Thank you for responding. I bought the book through Borders, which is out of business now. Hence, my problem. I'll bet you are right, but if anyone has any other ideas, I would appreciate it. I have a Nook tablet. I wish I could just transfer it to that. I know B&N bought the customer list from Borders (my name was on it and I received an email from B&N about this). Maybe they could do some magic...just saying.

I understand what you are saying. However:

(1) I have the paid for (expensive) Adobe Acrobat, and there are myriad problems with working in that. Every single time I try to do something, I have to grunt and gesture and hold my head and arms in just the right way to get it to work. And even then, it usually doesn't work correctly. Let me put it this way: I love being able to have pdfs of just about anything I want to save on my computer. But (and that's a very big "but"--no pun intended) I hate working with anything that Adobe has. It is still never user-friendly. So one can certainly understand my frustration with Adobe Digital Editions. (I really don't care about the politics and other details--I just want to read the book I paid for.)

(2) If I paid for something, I really don't want a copy of it. I just want to read the original version. So I don't care about the restrictions on the digital book. I just want to read it. Surely someone can figure out a way to handle this what-should-be-simple-not-rocket-science request. I paid for a book, I own it, I bought it, it is mine...you get the point. Just find a way to let me be able to read it.

I really want to live a simple life. Why does something like reading something I paid for have to be so complicated? It's not like I'm trying to sneak something by anybody, or cheat, or lie, or steal, or whatever.

Enough said...If anyone actually has a solution to my dilemma, then please let me know. I appreciate anyone who has taken the time to respond to me...

I'm sure we're at an impasse here, as I don't think you really get what I'm trying to say. It's all moot anyway, because there apparently is no solution to the problem at hand. I don't really care about the electronic publishing rules. I still don't see that it should take changing an international law to be able to read a book that I purchased. I'm not trying to copy it or resell it or do anything else but read it. Why is there a rule about that? It doesn't make any sense for something to be "programmed" to not allow somebody to read something they bought. Isn't a copyright supposed to protect someone from infringing on someone else's intellectual property? Well, I am not infringing on anything if I just want to read what I already own. So the "rules" thing doesn't really explain anything. I was able to read the book before. I have a receipt for my purchase. What has changed except that Borders has gone out of business? I mean...really, who never changes her computer? Or has it break down? Or whatever...I should be buying a license to a book and not a license for that book to be on a specific computer. How stupid is that?

And I certainly understand that I can't have everything I want, and that I can't expect everything to work the way I want it to. That's very obvious. I am saying that if anyone sells me (or anyone else, for that matter) something (no matter what format it's in), they are doing something illegal (as in: against the law) if they don't allow me to access what I paid for.

If I put that another way, you're right where I thought you were--not explaining anything to me about why I can't access what I bought. Suppose I go to Barnes and Noble and buy a paperback. I have bought the item and am walking out the door with my purchase. A B&N employee (or the police--or maybe the FBI or a UN representative) stops me at the door and tells me that I cannot take home what I paid for. This man knocks me down to the floor and takes my book away. This illustrious person then proceeds to put me in jail for causing him so much trouble and aggravation. Now of course I have exaggerated this story quite a bit, but this is exactly how I feel.

I don't need someone putting me down and implying that I have ridiculous expectations. It is very simple. It is not rocket science. Read my lips (or my typing, anyway). I bought something and I want to be able to access it.

What I need is a solution, not to be patronized. I know that I don't know everything about everything--and I don't pretend that things are any different than that. Again, I just want a solution, and so far I'm not hearing anything that solves my dilemma.

[Message was edited by: gsgfgma]  According to another source:  The way Adobe DRM works, the content is licensed to a particular user, and in order to transfer content from one device to another, you need to active all of them to the same user.  Your PDF is licensed to the user that was on your old computer.  That user was most likely anonymous and not tied to a particular AdobeID, meaning that there is no way for to activate your current computer or nook to the same user. This tells me that it IS the fault of Adobe, because of the way things are set up. So...how about it Adobe, if you want to improve your software...please change this whole setup thing. Come on, we like PDFs and you have potentially great products (some of them free). How about making them user friendly (as I mentioned before) and having happy campers for customers (so to speak)? Thank you in advance for being on the forefront of a renewed trend to great customer service!