New version of DRM removal tools ("DeDRM")

[chrisridd]

Originally Posted by Quoth

That's what epubs do / are.

Exactly.

Originally Posted by Quoth

The .calibreplugin is a bit long and .cpi is used up already. Maybe .cpin as an ending?

Yeah it was long just as an example of something that definitely would not collide with any other software. Obviously the hard part of all this would be the bike shedding to choose the extension :-)

[lkmiller]

There is newer code in the alpha release than in the beta release of 10.0.9. The auto-release alpha doesn't change the version number. You can see the details at the bottom of the changelog page.

[lkmiller]

Originally Posted by jhowell

The description of that release states, “this is a beta / RC release before v10.1.0 is released.” So it is both.



From the statement above clearly NoDRM in August meant for version 10.1.0 to be a “real” release, not a beta or release candidate.

I don’t know why, but the plan changed and as things are set up now any future changes will automatically cause a new 10.0.9 alpha release to be generated. There is no indication that NoDRM plans to ever make any further actual releases at this point.

The auto-release/alpha was originally set up on the same release page as the main repo. Unfortunately GitHub sends out notifications for any new release whether auto, pre-release, or regular release. So noDRM moved the auto-release into a seperate repo to avoid spamming folks with notifications whenever they made any little change. At that point, I guess they decided to leave the main repo otherwise as is with 10.0.3 as the latest regular release and 10.0.9 tagged pre-release. Until something really breaks, that works well enough.

[lkmiller]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

@pdurrant - Since I see it coming up every now and then in Calibre forum, perhaps add the first post to mention 'use DeDRM_plugin.zip instead of the main zip file.' At least a bit more visibility.

If I had a dime for every time I've explained unzip this don't unzip that, I'd be rich. Yet I've still managed to make that mistake myself at least once or twice.

[ratinox]

Originally Posted by lkmiller

If I had a dime for every time I've explained unzip this don't unzip that, I'd be rich. Yet I've still managed to make that mistake myself at least once or twice.

Skeuomorphism needs to die in a dumpster fire.

[nabsltd]

Originally Posted by jhowell

The beta release on the Releases page for DeDRM was produced on August 2, 2023. However there is a newer alpha release, last updated on December 21 with additional changes. They are both version 10.0.9.

Unfortunately, you can't compare the auto-release directly to the main code, but looking at the commits, it's just a couple of fixes to regexes in the PDF code.

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Ofc Amazon can't tell how many people use what. It's just my guess that they don't much care, as long as the regular version can't remove their newer DRM. As I said, I could be wrong. But it's a bit telling that they updated their DRM several times right after the regular plugin acquired the ability to remove DRM from KFX files, and they didn't after the beta version with that ability was released.

(bold mine)

Just a minor nitpick, the "newer" DRM that Amazon kept switching to was already implemented when KFX came out. It was the same encryption algorithm(s), just scrambled/obfuscated in so many different ways. Prior to the beta realease each scrambled code was treated as an individual, instead of attacking the scrambler itself. Since the descrambler works for all versions implemented, Amazon cannot simply switch to a previously unused version anymore.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

(bold mine)

Just a minor nitpick, the "newer" DRM that Amazon kept switching to was already implemented when KFX came out. It was the same encryption algorithm(s), just scrambled/obfuscated in so many different ways. Prior to the beta realease each scrambled code was treated as an individual, instead of attacking the scrambler itself. Since the descrambler works for all versions implemented, Amazon cannot simply switch to a previously unused version anymore.

Ah. That's good to know.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

(bold mine)

Just a minor nitpick, the "newer" DRM that Amazon kept switching to was already implemented when KFX came out. It was the same encryption algorithm(s), just scrambled/obfuscated in so many different ways. Prior to the beta realease each scrambled code was treated as an individual, instead of attacking the scrambler itself. Since the descrambler works for all versions implemented, Amazon cannot simply switch to a previously unused version anymore.

Also, I might be confusing things a bit here, but I think that Amazon didn't actually change their DRM, just made it harder to access the easier-to-break formats.

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Also, I might be confusing things a bit here, but I think that Amazon didn't actually change their DRM, just made it harder to access the easier-to-break formats.

In hindsight we always wonder why it took so long to search. Why, oh why, didn't we just start looking at the end? After all, there is evil jigsaw puzzles that have no edge pieces, no preview picture, and extra pieces in the bag.

[lkmiller]

Originally Posted by nabsltd

Unfortunately, you can't compare the auto-release directly to the main code, but looking at the commits, it's just a couple of fixes to regexes in the PDF code.

List of changes at the bottom of the Changelog page.

[noDRM]

Right now, I don't think there's any advantage in actually releasing a 10.1.0 build. I was assuming that Amazon would be updating their DRM shortly after a bunch of changes were added to be able to handle newer KFX versions, and I was also assuming that a full new release (which typically leads to a bunch of ebook-related news sites to post articles like "New DRM remover for Amazon books just released!!" clickbait articles) would just lead to Amazon updating their DRM again.

So I made 10.0.9 an RC version to get it out to people that need it (want to remove DRM from Amazon books) but hopefully don't give Amazon too big a reason to immediately deploy new DRMs. That didn't happen, though, as far as I know 10.0.9 can still handle quite a few Amazon books even half a year after its release.

Given how well 10.0.9 (or even the latest auto-releases) seem to work for people, there's no reason for people to not just install the newest version. There's a beta that can be downloaded from Github, and even an automated alpha release which I added to make it easier for people to download and test the most up-to-date code.

I don't see an advantage in making a full new release right now, I just see the risk of Amazon investing more time and money in breaking it again. At least right now, in the eyes of the public, people are still like "Amazon DRM is hard to remove, not worth the effort".

I'm still skimming through all the github issue reports from time to time, it's not like I lost interest in the tools. Latest fixes / changes to the tools (apart from the one fix I just committed) are from December, that hardly counts as "abandoned". Though I did stop commenting on every "Help, X doesn't work" issue report that was either caused by user error or outdated tools.

Of course, development has slowed down quite a bit now that most of the bugs and features I've wanted to fix/add with my fork are fixed/implemented and I lost interest in supporting entirely new DRMs because I don't want to deal with another false DMCA claim like last time.

Yes, installing the plugin isn't as easy as going to Calibre's plugin search and you do need to deal with the double-ZIP "issue" - but the easier and more popular this becomes, the higher are the chances that Amazon or Adobe or whoever will do more against it ...

[lkmiller]

@noDRM
Thanks for your thoughts and for your continued maintenance of the tools.

[Sirtel]

Thank you for a thorough explanation, and of course the work you've done on the tools. I think you're right in not wanting to attract Amazon's attention any more than absolutely necessary, and the newest version is available for those who want it.

I'm glad you still have an interest in the DRM issue. It would be a sad day indeed if no one cared anymore.

[jhowell]

My assumptions were wrong. Thanks NoDRM for clarifying the situation and for continuing to maintain this project.