MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Hacks Amazon Kindle Hack: Read DRM-protected Mobipocket content

jharker · 12-13-2007, 03:38 PM

mrkai, at the risk of beating a dead horse even more, I wanted to put in a few words...

The point of this tool is to allow Mobipocket DRMed e-books purchased from non-Amazon suppliers to be read on the Kindle.

Now, given that the Mobipocket DRM allows an e-book to be read on up to four devices legally (without breaking the DRM), then the actual addition of another "device" to your Mobipocket book is not illegal or immoral per se.

This leaves a few other possibilities for objections. You could say one or more of the following:

Figuring out the Kindle's Mobipocket ID is "wrong", because it's reverse engineering.
Using the Kindle to read books not purchased from Amazon is "wrong"*.
Using the Kindle to read DRM-ed books not purchased from Amazon is "wrong"*.

[ * In the above I've used the term "wrong" to mean "one or more of the following: illegal, immoral, or against the Kindle's TOS." ]

Let's take these on:

#1 may be true; it depends on exactly what needs to be done to learn the Kindle's DRM and what your definition of "reverse engineering" is.
#2 is obviously false, because it is too general. Amazon provides services to allow you to put your own documents (whatever they may be) on the Kindle.
#3, which is more specific than #2, may be true. Amazon might object to you buying books from someone else and then reading them on the Kindle.

Is #1 illegal, immoral, or against the TOS? I don't know; I'm not an expert. Let's skip this for the moment. (We can come back to it later if you like.)

#3 is more interesting. Let's consider some boundary cases.

Amazon sells subscriptions to various online blogs, newspapers, etc. I could subscribe and have the blog/newspaper downloaded to my Kindle every day. In this way I would be paying Amazon and Amazon would make money.

Yet, the blogs are also free via RSS feed on the Internet. I could just as easily write a script to download the latest RSS feed, convert it to html or doc format, and email it to my Kindle via Amazon. Aside from the $0.10 transmission fee, this is free: I get the blog on my Kindle, but Amazon doesn't make any money. But no one could argue that this is illegal, immoral, or against the TOS. There is no reason I must buy this blog from Amazon.
Another case: What if I buy a DRMed Mobipocket book from a non-Amazon seller, because Amazon doesn't sell this particular book? From Amazon's point of view, it doesn't matter whether I read that book on my Kindle or elsewhere: either way, I couldn't have bought it from Amazon. Amazon doesn't lose any money. This is certainly not illegal, and I would be very much surprised if it was against the TOS. Immoral? Personally, I don't think so.
The final case, of course, is: what if I buy a DRMed Mobipocket book from elsewhere, but I could have bought it from Amazon? Is reading it on the Kindle illegal? Immoral? Against the TOS? It is probably not illegal. Based on the cases above, I would tentatively conclude that it is also not against the TOS. Is it immoral?

I suspect that you think that case "c" is both against the TOS and immoral. Is that correct? And, if so, why do you think so?

Okay, that should provide some fuel for this argument...

Can you tell I'm avoiding my thesis?

12-13-2007, 03:38 PM	#85
jharker Developer Posts: 345 Karma: 3473 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Brooklyn, NY, USA Device: iRex iLiad v1, Blackberry Tour, Kindle DX, iPad.	mrkai, at the risk of beating a dead horse even more, I wanted to put in a few words... The point of this tool is to allow Mobipocket DRMed e-books purchased from non-Amazon suppliers to be read on the Kindle. Now, given that the Mobipocket DRM allows an e-book to be read on up to four devices legally (without breaking the DRM), then the actual addition of another "device" to your Mobipocket book is not illegal or immoral per se. This leaves a few other possibilities for objections. You could say one or more of the following: Figuring out the Kindle's Mobipocket ID is "wrong", because it's reverse engineering. Using the Kindle to read books not purchased from Amazon is "wrong". Using the Kindle to read DRM-ed* books not purchased from Amazon is "wrong". [ In the above I've used the term "wrong" to mean "one or more of the following: illegal, immoral, or against the Kindle's TOS." ] Let's take these on: #1 may be true; it depends on exactly what needs to be done to learn the Kindle's DRM and what your definition of "reverse engineering" is. #2 is obviously false, because it is too general. Amazon provides services to allow you to put your own documents (whatever they may be) on the Kindle. #3, which is more specific than #2, may be true. Amazon might object to you buying books from someone else and then reading them on the Kindle. Is #1 illegal, immoral, or against the TOS? I don't know; I'm not an expert. Let's skip this for the moment. (We can come back to it later if you like.) #3 is more interesting. Let's consider some boundary cases. Amazon sells subscriptions to various online blogs, newspapers, etc. I could subscribe and have the blog/newspaper downloaded to my Kindle every day. In this way I would be paying Amazon and Amazon would make money. Yet, the blogs are also free via RSS feed on the Internet. I could just as easily write a script to download the latest RSS feed, convert it to html or doc format, and email it to my Kindle via Amazon. Aside from the $0.10 transmission fee, this is free: I get the blog on my Kindle, but Amazon doesn't make any money. But no one could argue that this is illegal, immoral, or against the TOS. There is no reason I must buy this blog from Amazon. Another case: What if I buy a DRMed Mobipocket book from a non-Amazon seller, because Amazon doesn't sell this particular book? From Amazon's point of view, it doesn't matter whether I read that book on my Kindle or elsewhere: either way, I couldn't have bought it from Amazon. Amazon doesn't lose any money. This is certainly not illegal, and I would be very much surprised if it was against the TOS. Immoral? Personally, I don't think so. The final case, of course, is: what if I buy a DRMed Mobipocket book from elsewhere, but I could have bought it from Amazon? Is reading it on the Kindle illegal? Immoral? Against the TOS? It is probably not illegal. Based on the cases above, I would tentatively conclude that it is also not against the TOS. Is it immoral? I suspect that you think that case "c" is both against the TOS and immoral. Is that correct? And, if so, why do you think so? Okay, that should provide some fuel for this argument... Can you tell I'm avoiding my thesis? Last edited by jharker; 12-13-2007 at 03:49 PM. Reason: Less ambiguous wording.