Quote:
Originally Posted by calvin-c
That's why I started my reply by saying we need to define 'cracking'. IMO, circumvention is not the same as cracking. If your definition of cracking includes circumvention, then I'll agree with you-all DRM that doesn't make an ebook unusable can be circumvented. Hell, if necessary I can display the ebook on the screen while I retype it manually. How's any DRM going to prevent that? So if that's your point, then you're right-there's no such thing as 'perfect' DRM.
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Technically, yes, breaking the encryption algorithm is not the same thing as circumventing it. In reality though, the results are the same. Most people use the term "cracking" when referring to DRM schemes in the sense that the DRM has been defeated and the content retrieved. Whether that means breaking/circumventing/etc doesn't matter.
What makes DRM fundamentally flawed is that you don't have to actually break the encryption algorithm in order to remove the DRM. There's nothing they can do to change that.
I don't really consider manual methods (retyping, etc) to be the same thing, but those are valid as well. Most of the time they're not necessary. Manual methods are just a temporary solution until someone figures out a better way of circumventing it.