[taming]

There are two separate issues. One has to do with dictionary support for Adobe DRM books--which, as pholy pointed out, would require that they go through the Adobe renderer in a different way then they do now. Kobo already pays, I believe on a per download basis, for every ePUB that runs through the Adobe process of attaching the DRM and then working properly on the readers. It may be (we weren't told much about the financials behind this kind of thing) that the fee to Adobe would change if dictionary support were to be added in.

The other issue is non-DRM books. Kobo has its own DRM for epUB files. This results in kepub books. Kobo has their own renderer for these and they do not pay a fee to Adobe when folks use Kobo's own proprietary format. It's like Amazon not paying Adobe because they have their own drm scheme. Currently, things are set up so that non DRM ePUB books do not go through either renderer in a way that would work with the dictionary. We were given to understand that the non-DRM books could, in the future, be processed so that the dictionary would work with them using the Kobo renderer, but that this is not something they appear to have placed high on their list, for now. These things change over time.

From my perspective, I'd like to see Kobo put most of their effort into making their own proprietary scheme produce really great versions of ePUB files. Some people might still download the ADE ePUB books, or download them only to strip the DRM and use them DRM free, but the whole process of buying a book and just using it would be a more enjoyable experience. I guess I'm OK with some features only being available for kepub books if kepub books are amazingly great.

Hopefully, at some point, DRM will only be a distant memory and these sorts of considerations will not have to come into play.