It really isn't clear what Amazon thinks the problem is.
The undoubtedly legal use of KindlePID is to register the Kindle or iPhone with OverDrive and read lending library or purchased MOBI ebooks using Kindle software (after running them through KindleFIX). I say "undoubtedly legal" in the sense of legal from the ebook copyright holders point of view (OverDrive is the agent of the copyright holder, and they very definitely have approved the use of the Kindle or the iPhone because they accepted the PID). Amazon seems to think that software that displays ebooks also has "rights" under the DMCA, even if there is no copyright owner in the loop. Or perhaps they are just ignoring the legal use of the software because they don't like its other (perhaps less legal) uses.
It does seem that the iPhone version set this all off, and it may be that the problem is that millions of iPhone owners can now buy Kindle Store ebooks and with the PID from KindlePID these can be converted to DRM-free MOBIs using mobidedrm. KindlePID does not remove the DRM, but without KindlePID mobidedrm can't do its job (since, unlike with MobiPocket software, there is never a need for the reader to know the PID). Secret keys can be part of a DRM scheme (and the impossibility of keeping them secret is one reason why DRM does not work), so perhaps Amazon has a point.
I think it is likely that the OverDrive use of KindlePID makes it completely legal, i.e. it does not mater if there is an infringing use if there is also a substantial non-infringing use. It is scandalous that Amazon does not officially allow lending library ebooks on the Kindle, and this will become widely known if Amazon ever sues someone over KindlePID. This would be a public relations disaster for them, but companies have done worse things against their own interests in the past.
|