreak your phone.
• Circumvent DRM on ebooks when all existing ebook editions of the title contain access controls that prevent the enabling of text-to-speech or of screen readers that render the text into a specialized format (such as Braille), for the purpose of making these works accessible.  I think that this is actually a renewal of a previous exemption.

The DMCA anti-circumvention exemptions are revised every three years.

* * *

Wattpad Partners with Bubok – Spanish Self Publisher

Wattpad has partnered with Bubok, which is the leading self-publishing service for authors writing in Spanish.  Wattpad accounts can now be directly linked to print-on-demand services offered by Bubok, enabling readers a way to support their favorite authors.

“Bubok aims to fulfill the dream of publishing for many authors, but also help their work reach the widest possible audience. Giving writers the chance to make their literature available on Wattpad allows authors the opportunity to reach thousands of new users that may be interested in reading and buying their books,” explains Ángel María Herrera, CEO of Bubok.

Wattpad says that around half of its traffic comes from non-English speaking countries.  Wattpad currently offers content in over 20 languages, although more of its content is downloaded in English than in any other language.

* * *

6-Inch Global Kindle “Temporarily out of stock”

Apparently at its new, more friendly price of $189 the 6-inch Kindle global ereaderhas been selling well.  Currently Amazon is listing it as temporarily out of stock.  Refurbished 6-inch global Kindles are available at $169.99.

* * *

Simon & Schuster Releases U-Ventures iPhone and iPad App for Children

Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing has released Return to the Cave of Time, the first of three U-Ventures based on Edward Packard’s Choose Your Own Adventure books.  The second story Through the Black Hole will be released later this summer, and the third U-Ventures story The Forbidden Castle will  be out in the fall.

“Readers of the original Choose Your Own Adventure® books had to turn to a particular page to make a choice,” said Edward Packard, a creator and principal author.  “In U-Ventures™ apps, they tap the screen. Plot progression is seamless. Our developer, Expanded Apps, added sound, light, and other special effects, even music and alien voices, and I introduced a lot more variations and endings and special situations: for example, where what happens depends on whether the reader remembers a secret word. In the original books, the reader was illustrated as a boy – sometimes a girl. U-Ventures™ are illustrated from the point of view of the reader: What you see is what you’re looking at.  It’s neat.”

Available on iTunes for $3.99.

Possibly Related Posts:

• PBS and Jim Henson launch new children’s app
• Scholastic to launch children’s ereading app
• Oceanhouse Media children’s reading apps on sale
• VTech InnoTab children’s tablet available for pre-order
• California libraries to provide free access to Scholastic BookFlix