Question about ebooks without DRM

[sauron3421]

In an ebook file where the DRM has been removed, does any identifying information remain in the file code which could subsequently be linked to the person who originally obtained the file WITH DRM? (E.g. Adobe ID, Kindle ID or user name, etc).

[NETLOLA]

Originally Posted by sauron3421

In an ebook file where the DRM has been removed, does any identifying information remain in the file code which could subsequently be linked to the person who originally obtained the file WITH DRM? (E.g. Adobe ID, Kindle ID or user name, etc).

I would be really interested in the answer because I routinely remove the DRM from all my ePub purchases. I like having the choice of being able to read the book in any App/device I choose.

[Yyzguy]

I have wondered about this too. Does anyone know the answer?

[darryl]

I don't know the answer, but I would not be confident that all identifying information is removed by any particular conversion. Short of converting to plain text and going through the resulting file line by line with a hex viewer/editor or similar it is difficult to see how you could ever be sure.

[belden]

Originally Posted by darryl

I don't know the answer, but I would not be confident that all identifying information is removed by any particular conversion. Short of converting to plain text and going through the resulting file line by line with a hex viewer/editor or similar it is difficult to see how you could ever be sure.

If you use a program like Calibre to open and unpack an epub file, you can basically do just this. It's just an archive like a ZIP or RAR file with a bunch of HTML files with the text, some image files for the pictures, templates for the layout, metadata, and other stuff. I don't know the answer to the original question and I don't know how to go about making sure, but I'm pretty confident that if you pulled out just the HTML files, took a quick look at the code to verify there was no personal data, and then converted them into a new file there wouldn't be any accompanying personal data in the new file.

[wallcraft]

Removing DRM does not typically change the contents of a file, except for the parts that specify the encryption keys, so any other identifying information will still be there.

Some Secure eReader ebooks used to include the owner's name in the text of the ebook, but this kind of "social" DRM has never caught on with the major DRM providers. I don't think Amazon or Adobe or B&N can tell who originally purchased and downloaded the ebook once DRM has been removed, but I am not 100% sure of this. I would be more nearly sure if I had converted the ebook in Calibre, e.g. MOBI to ePub (and back to MOBI if necessary) or even ePub to ePub.

I don't worry about this when removing DRM for personal use, but I if I was storing the ebooks in a cloud owned by an ebook vendor I might be more concerned (although not by much).

[pwalker8]

I typically remove DRM for a couple of reasons - reading on the platform of my choice and not losing the book when the vendor goes way are the two primary. Since no one except me can access those books, it really doesn't matter all that much to me if there is an identifying mark on the books. As long as a copy of those books don't start showing up on pirate sites or bitstreams, I really doubt a publisher is going to hassle anyone over it.

[Yyzguy]

Originally Posted by wallcraft

I would be more nearly sure if I had converted the ebook in Calibre, e.g. MOBI to ePub (and back to MOBI if necessary) or even ePub to ePub.

Why are you more certain that this conversion process would remove identifying information?

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by Yyzguy

Why are you more certain that this conversion process would remove identifying information?

It removes any non-standard metadata and any files in an ePub not associated with the ebook. It does not typically change the text, but it does change the stylesheet and other HTML elements.