Was Kindle's DRM Hacked?
from the reverse-hacking dept
Engadget is reporting that someone has "hacked" the Kindle. But that's a little misleading: it doesn't mean someone has figured out how to crack the copy-protection on Kindle-formatted e-books. Rather, someone has figured out how to convert protected books in MobiPocket format (which Amazon owns) to the closely-related Kindle format. That means that if you've purchased protected Mobipocket books, you now have the option to play them on your Kindle. That's good news, but it's not exactly a major crack in the Kindle's DRM scheme. It's more reminiscent of Real's Harmony software, which allowed Real's DRMed music to be played on iPods. Still, it's only a matter of time before someone figures out how to crack Kindle's DRM wide open. My guess is that so far no one has bothered because there aren't enough Kindles around for anyone to care.
Tim Lee is an expert at the Techdirt Insight Community. To get insight and analysis from Tim Lee and other experts on challenges your company faces, click here.
Reader Comments (rss)
(Flattened / Threaded)
Why aren't they ALREADY compatible? by Damien on Dec 14th, 2007 @ 10:19am
Ok, so Amazon owns the MobiPocket digital book format and produces the Kindle. Why exactly aren't they compatible already? That would seem like a no-brainer.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
The Kindle Would Be More Useful If by Thought Cancer on Dec 14th, 2007 @ 10:33am
The Kindle would become infinitely more useful if Amazon provided software to convert other file formats to Kindle (kind of like how Sony's "mp3" players would take your tracks and convert them to the fairly useless ATRAC format).
For example, I have a respectable collection of books in PDF, CHM, and TXT format that I would LOVE to take with me in a Kindle. But there's no real easy way to convert books in other formats to Kindle, and even less so if I wanted to batch convert thousands of books (as I do).
If only the Kindle were able to handle other book formats, it's sales would skyrocket. I'm not the only person with a large digital book collection, and I'm not about to rebuy my library.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Re: The Kindle Would Be More Useful If by John Duncan Yoyo on Dec 14th, 2007 @ 10:54am
I believe you can get files converted by Amazon by emailing the file to them and they either email back for free or send via wireless at a small charge.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Re: Re: The Kindle Would Be More Useful If by Amalthia on Dec 14th, 2007 @ 3:07pm
Actually it's not free, it costs 10 cents per file.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
The future should be Mobipocket by David Mould on Dec 14th, 2007 @ 4:51pm
Despite Kindle's good points it's current weaknesses don't make up for it's strengths. Too US centric today. iRex's iLiad supports the Mobipocket format and with their recent deal with Dymocks in Australia the device can use the onboard WiFi connection to download the eBook content there in the store.
That model is certainly more flexible than relying on EV-DO services.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
kindling by Alfred E. Neuman on Dec 14th, 2007 @ 5:23pm
Hmmm, looks like it might burn.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Kindle conversion by DeveloperZero on Dec 16th, 2007 @ 12:05am
There are, in fact, two ways to convert files. When you register your kindle, you are given to e-mail addresses; the first one converts the file, then sends it back to you, the second one converts the file, and sends it to your kindle. The former is free, and the latter costs 10cents each.
The kindle is compatible with about half a dozen file formats (including .txt and .pdf), but they have to be sent to one of the above mentioned addresses and converted first. However, it is NOT compatible with any form of DRM file except the proprietary kindle format (which is just Mobipocket with an extra digit added to the encryption key).
Note: All the above information is secondhand knowledge gained from reading the Mobilread.com Forums, the best place to go to find anything related to eBooks.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Re: The Kindle Would Be More Useful If by Mike on Dec 31st, 2007 @ 1:52am
Very recently I came across one website which provide ebook conversion service along with kindle ebook conversion at very affordable rates, mostly for the PDF ebook which consists of tables and images which are quite tough to convert them to ebook format such as mobipocket, kindle or MS reader, but I have found that the above ebook conversion company converts these type of ebooks in more profession and efficient way at very reasonable rate.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Re: Re: Re: The Kindle Would Be More Useful If by Phuoc Le on Feb 8th, 2008 @ 2:17pm
Actually, do your research before you speak.
It is free if you don't want to have it delivered wirelessly.
Just email it to yourname@free.kindle.com instead and the conversion will be EMAILED back to you. Then you load it on your Kindle via USB.
The 10 cents fee is only if you wanted the converted document delivered wirelessly. There is a charge from Sprint for that after all so they need to recoup it.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Add Your Comment