OK, what's Kobo SDRM?

[graycyn]

Originally Posted by DNSB

My error. I was looking for that in the book information. Oddly, I picked up that book a while back so checked and the SDRM download option shows when I select download.

I should've put the book title last night, but I was tired and feeling lazy, so my bad.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Cactus Chef

That seems like way too much to be just watermarks. Maybe different image resolutions/compression algorithms being used?

I'd be happy to contribute to the research effort if we could find a target book that wasn't Rowling...

I think the main issue there is the size of the image files. The cover.jpg in the SDRM file is 2,090,855 bytes while the image file in the ADRM file is 740,754 bytes. Oddly, most of the image files are different between the two versions though the resolution is the same with the SDRM having 3,404,872 bytes total in images while the ADRM has 1,978,103 bytes in images.

As another oddity, the xhtml files in the SDRM have the DOCTYPE declaration while the xhtml files in the ADRM do not.

[graycyn]

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives

Do we have any idea what prompts Kobo to offer this? Does the publisher get to decide, the same way some publishers allow their books to be sold without DRM? So far I've yet to buy a book that gave me the SDRM option.

I don't know.

I believe that, when the first Harry Potter books were offered on Pottermore, they had social DRM. I didn't buy there, as I already had the print books, and had read them multiple times, and figured I'd wait for ebook sales down the road if I really felt the need to re-read.

So it's possible it's a holdover from that, or that Rowling has enough author clout to ask that publishers provide the option?

If there are other books with this Kobo SDRM, I've yet to encounter any. I download my ebook directly after buying, and it was the first time I'd ever seen this. However, as I mostly use my library, I'm not a huge buyer either.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DNSB

I think the main issue there is the size of the image files. The cover.jpg in the SDRM file is 2,090,855 bytes while the image file in the ADRM file is 740,754 bytes. Oddly, most of the image files are different between the two versions though the resolution is the same with the SDRM having 3,404,872 bytes total in images while the ADRM has 1,978,103 bytes in images.

As another oddity, the xhtml files in the SDRM have the DOCTYPE declaration while the xhtml files in the ADRM do not.

I bought a copy of this book and was able to download it with SDRM.

From comparing with calibre, I think I may have found what to do to remove the DRM.

Load the eBook into the calibre editor. Losslessly compress the images to remove any metadata. Then in the list of HTML files I have an HTML file with a bunch of letters and number that makes no sense (at the end of the list of HTML). Inside that HTML file is a <p> that is set not to display that has a long string of letters/number. I think that could be the watermark. Delete this file as it is not part of the eBook. After this, save and you have a DRM free ePub.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by graycyn

I don't know.

I believe that, when the first Harry Potter books were offered on Pottermore, they had social DRM. I didn't buy there, as I already had the print books, and had read them multiple times, and figured I'd wait for ebook sales down the road if I really felt the need to re-read.

So it's possible it's a holdover from that, or that Rowling has enough author clout to ask that publishers provide the option?

If there are other books with this Kobo SDRM, I've yet to encounter any. I download my ebook directly after buying, and it was the first time I'd ever seen this. However, as I mostly use my library, I'm not a huge buyer either.

The social DRM (for the Harry Potter eBooks) was from Pottermore. The ePub with DRM or Kindle with DRM did not have social DRM.

[Sirtel]

Personally I don't care at all about removing watermarks. I've been buying Estonian ebooks with watermarks for more than a decade and never bothered to remove them.

[graycyn]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The social DRM (for the Harry Potter eBooks) was from Pottermore. The ePub with DRM or Kindle with DRM did not have social DRM.

Interesting. I'd sure love to know if this is something exclusive to Rowling books, or whether there are other books on the Kobo platform that are getting this download option for SDRM.

It'd be nice to see publishers shifting to social DRM as an option. SDRM may have some drawbacks, but overall, it's a good thing for consumers. If we spend our money, we should have access to our ebooks, and on multiple devices.

My take on it when I first got into e-reading was that I wouldn't buy unless I could use purchased ebooks on different devices. It's entirely possible, that, should I live long enough, I might need to listen to ebooks, via text-to-speech.

In other words, if I spend, I want my options WIDE-OPEN!

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by issybird

Bingo. Readium will be a game-changer and especially those who deDRM all their purchases should enthusiastically switch to SDRM when possible. Help make it look like a viable alternative.

I'm trying to imagine a scenario where my computer gets hacked and it's worth the hacker's while to upload my library to the darknet. Something can be theoretically possible but not be worth considering, certainly not if it cuts off more worthwhile actions.

People have been known to scrape + upload Calibre content servers that aren't passworded, so I wouldnt scoff

[rantanplan]

I don't know why you'd look for your name in the epub. The watermark will be some sort of traceable ID, not your name or email.

[patrik]

Originally Posted by rantanplan

I don't know why you'd look for your name in the epub. The watermark will be some sort of traceable ID, not your name or email.

I guess that depends.

Here in Sweden it used to be that all epubs in Swedish, were always sold with watermark (those in English and other languages almost always used Adobe drm). This included your name and order number. (At least those I bought and actually peeked into.)

During the last couple of years some sellers has started to use other drm (like LCP).

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by rantanplan

I don't know why you'd look for your name in the epub. The watermark will be some sort of traceable ID, not your name or email.

I've bought books from authors and had my name and email embedded on title page

[rantanplan]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

I've bought books from authors and had my name and email embedded on title page

Interesting, learn something new every day.

[Yapyap]

The Estonian books I’ve bought also tend to have my name (and in some cases email) on the title page, together with the name of the bookstore, date & time of purchase and order number.

I guess it varies and each seller/bookstore has their own methods. I have no idea if / what kind of hidden data there may be in addition - I guess the “digital ex libris” being visible is already a deterrent for the most casual kind of sharing people might do. (Not deterring pirates as that info is quick and easy to edit out, but I suppose it serves as a reminder to the buyer that the book is tied to their person.)

[Cactus Chef]

Originally Posted by Yapyap

The Estonian books I’ve bought also tend to have my name (and in some cases email) on the title page, together with the name of the bookstore, date & time of purchase and order number.

Kinda reminds me of old copy protection in games that would mess with the game in non-obvious ways if it detected it was pirated. You're really only weeding out the "low-hanging fruit" of people trying to commit piracy, while the ones who do it for a living will have long figured out how to remove such obvious watermarks.

That said, I would still vastly prefer it over Amazon's cat-and-mouse DRM.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by Cactus Chef

Kinda reminds me of old copy protection in games that would mess with the game in non-obvious ways if it detected it was pirated. You're really only weeding out the "low-hanging fruit" of people trying to commit piracy, while the ones who do it for a living will have long figured out how to remove such obvious watermarks.

That said, I would still vastly prefer it over Amazon's cat-and-mouse DRM.

Greenheart Games also released a build of Game Dev Tycoon on pirate sites where the player ends up going bankrupt because their games keep getting pirated