5 ms·

> Kindle books work on Apple and Amazon hardware, and have a wider selection. Kindle's DRM seems to be a sweet spot: effective enough to prevent casual piracy,

> Kindle books work on Apple and Amazon hardware, and have a wider selection. Kindle's DRM seems to be a sweet spot: effective enough to prevent casual piracy, but generally not annoying, and easy to bypass for anyone who cares about controlling their own media.

yummyfajitas 16y ago
Do you have more info on this? If true, the ability to export to ePub would induce me to buy books in kindle format. [edit: looks like there are some python scripts to do this. http://pastebin.com/f696ea728 http://pastebin.com/f696ea728 This one claims to do the job. ]
- jmillikin 16y ago
  Wired has a short article on removing Kindle DRM at < http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/01/how-to-strip-drm-from-kindle-e-books-and-others/ http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/01/how-to-strip-drm-from... >. You can also use the more technical solution at < http://stackoverflow.org/wiki/Removing_DRM_from_Kindle_books http://stackoverflow.org/wiki/Removing_DRM_from_Kindle_books >, which is more annoying for one-offs but much easier to automate.
- technomancy 16y ago
  > If true, the ability to export to ePub would induce me to buy books in kindle format. Keep in mind that by doing so you would still be supporting a consumer-hostile ecosystem.
  - lionhearted 16y ago
    > Keep in mind that by doing so you would still be supporting a consumer-hostile ecosystem. I find Kindle to be a massive upgrade over tangible books for me - I travel, so physical books get gifted away after finishing them, while I get to keep my Kindle books. And they're cheaper. As a consumer, it's been a huge win for me. Could it be even better than now? Yeah sure probably, but I love paying less for books, getting them instantly, and being able to keep them instead of gifting them on for weight/space reasons.
  - khafra 16y ago
    Compared to what? I think it'd be easier/cheaper for anyone of moderate technical skill to learn how to remove DRM from a kindle book in order to duplicate it than to scan or photocopy a physical book in order duplicate it.
    - technomancy 16y ago
      Many tech publishers sell unrestricted .mobi files if you buy directly from them. Some sci-fi publishers do as well, though most of what I read on my Kindle comes from feedbooks.com. I didn't say don't do it; just to be aware that by buying books from Amazon, you're sending a message that you're OK with DRM.
deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
- jmillikin 16y ago
  According to the Topaz developer[1], it was cracked over a year ago; apparently the Topaz algorithm was, like .azw before it, trivially bypassed by prodding at the KindleForPC application. Furthermore, Topaz is a rarely-used specialty format. It has existed for at least three years (based on the blog's date and text), but AZW/mobi continues to be by far the dominant format for purchased Kindle books. [1] http://beesbuzz.biz/blog/e/2010/01/07-interesting_topaz_drm_development.php http://beesbuzz.biz/blog/e/2010/01/07-interesting_topaz_drm_...

yummyfajitas 16y ago

Do you have more info on this? If true, the ability to export to ePub would induce me to buy books in kindle format. [edit: looks like there are some python scripts to do this. http://pastebin.com/f696ea728 http://pastebin.com/f696ea728 This one claims to do the job. ]

jmillikin 16y ago
Wired has a short article on removing Kindle DRM at < http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/01/how-to-strip-drm-from-kindle-e-books-and-others/ http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/01/how-to-strip-drm-from... >. You can also use the more technical solution at < http://stackoverflow.org/wiki/Removing_DRM_from_Kindle_books http://stackoverflow.org/wiki/Removing_DRM_from_Kindle_books >, which is more annoying for one-offs but much easier to automate.
technomancy 16y ago
> If true, the ability to export to ePub would induce me to buy books in kindle format. Keep in mind that by doing so you would still be supporting a consumer-hostile ecosystem.
- lionhearted 16y ago
  > Keep in mind that by doing so you would still be supporting a consumer-hostile ecosystem. I find Kindle to be a massive upgrade over tangible books for me - I travel, so physical books get gifted away after finishing them, while I get to keep my Kindle books. And they're cheaper. As a consumer, it's been a huge win for me. Could it be even better than now? Yeah sure probably, but I love paying less for books, getting them instantly, and being able to keep them instead of gifting them on for weight/space reasons.
- khafra 16y ago
  Compared to what? I think it'd be easier/cheaper for anyone of moderate technical skill to learn how to remove DRM from a kindle book in order to duplicate it than to scan or photocopy a physical book in order duplicate it.
  - technomancy 16y ago
    Many tech publishers sell unrestricted .mobi files if you buy directly from them. Some sci-fi publishers do as well, though most of what I read on my Kindle comes from feedbooks.com. I didn't say don't do it; just to be aware that by buying books from Amazon, you're sending a message that you're OK with DRM.

deleted 16y ago

[deleted]

jmillikin 16y ago
According to the Topaz developer[1], it was cracked over a year ago; apparently the Topaz algorithm was, like .azw before it, trivially bypassed by prodding at the KindleForPC application. Furthermore, Topaz is a rarely-used specialty format. It has existed for at least three years (based on the blog's date and text), but AZW/mobi continues to be by far the dominant format for purchased Kindle books. [1] http://beesbuzz.biz/blog/e/2010/01/07-interesting_topaz_drm_development.php http://beesbuzz.biz/blog/e/2010/01/07-interesting_topaz_drm_...