I Have a Serious Grumble

[jumpuphigh]

Today, Rainbow Ebooks is offering 2 ebooks for free.  However, to get said ebooks, you have to pay by giving them all your personal information including birthdate, full address, and phone number. In my mind, that's not free. Making me join with an email and password I can understand but wtf do they need that other data for?

So, that rhetorical question led me to their privacy policy. They store my IP address as well.  Grrrr

I expect better from a queer company.  And people wonder why users prefer the darknet for getting free ebooks.

Comments

[tameiki]

If I remember correctly, Rainbow Ebooks gives away one to two ebooks every weekend to every other weekend. Since I do buy books from them and already have an account, it's not an issue for me. I agree with you, though, that if they're giving away "free" books, you shouldn't have to set up such an elaborate account to get them.

What is "darknet"? I don't think I've ever heard of the term before? Just curious :)

[jumpuphigh]

Do you find their books to be any good? I have no problem setting up a bogus account with fake data using software that hides my IP if they usually have high-quality books.

Darknet refers to file-sharing groups.

[tameiki]

Do you find their books to be any good?

I've bought quite a few books there that I really like. Some of the authors I've bought are Andrew Grey, Jordan Castillo-Price, Arial Tachna, J.M. Snyder, Madeleine Urban & Abagail Roux, Mary Calmes and just last night, several from John Simpson. If you're familiar with any of those authors, that would give you an idea of what they sell. They're not any books you couldn't get elsewhere, but I like that, unlike some ebook sellers where you have to choose only one format to download at purchase, you buy the ebook then download any and all formats that the ebook is available in. They also keep the ebooks you bought in your own account "library" so you can redownload them as necessary.

[jumpuphigh]

I don't really know those authors but am willing to give free books a shot anytime. I know the ones they have free right now are DRM-free. Do you know if that is their standard policy?

[tameiki]

All the ones I've bought from them which is quite a lot! have been DRM-free. As a matter of course, I refuse to buy DRM books at all.

[jumpuphigh]

Same here.

[elf]

I've liked stuff by Jordan Castillo-Price and J.M. Snyder; I'm unfamiliar with the others listed. Others of their authors I've liked are BA Tortuga, LA Witt, Lee Rowan & ZA Maxfield. (LA Witt & ZA Maxfield are on my "buy everything when I can afford it" list; I want them to keep writing. However, I tend to wait until Fictionwise is running a sale.)

I'd expect others to be in a similar range--lots of m/m fiction with a vaguely-to-extremely slashy tone. Some plotty, some romance/erotica with a plot backdrop; like fanfic, liking one thing by an author is a strong indication that you'll like more, much more than genre or plot details. Several of those authors are fanficcers turned pro.

I believe they're all DRM-free. Most of the books are offered at several stores, like Fictionwise and AllRomanceEbooks.

[jumpuphigh]

Downloaded the two advertised for free then did a search for all books that cost less than a penny and came up with a long list which included books I have read and liked. Awesome!

[tameiki]

Oh, and since you've never read the authors I've named, you might give them a shot.

One of my favorite series is by Madeleine Urban and Abagail Roux. Cut & Run is the first book, Sticks & Stones, then Fish & Chips. It's about two FBI agents. The writing is very good, the characters feel "real" and remain as two men instead of one being a female substitute, which really irritates me. There is plot! And the fourth book in the series should be coming out in a month or so :)

[jumpuphigh]

Thanks for the recommendations. Have you read Jamie Samms?

[tameiki]

If memory serves, I think I bought some of her books and they're in my "to read" folder that I haven't gotten to yet. Would you rec some titles that you liked?

Also very highly recommended for great writing, characterizations, plot, hot and steamy scenes would be anything written by Heidi Cullinan, Marie Sexton and K.A. Mitchell. Jordan Castillo-Price's PsyCop series is also very good :)

[jumpuphigh]

I've only read "Who Says Shamrocks Aren't Lucky?" which is a short story but I liked it enough to save it in my "to buy more from this author) list.

I did download 2 of the PsyCop series so I'm glad to hear they are recommended.

I like plot and I like interesting characters so I will check out those authors. :D

I highly recommend Cecilia Tan, if you haven't read her. I adore her Magic University series. There are 2 more books in that series planned, one of which is published fanfiction. She is awesome.

[tameiki]

I've never heard of Cecilia Tan, will have to look up her books to buy. Thanks :)

If you like plot and interesting characters, you're going to love PsyCop, I think.

Now, if I could only find some uninterrupted time to read all the books I've bought but haven't read yet... ;p

[jumpuphigh]

Time. Therein lies the problem. I have way more stuff to consume than I have time to consume it in.

(Cecelia Tan is ravenna_c_tan and she publishes a couple of stories in chapters before publishing them as entire books. She also writes HP slash.)

[jumpuphigh]

Serendipity!

Cecilia is offering a book for free on Smashwords this week. Her tweet:

@ceciliatan I'm making volume one of Daron's Guitar Chronicles free in ebook for one week only: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/25887

[tameiki]

Sorry for the late reply but thank you for the heads up. I've downloaded the book. If I wind up liking it, which I think I will, I'll more than likely go buy everything else she has up for sale. XD

Thanks again!

[facetofcathy]

I, er, may have given them a fake address and phone number and it worked fine.

But then I relented and changed it to the real one because I thought I might actually buy from them, even though I found the account requirements really unnecessary. I don't recall Baen needing anything but my email and a credit card that worked.

I never got an invoice for the freebie, and I sure hope the courthouse in Woodstock didn't either!

[jumpuphigh]

the courthouse in Woodstock

*snort*

[maryavatar]

I agree they probably don't need all your info for a giveaway, but they may be collecting most of it for research on the demographics of ebook users.

Also - all websites log your IP address, or at least the server does. They may not do anything with the information gathered, but it's collected all the same. I'm a professional web developer, and every single website I've worked on has some kind of IP logger, even if it's just a basic analytics package. People like to know how often they get repeat visitors to their website, their location, what pages they visit and so on.

[jumpuphigh]

They need my phone number and full address for demographics research? I'm not willing to buy that.

If you are collecting identifying information about me, I want to know for what purpose and how long it is being kept. This is doubly true when that is sensitive information that could be used against me in the hands of others. (Not that I care who knows that I read erotica but for a queer young man in rural Mississippi, that's going to be a completely different matter in most cases.) Yes, I know websites collect IP addresses. I'm actually really conscious of that which is why I have software to hide my IP address with just a few clicks. My right to privacy is more important than a website's right to know that I like BDSM, especially when it involves ropes, threesomes and the beach.

[maryavatar]

And as I said, they probably don't need all your info.

However, as it is possible to get the ebooks by giving false information, I fail to see why we need a post warning about it - getting people to register before handing out free product is a tried and tested marketing technique. It is highly unlikely that a company whose aim is to sell these types of books would collect personal information for malicious purposes, and there are laws in place to prevent websites from sharing personal information which has been collected on-line.

I don't want to sound dismissive, but if you don't want people storing information on you, don't give them the information. If this means you can't get free stuff - that's your choice. And as for privacy - if you're buying something from a company the right to privacy means they don't share your information, not that the company shouldn't know who they're selling to. You wouldn't walk into a shop and demand that the sales staff stop looking at you because it violates your right to privacy. There are companies who do sell anonymously, but there is no law that states a company must sell anonymously, only laws that prevent them passing on that information without permission.

[jumpuphigh]

You wouldn't walk into a shop and demand that the sales staff stop looking at you because it violates your right to privacy.

No but I wouldn't expect to have to give the woman handing out the free samples my full name, full address, phone number and full birthdate just to get her sample either. I'd also be pretty annoyed if an associate followed me around and made notes on what I picked up, what I put back, and what I finally put in my cart. If they are handing out free ebooks in an attempt to get customers, requiring me to give up my privacy just to see if I want to be their customer is a bad play.