MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Change to K4PC/Mac Encryption

darryl · 03-14-2016, 10:48 PM

The problem with K4PC has been solved for the PC and no doubt will be solved soon for Mac. Thanks to Apprentice Harper and all who helped.

Perhaps I am too paranoid, but I am wondering why Amazon bothered with this. It was always going to be overcome quickly. Although it is beyond my own programming skills the same is not true of the many talented hackers who take an interest. It is difficult to believe that Amazon did not know this also, which leads to the question of why they bothered. Is it just a test of the community's response? If so, is this in preparation for some future more sinister actions? Or just information gathering.

I like Amazon, and buy most of my books from them. With Adobe's new DRM and the attempts by some to popularise reading only on their own apps, I had thought Amazon at least would stick with the status quo on DRM, perhaps picking up customers as its competitors locked down their ecosystems. But since then we have seen .kfx, which encrypts even drm-free ebooks, and now this change of key. Amazon is clearly taking a good look at this whole area. The sky is not falling yet, but the worst case scenario is being once again locked-in to one ecosystem or the other.

Any ideas? What was the purpose of Amazon's experiment in changing encryption? What is their current thinking on DRM and lock-in?

03-14-2016, 10:48 PM	#1
darryl Wizard Posts: 3,108 Karma: 60231510 Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Aura H2O, Kindle Oasis, Huwei Ascend Mate 7	Change to K4PC/Mac Encryption - Why? The problem with K4PC has been solved for the PC and no doubt will be solved soon for Mac. Thanks to Apprentice Harper and all who helped. Perhaps I am too paranoid, but I am wondering why Amazon bothered with this. It was always going to be overcome quickly. Although it is beyond my own programming skills the same is not true of the many talented hackers who take an interest. It is difficult to believe that Amazon did not know this also, which leads to the question of why they bothered. Is it just a test of the community's response? If so, is this in preparation for some future more sinister actions? Or just information gathering. I like Amazon, and buy most of my books from them. With Adobe's new DRM and the attempts by some to popularise reading only on their own apps, I had thought Amazon at least would stick with the status quo on DRM, perhaps picking up customers as its competitors locked down their ecosystems. But since then we have seen .kfx, which encrypts even drm-free ebooks, and now this change of key. Amazon is clearly taking a good look at this whole area. The sky is not falling yet, but the worst case scenario is being once again locked-in to one ecosystem or the other. Any ideas? What was the purpose of Amazon's experiment in changing encryption? What is their current thinking on DRM and lock-in?