Have you ever bought an app or game from a digital storefront, only for it to suddenly disappear and become inaccessible without warning? It’s both confusing and frustrating, which is why some governments are stepping in and hoping to make things clearer for consumers. Gavin Newsom, governor of California, recently signed a new law (AB 2426) that involves the purchasing of digital goods and services. Under the new law, online storefronts that sell digital copies of video games, music, movies, TV shows, and ebooks must be explicit as to whether customers actually own what they’re purchasing. Some digital services are already adapting to the new regulations, which aren’t set to be enforced until next year. Steam is one such company, having already implemented a change in the Steam storefront that explicitly notifies customers that they’re purchasing “a license for the product on Steam” and don’t actually own the game outright. What does that mean for you? Well, a license is just permission for you to access content that’s provided by the service (i.e., the game). If the content is made unavailable for whatever reason, you aren’t entitled to access in perpetuity. (As opposed to buying a digital download, in which case you’re buying permission to download and keep said files.) According to Engadget, this new wording in Steam is used in all countries and territories, not just the United States. Further reading: Why digital games can vanish in a heartbeat Continue reading at 'PC World'
[ PC World | 2024-10-11 19:19:30 UTC ]
Amid Europe's largest COVID-19 outbreak, Italian citizens in lockdown have been able to read free Mondadori ebooks in a program facilitated by Kobo. The post Coronavirus: Canada’s Kobo Joins Mondadori in Providing Free Ebooks to Italians in Lockdown appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-03-11 12:22:51 UTC ]
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Rakuten OverDrive, a platform for digital books (used by more than 43,000 libraries and schools worldwide), has released a list of its most-borrowed ebooks and audiobooks in 2019. There are no real surprises on the list, besides maybe the fact that so many people want to listen to a woman tell... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-01-08 19:19:19 UTC ]
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JPay made ebooks from Project Gutenberg free to incarcerated people who have their tablets last month. But...where did the money they collected for all of those Project Gutenberg books go? Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2019-12-05 11:39:33 UTC ]
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Macmillan's embargo on new ebooks impacts public libraries, now scrambling to make materials available to patrons. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2019-11-01 10:32:08 UTC ]
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Indie 404 Ink has landed a part-memoir, part-investigation of how video games can positively impact mental health from journalist Joe Donnelly. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-31 16:31:20 UTC ]
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TV star joins delegation to the chancellor of the exchequer demanding an end to VAT on digital books, which traditional publications escapeChildren’s laureate Cressida Cowell and former Blue Peter presenter Konnie Huq have joined 90 MPs calling on the government to scrap the “reading tax” on... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2019-10-31 15:01:27 UTC ]
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The brand strategy behind the best-selling book series expanding to Netflix, toys, and video games. When my son Henry was seven he hated reading. Hated it. Loved the story part, hated the reading part. Now 10 years old, Henry is rarely farther than arm’s length away from a book.Read Full Story Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2019-10-30 07:00:43 UTC ]
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Fairfax restaurant software startup MarginEdge Co. has raised $5 million in fresh funding, the company announced Tuesday. The round was led by Osage Venture Partners with participation from New York-based In Good Company Hospitality. It brings its total funding since MarginEdge's founding in... Continue reading at Silicon Valley Business Journal
[ Silicon Valley Business Journal | 2019-10-22 12:00:00 UTC ]
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The kids in “Look Both Ways,” a National Book Award finalist, share hustles, jokes, video games, board tricks, secret messages and private dreams. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2019-10-08 20:46:07 UTC ]
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We examine why interactive ebooks have struggled to catch on among readers, considering the work that goes into them, the distraction of them, and more. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2019-09-05 10:36:04 UTC ]
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Textbook authors who claim Cengage has not paid them correct royalties for sales from its digital services have filed a class action lawsuit against the publisher. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-08-13 21:55:01 UTC ]
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Audible's push into original content now includes a team-up with a company best-known for its comic books and TV shows. The Amazon-owned audiobook service has struck a deal with Skybound, the team behind The Walking Dead, to create multiple Audible... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2019-08-13 18:43:00 UTC ]
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Author’s son explains that wish for accessibility has persuaded trustees to look past his father’s dislike of digital mediaAfter years of refusing to allow publishers to digitise his works, the estate of JD Salinger has announced that the author’s famously small body of work will be published as... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2019-08-12 15:49:19 UTC ]
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Sponsored by Ruby Lang’s Playing House. Available now wherever eBooks are sold. These deals were active as of this writing, but ... Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2019-08-07 15:35:07 UTC ]
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You don't need Kindle Unlimited to get free ebooks on Amazon — all you need is a Prime subscription. Here are the best Amazon Prime books on Prime Reading. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2019-07-18 10:35:34 UTC ]
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Union-busting retail behemoth Walmart has come under fire this week for prominently featuring Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf in a sponsored Facebook post. According to Business Insider, the since-deleted post featured an oil painting of history’s greatest monster underneath a message urging customers... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2019-07-02 19:41:09 UTC ]
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It's a little while since Microsoft announced that is dropping the Books category from the Microsoft Store, but a serious deadline is now looming. If you have bought books or downloaded free books from the Store, you only have a few more days to read them -- so if there are any you haven't... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2019-06-28 15:41:08 UTC ]
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Sweden’s Bonnier has announced a sweeping expansion in Europe of its BookBeat digital service, multiplying by seven times its former reach in terms of markets for audiobooks and ebooks. By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson Service Has More Than 50,000 Audiobooks and Ebooks he... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2019-06-24 12:55:40 UTC ]
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The growing popularity of ebooks in Russia is prompting some publishers to look at online serialization as an option for distribution and sales, both as an offer to consumers and to writers of works in progress. The post Russian Book Market Players Explore Digital Serialization appeared first on... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2019-06-20 05:30:42 UTC ]
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We can argue about the merits and flaws of Chromebooks all day long, but one thing is clear: They've found a strong foothold in the education market. Indeed, today Google is announcing that more than 30 million Chromebooks are in use by students arou... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2019-06-19 13:30:00 UTC ]
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