Adobe ePub DRM cracked?

[dadioflex]

Edit.

[Moejoe]

Originally Posted by dadioflex

But Harry, is it "right" that someone who cracks a DRM scheme could be sharing a cell with a pedophile?

Or even worse, the CEO of a bank!

[joblack]

Originally Posted by Moejoe

Or even worse, the CEO of a bank!

LOL ... pedophiles will be no problem if you're over 18, but bankers will get your last saved money

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by dadioflex

But Harry, is it "right" that someone who cracks a DRM scheme could be sharing a cell with a pedophile?

Please don't misunderstand me - I don't personally give two hoots about the legality or otherwise of DRM removal; in fact, I think it's ridiculous that it should be illegal to remove the DRM from something that you've perfectly legally bought. As I've just said in another thread, what I object to as a point of principle about tools like this is that they send out completely the wrong message about DRM.

I think we are all agreed that we'd like to see publishers sell DRM-free books, right? Tools like this will do the opposite - they will only encourage people to buy from publishers who use DRM, and give them the idea that what they are doing is some sort of "success". What we should be doing is entirely the opposite - NOT buy from publishers who use DRM, but from those who don't use it.

[-Thomas-]

@Alex and all other moderators: As so often before, you and your moderator colleagues should try to not turn this platform into a support forum for DRM cracking. You did a great job in the mobidedrm discussions before, so please stick to the policies you established there (discussion is fine, advise how to use tools should be restricted).

In this context, please have a look at this post. IMO this posting goes far beyond the pale and should be edited in some way...

[RobbieClarken]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I think we are all agreed that we'd like to see publishers sell DRM-free books, right?

Not necessarily. I think many people here dislike DRM because it limits the use of the files they purchase. If there were a form of DRM that guaranteed I'd be able to read the books I buy indefinitely into the future and on any device I purchase then I would be perfectly happy to buy books with that DRM. So if it were legal to distribute these DRM removal tools then DRM wouldn't be an issue and I wouldn't care if all ebooks came with DRM. I guess what I am trying to say is that DRM is not necessarily a problem as long as people are free to find ways to remove it and thus have full access to the content they buy.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

From another point of view:

There are so many wonderful books by out of copyright authors that are free.

And, don't forget.........you can download and read your library books.

This is true. But some of the books I follow are not available for free or from Overdrive. So the only way to get them in eBook form is the get the DRM infected editions.

[Alexander Turcic]

Originally Posted by -Thomas-

In this context, please have a look at this post. IMO this posting goes far beyond the pale and should be edited in some way...

Thomas, thanks for the pointer! We removed the questionable parts.

[Mr. Goodbar]

Originally Posted by epiphany

Not necessarily. I think many people here dislike DRM because it limits the use of the files they purchase. If there were a form of DRM that guaranteed I'd be able to read the books I buy indefinitely into the future and on any device I purchase then I would be perfectly happy to buy books with that DRM. So if it were legal to distribute these DRM removal tools then DRM wouldn't be an issue and I wouldn't care if all ebooks came with DRM. I guess what I am trying to say is that DRM is not necessarily a problem as long as people are free to find ways to remove it and thus have full access to the content they buy.

Certainly no DRM makes it the easiest method for ensuring future readibility, but I agree with your sentiments. I don't really care about the DRM as long as it doesn't limit me to the type of device I read on and the number of devices I use. I always liked the ereader drm for this reason. Plug in your name and credit card number and you're set. Unfortunately there are not versions of that software for the current crop of ereaders.

[CTH]

The problem with ALL DRM is that it only affects those that has paid for the product, those who download it has already stripped the DRM long time ago... I suspect that the only way to get DRM free products is to break all DRM so that there is no point in selling products with DRM...

[joblack]

Originally Posted by CTH

The problem with ALL DRM is that it only affects those that has paid for the product, those who download it has already stripped the DRM long time ago... I suspect that the only way to get DRM free products is to break all DRM so that there is no point in selling products with DRM...

The problem is if your ebook provider gets bancrupt you can throw away all your bought ebooks ...

[JSWolf]

When Amazon decided to stop supporting eBooks (before the Kindle) they really pissed off a lot of people who ended up losing a lot of eBooks because of DRM. The worst were the ones in PDF.

[delphidb96]

Originally Posted by -Thomas-

@Alex and all other moderators: As so often before, you and your moderator colleagues should try to not turn this platform into a support forum for DRM cracking. You did a great job in the mobidedrm discussions before, so please stick to the policies you established there (discussion is fine, advise how to use tools should be restricted).

In this context, please have a look at this post. IMO this posting goes far beyond the pale and should be edited in some way...

I'm gonna have to take the other stance here. While I don't think the News and Commentary section is the right place, I think that providing at least ONE part of the forum to the discussion of how the various DRM methods work and how to crack them IS appropriate. DRM is a scourge on the widespread acceptance of ebooks and DRM-cracking tools have a valid place here.

Derek

[kovidgoyal]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Tools like this will do the opposite - they will only encourage people to buy from publishers who use DRM, and give them the idea that what they are doing is some sort of "success". What we should be doing is entirely the opposite - NOT buy from publishers who use DRM, but from those who don't use it.

I disagree. If DRM is not cracked publishers are going to have no incentive to stop using it. DRM, if it works, is an excellent way for publishers to extract more money from content. If DRM worked, all publishers would use it. It's only because DRM is regularly cracked that publishers eventually realize that DRM doesn't work and stop using it. Just look at the trajectory the music industry followed.

[Xenophon]

Originally Posted by delphidb96

I'm gonna have to take the other stance here. While I don't think the News and Commentary section is the right place, I think that providing at least ONE part of the forum to the discussion of how the various DRM methods work and how to crack them IS appropriate. DRM is a scourge on the widespread acceptance of ebooks and DRM-cracking tools have a valid place here.

Derek

Politically speaking, I like the way you are thinking. Sadly, the DMCA makes it a felony to provide DRM-cracking tools to someone else, to tell someone where to get such tools, or to tell them how to use the tools. That means that the forum you're suggesting is highly likely to run afoul of DMCA problems. And that would be a bad thing to expose our hosts to.

Xenophon

P.S. I think that the DMCA provision are obviously unconstitutional, but the American judicial system appears to disagree with me. Whadda they know, anyway.