Originally Posted by katmom54
Putting these on a Sony reader is ok, of course...that is the reason they are available on ebook...sharing would only be legit if they are 'for your own use'...ie, another computer at home, a second e-reader etc. I looked into this for some text book stuff for my Kindle, and you cannot share a direct download from person to person- however, if it is a free online ebook, sharing the link is ok, since they are available to anyone - just can't download and then pass on...
FYI - I did think that one of the negatives of the SONY is that they will not accept other ebooks ..when looking at the options of both, that was the determining factor for a few friends...- Kindle will accept any eformat. THey would be interested to know that you can get other ebooks online. Will have them look into it...
Actually, that is backwards, SONY is the one that accepts all formats. Kindle only accepts 'AZW' files,and the mobipocket files. Also, it does not support native document types like PDF, but instead converts them into its own format, which can cause problems. You can find some converters online for them, though, to convert about anything. Thats one of the main reasons I went with the Sony. My library (and most others) uses EPUB and PDF files. These can go straight to Sony with no converting. The main reason I didn't get the Kindle, though, was the internet access around here is crappy.
From the site:
For the Kindle, other than the Kindle format which is encrypted with their DRM, you can only put non-DRM Mobipocket files, unencrypted PDF and a few other formats like Microsoft Word which can be encoded into the Amazon Kindle format. Amazon does not support EPUB nor any other special ebook format that might offered by other ebook stores that sell mainstream books.
Google and Sony’s format of choice, EPUB, is also important. It’s an XML-based, free, open ebook standard which can be optimized for different devices, but Kindle does not (natively) support it. So, any titles you have in EPUB format, you can transfer to another device (it’s a bit more complicated than that, since EPUB also supports DRM, but Google’s selection of public domain titles will be free of any restrictions); on the Kindle, it’s forbidden. In geek terms, when it comes to ebooks, Sony and Google are to Amazon Kindle like Linux is to Windows: free and open vs. closed but perhaps easier to use. We’ll see which one wins in the end
There are a LOT of patterns online for quilts, etc. that are in PDF form. Sony takes those with no converting. I love that. There are also free converters to convert anything to a PDF, too.