[1]Skip to content [2]michaelharley.net [3](Menu) [≡] [×] • [4][A]boutAbout • [5][C]ontactContact • [6][P]ostsPosts • [7][S]itemapSitemap [8](Toggle light and dark theme) [9](Switch site skin) [10](Toggle modem-light animation) I own my books July 16, 2026 4 min read [11]Permalink I love reading. I caught the bug as a middle-schooler when I got caught skipping school, and as punishment, I had to read [12]The Chronicles of Amber (opens in a new tab) and do a book report about it. Even today, opening a book and fanning the pages to get the paper smell activates very fond memories and emotions. I remember a time before e-readers came out. I always thought reading on one seemed very futuristic. In military sci-fi books, characters are reading on their data pads, and reading on an e-reader makes me feel like a sci-fi character. Physically, e-readers are superior in every way to paper books. I can increase the font size. I can increase brightness. I can read in the sun. I can read in the pool. My entire library fits into my pocket. I can look up the definitions of words. Capitalists really hate when consumers love something, so of course they want to ruin e-readers. They do that by implementing digital rights management (DRM), and making people agree to draconian agreements such that the books they "buy" are in fact just renting. They want to lock you into their device ecosystem and force you to buy their hardware. That makes it very hard for consumers to buy a device from a different manufacturer as they basically have to abandon their digital libraries to do so. All that to say, I can understand why some people just do not want to deal with fighting with e-reader companies like Amazon so they might prefer paper books. I am up for the challenge though, and here is how I avoid the obstacles and hurdles that these companies put in the path to consumer choice and freedom. Removing DRM [13]# The most important thing to ebook freedom is removing the DRM the companies put on the books. I wrote about [14]how I remove DRM for backup purposes so I won't rehash that here, but the main thing is buying your ebooks from a distributor other than Amazon. I buy mine from [15]eBooks.com (opens in a new tab) and [16] Kobo.com (opens in a new tab) as they distribute their books with Adobe DRM, which the right tools can remove. I do not remove DRM so I can give my books away. I remove DRM so I have a backup of the books I paid for. This isn't paranoia. In 2019, [17]Microsoft shut down its ebook store (opens in a new tab), and because the books were DRM'd, every book every customer had ever bought simply stopped opening when the DRM servers went dark. Microsoft refunded everyone, which is a tidy admission that those were never really sales. A decade earlier, [18]Amazon reached into people's Kindles and deleted copies of 1984 (opens in a new tab) that they had already paid for, taking one [19]student's homework notes (opens in a new tab) along with the book. Not great, Bob. So I backup my books to an open standard, [20]ePUB (opens in a new tab), with the DRM stripped off. If eBooks.com folds tomorrow, or Kobo decides my account is a problem, or I want to read on hardware nobody has invented yet, my library still works. I don't care what their fine print says. I bought this book. It's my book. I'll read it where I like, TYVM. But what about Amazon exclusives? [21]# I want to support authors. I do not want to support anti-consumer choice cartels by giving them money. I remember back when Amazon first started, and they allowed smaller authors to self-publish their books. Back then, Amazon was the small guy, and it allowed other small guys to avoid the big book publishers. That was a right and good thing. But now, Amazon locks its exclusives behind the superior Amazon DRM and I don't know how to create DRM-free backups with the tools I have access to. So in the rare instance that I must purchase a book from Amazon, then I'll hold my nose and give Jeff Bezos my money. What happens after that, and how the book ends up readable on my Kobo, is left as an exercise for the reader. Audiobooks [22]# The same fight plays out with audiobooks, except here the landscape is still favorable to the consumer. My preference is [23]Libro.fm (opens in a new tab), who sells audiobooks DRM-free from the start. And you can strip even Audible's DRM, so nothing I buy is ever really locked inside their app. Same rule as my books: I paid for it, so I keep a copy I control. The medium changes; the principle doesn't. I'll sign off this post with a quote. Any time someone puts a lock on something that belongs to you and won't give you the key, that lock isn't there for your benefit. Cory Doctorow, [24]Information Doesn't Want to Be Free (opens in a new tab) Michael Harley Michael Harley [25]Author Filed under: [26]Books [27]Calibre [28]eBooks Also on [29]Mastodon (opens in a new tab) [30]Bluesky (opens in a new tab) You may also like • [31]How to setup Calibre to remove DRM from ebooks on Linux January 10, 2023 • [32]How I self-host my ebooks and audiobooks July 21, 2026 • [33]On ebook readers and why I am opting out of vendor lock-ins March 09, 2022 Signal [34](Like this post) like 21 likes • [35] TheNovemberFella ✊🏳️‍🌈 🇺🇦☸️🛰️🚀 • [36] PurpleJillybeans :PrideDisk: • [37] Ronsboy67 • [38] Alexander Corby 🇵🇷 • [39] BookShelves eBook Reader • [40] Feral 3D • [41] Wojtek Powiertowski • [42] Pablonius Monk 🇺🇦 • [43] Jeremy • [44] Kᑐᑌᑐᕮ • [45] Nick East (Indie Writer) • [46] richlinville.bsky.social • [47] Kevin Gallant • [48] alex • [id] • [id] • [id] • [id] • [id] • [id] • [id] 4 boosts • [49] Ronsboy67 • [50] Pablonius Monk 🇺🇦 • [51] Jeremy • [52] Kᑐᑌᑐᕮ 1 mention • [53] Bubbles (opens in a new tab) [54] 34 votes on Bubbles 🫧 (opens in a new tab) 3 Comments mloxton [55]mloxton (opens in a new tab) via Mastodon Jul 16, 2026 [56]@michaelharley (opens in a new tab) I get all the points you make, but that same picture looks a lot different from the author's perspective. There is also a transaction issue with your argument. The price of a book may vary according to what rights come with it. Using fictional numbers for illustration. Full rights: $50,000 Right to read forever on any device: $50 Right to read on a specified device $5 Right to read on a specified device for a specified time: $1 A [57]Antonio Santos (opens in a new tab) via antoniosantos.io Jul 16, 2026 I regret not taking a similar approach to Michael Harley sooner. I always thought it didn't matter if I bought my books on Apple Books, because I would always have an iPad to read them on, until I bought a Kindle and wished I could read my books on my Kindle. Somehow, I let myself fall into the same trap with my Kindle, and now I'm locked into reading my books on a Kindle (at least there's a Kindle app for iOS). Recently, I started thinking about where I buy my e-books from for the same reasons as Michael: I want to be able to take my books with me anywhere, and back them up in case the provider goes away. So now I try to find DRM-free alternatives, like buying e-books straight from the author, or shopping on DRM-free platforms. I haven't tried removing DRM from books yet, not sure if I want to go thru the hassle. I also started doing the same for movies. Instead of buying them digital, I started buying physical copies. Eventually, I might get a Blu-Ray R/W and make digital copies for myself. Kᑐᑌᑐᕮ [58]Kᑐᑌᑐᕮ (opens in a new tab) via Mastodon Jul 17, 2026 [59]@michaelharley (opens in a new tab) re: > "So in the rare instance that I must purchase a book from Amazon, then I'll hold my nose and give Jeff Bezos my money." I have a different approach: i always buy the **physical** book (which supports the author more, than buying any e-book) and then i simply download the `.epub` for free from... that 1 library that provides almost all e-books for free 🤷🏼‍♂️ Join the conversation • [60]Respond via email • Leave a comment Your email is never shown. It's only so I can reply, and comments are moderated before they appear. Name * [61][ ] Email (optional, private) [62][ ] Website (optional, sets your avatar from your h-card) [63][ ] Supports basic Markdown (bold, italic, links, lists, quotes). It's rendered to HTML once the comment is approved. [ ] [ ] [ ] Comment * [64][ ] Leave this field empty [65][ ] [69]Post comment or comment as yourself Have your own website? Sign in with it via [70]IndieAuth (opens in a new tab) and your name and avatar are pulled from your h-card. Nothing to fill in. Website [71][ ] [73] Sign in with your website • Send me a webmention Written a response on your own site? Paste the URL and I'll display it alongside the others once I verify it links back. Your post URL * [74][ ] [76]Send webmention © Michael Harley. 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