Amazon and DRM changes

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by jhowell

It is possible. There were glitches in the download-and-transfer function that occurred prior to the announcement that it was being discontinued. In retrospect they were likely caused by Amazon preparing for what was coming.

I remember glithes after the announcement too. Mightve screwed over a few people (though they could get the book off their Kindle via wifi unless it was broken or something.)

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Is it possible for someone to change the version number of K4PC 1.17 to be the same as the current version so it fools Amazon and allows all downloads?

I do believe that there are creative solutions like that waiting to be found along with other lesser-known ways of defeating Kindle DRM that are only infrequently mentioned on MobileRead. For example, back when the Kindle Cloud Reader was able to download books for offline viewing there was a script that could export them from web browser storage and remove their DRM. That is no longer possible.

I don't know about your particular suggestion. Something like that could work but there is a danger. Current DRM removal techniques make use of books previously downloaded by Amazon's software and do not involve interaction with Amazon's servers. Changing how apps interact with Amazon runs a much greater risk of detection and possible banning of your Amazon account.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by jhowell

Changing how apps interact with Amazon runs a much greater risk of detection and possible banning of your Amazon account.

Or they end up cutting off older versions entirely if it gets too widespread.

Somewhat similar: After Internet Archive/Open Library switched to 1-hour loans, it was still possible to manipulate URLs to get the inaccessible ACSM downloads. So they switched to Readium LCP.

[meeera]

Originally Posted by JBaby

I see those statements all the time. One of my favorites is “Kindle was the first ereader so that’s why it’s the best.” Another good one is, “Amazon invented ebooks.” I love debunking those statements. .

Ha! My Apple Newton would like a word

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by JBaby

I see those statements all the time. One of my favorites is “Kindle was the first ereader so that’s why it’s the best.” Another good one is, “Amazon invented ebooks.” I love debunking those statements.

I think Kindle is a good device, but I don’t think it’s the end all be all of ereaders. Another factor that plays into all of this is that there are a lot of people who are strangely, imo, loyal to Amazon. It’s as if some of these people think they’re close, personal friends of Jeff himself. In a few threads it got almost sycophantic, but I don’t know what they think they’re gaining. I’ve never understood such brand loyalty.

I found this thread where a lot of people seem... defensive.

Some posts of note:
- Kobo will eventually do it too!
- People complaining the article is "misleading" or "rage bait"
- People defending DRM (???)
- People defending the "you only buy a license" thing (???)

Sigh.

[JBaby]

Originally Posted by meeera

Ha! My Apple Newton would like a word

My Handspring Visor would like a word too. I shock people when I tell them I’ve been reading ebooks since 1999.

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

I found this thread where a lot of people seem... defensive.



Some posts of note:

- Kobo will eventually do it too!

- People complaining the article is "misleading" or "rage bait"

- People defending DRM (???)

- People defending the "you only buy a license" thing (???)



Sigh.

Welcome to my world. I swear I want to just fight the air sometimes! So many think that DRM actually stops piracy. You should’ve seen the asinine comments that were made when we found out D&T was being removed. People said that Amazon cares about authors and that’s why D&T has had to be removed. The mental gymnastics people performed to justify Amazon being anti-consumer was crazy work.

[MegDreamsofBooks]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Kindle-exclusive authors I would think.

This is the only reason I still use the Kindle store. I have cut way, WAY back on my Kindle purchases and mostly only use Kindle Unlimited now (because that's almost always the reason the author is exclusive) instead of buying a book as I might have previously.

I prefer to purchase rather than rent, but not so much that I'm still willing to purchase a Kindle book unless it's really, REALLY necessary, like the series this weekend that books 1, 2, 4, and 5 are at Kobo, but 3 is still only at Amazon.

I know that some of the indie authors I read don't want to publish outside Amazon, because this is sort of a side job for them and that would add more work than is realistically feasible, which I can understand. But there are a few other authors I should put a little form letter together and send off to them, because they are full-time authors with full-time staff and a high rate of sales, there's no (obvious) reason why they can't add broader publication.

[xyzzy_foo]

By the way, while it's known that Epubor Ultimate is actually just a wrapper for DeDRM, I heard today from the Japanese community that the DVDFab team recently launched a product called BookFab Kindle Converter. I wonder if they're really taking on KFX-ZIP? Does anyone have more details on this paid app?

[JBaby]

Originally Posted by xyzzy_foo

By the way, while it's known that Epubor Ultimate is actually just a wrapper for DeDRM, I heard today from the Japanese community that the DVDFab team recently launched a product called BookFab Kindle Converter. I wonder if they're really taking on KFX-ZIP? Does anyone have more details on this paid app?

I don’t have any details about this, but I’m highly skeptical.

[Frogm4n]

Originally Posted by xyzzy_foo

By the way, while it's known that Epubor Ultimate is actually just a wrapper for DeDRM, I heard today from the Japanese community that the DVDFab team recently launched a product called BookFab Kindle Converter. I wonder if they're really taking on KFX-ZIP? Does anyone have more details on this paid app?

Looking at the FAQ at the bottom of the product page it looks like it's also just a DeDRM wrapper, since it needs K4PC installed.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Frogm4n

Looking at the FAQ at the bottom of the product page it looks like it's also just a DeDRM wrapper, since it needs K4PC installed.

But it doesn't say that it must be an old version...

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by Frogm4n

Looking at the FAQ at the bottom of the product page it looks like it's also just a DeDRM wrapper, since it needs K4PC installed.

System Requirements

• Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7 (32/64 bit)
• 4GB of RAM or above
• 40GB of free hard disk space or above
• Live Internet connection required

Oh dear.

[JBaby]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Oh dear.

Well that seems very excessive!

[xyzzy_foo]

They said they released a free trial version of the BookFab Kindle Converter on May 12, allowing you to try it for free three times. They also mentioned that they have just launched the product and that a special offer is available until May 19.

They might have done some major work. The DVDFab team is well-known for successfully cracking various DRMs with their other product, StreamFab.

[odamizu]

Originally Posted by jhowell

I don't want to disclose too much about my methods, but this is based on my own observation of data coming from Amazon, not rumors from others.

Since I first posted about this I have been able to determine that the cutoff point appears to be PW1 (5th gen) and older devices. Basically, they are now lumped into a category related to e-book delivery that originally contained only the older K4A app versions reaching end-of-life later this month. This is an indicator of something, but I cannot be certain of what it really means.

As always, you are a fount of enlightenment

If it was me I would not upgrade the battery at this point. The most important thing to do with older Kindles is to never let the battery go completely dead. Many people put them in a drawer and forget about them for months or years. If you keep the battery topped off periodically I suspect your K4's battery will last for years.

How bad is it if it reaches the "low battery" screen?

I do top off the battery every month or so, but increasingly when I go to do it, it's at the "low battery" screen. It always starts charging immediately once I plug it in, and charges to full in a few hours, but it now reaches the "low battery" screen after about 3 weeks when not in use.