Working link for Z-Lib: https://zlibrary-asia.se/
There’re books I’m searching for that haven’t been uploaded to the mainstream ebook sites (libgen, z-lib, AA, etc.) mainly lifestyle magazines and non-fiction books. I checked the links in the megathread and those sites don’t have them either. So where do you all go when all else fails?
I’d love to learn how to pirate books on my own, since my only exposure is ripping books from The Internet Archive with Calibre. I’ve made book requests to Z-Library, but who knows when an uploader may get to it. VK used to be one of my go-to sources for magazines and novels, but it’s harder to find legitimate links and many of the older uploaders seemed to have disappeared. Twirpx doesn’t seem to get uploads frequently enough, so I’ve really only used it to upload new books myself or download outdated texts.
There are tools for stripping DRM from ebooks, including Amazon Kindle ebooks, but the version I have is pretty old. I got the tools from an invite-only torrent booksite. I was promptly banned because it’s basically impossible to keep a good ratio on a torrent site that only serves ebooks. Only torrent site I’ve ever been removed from for low ratio.
The issue that do strip the DRM yourself means you first have to purchase a copy to strip of DRM, which many people who are trying to find obscure books aren’t ready to do… because if they were, they would have already bought a copy.
I know the feeling, one of my favorite film analysts, Rob Ager, locked up his analysis behind paywalls a long time ago. I eventually paid for access to the things I wanted from him, because no one else has them.
EDIT: aaaarg.fail used to be quite the repository of Critical Theory books (all non-fiction philosophy) but now redirects to textz.com which has a smaller repository of Critical Theory work. notbored.org also has a selection of Situationist texts. Somehow, I don’t think this is the kind of stuff you’re looking for, though.
I’m happy you’re here! I only use Calibre since I’m not too familiar with DRMs and their removal. I wouldn’t even mind buying a copy myself honestly, but they aren’t available where I’m from and to order online would cost me a leg and an arm due to shipping, clearance and all the various taxes added on to imports.
Jeeze, you know, that’s the kind of stuff that makes me appreciate piracy.
The amount of media I’ve digested from other countries that I would have otherwise never been able to have been exposed to, because the cost of importing would be too high, is a lot. Piracy has literally made me a more well-rounded human by giving me access to information from other cultures and not restricting me to my own native culture’s viewpoints.
It’s the reason why I love piracy and OER so much! Sci-Hub was such a great help when I wanted to read research papers and archive when I wanted to read an important article. It’s disheartening the way information is being so heavily gatekeeped and access to products being commercialized using a subscription-based model rather than a one and done deal.