Quote:
Originally Posted by i♥cabbages
As for Topaz, how does one identify which books are Topaz, and/or could you point me at a few? No promises, but since I'm on a roll, I'll take a look.
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All TOPAZ ebooks, including samples, appear to be encrypted and we know almost nothing about the underlying format (because the ebooks are always encrypted). We know they can include embedded fonts, which may be why Amazon encrypts the samples. It is possible that removing the encryption will still leave an obscure mess to wade through. The only way we have to test a DRM-free version would be to demonstrate portability between several Kindles, and if Amazon was being really clever their Readers would not display DRM-free TOPAZ at all. There is always the ereader2html approach of stripping and exploding in one app, but that was based on understanding the underlying format. Calibre is the best tool for DRM-free format shifting, but if every single DRM-free TOPAZ in the wild came from an unTOPAZ script could the Calibre developers still work on format shifting them without legal worries?
Anyway, see
How to tell between the formats? for a recent discussion of identifying TOPAZ ebooks, which includes the names and ASINs of several TOPAZ ebooks.
The reason many readers want access to TOPAZ is that they are often unique to the Kindle Store, i.e. available in legal ebook form nowhere else. I know some think "legal" and DRM-stripping don't go together well, but TOPAZ is actually one of the best counter examples. If I buy a TOPAZ from Amazon, why can't I read it on whatever device I own? Also, if the formatting is crappy why can't I fix it myself?