ADE3 - the reason not to upgrade to Kobo's next device firmware

[Lynx-lynx]

ADE3 - the reason not to upgrade to Kobo's next device firmware

I thought it timely to start a thread identifying reasons why it might not be a good idea to upgrade devices to Kobo's yet to be released upgrades - and yes, I mean future upgrades - until Adobe's new ADE3 DRM has been dealt with in such a way that one could buy a ADE3 encrypted ebook from Kobo, import it to Calibre and clean it successfully. (Because that will not be possible at the moment, and potentially for some time)

Of course we all know that Kobo also has its own kepubs which shouldn't be affected at all by the ADE3 encryption, and therefore not upgrading one's firmware will mean not being able to make use of future kepub related enhancements nor bug fixes.

But I for one am happy not to gain the enhancements and bug fixes if it means that I can continue to buy Kobo's books, import them to Calibre, clean them and read them on my device of choice.

For those who are unsure what I refer to by ADE3 and the new DRM encryption that that brings here is the thread in the News Section of the forum:

Adobe Digital Editions 3 released

Your thoughts please .....

[GeoffR]

Kobo firmware doesn't download Adobe DRM books directly, you have to use an external program like ADE for that. So I don't see how a new firmware that supports the new DRM will affect whether the book you buy will have the new DRM or the old. It will still allow you to read books with the old DRM.

I see it like this:

If I buy a book that has the old Adobe DRM then I will be able to read it with either old firmware or new firmware, either directly or by stripping DRM first.

If I buy a book that has the new Adobe DRM, and supposing I can't strip the DRM, then I won't be able to read the book with the old firmware, but I will with new firmware that supports the new DRM.

So I can't see that there is anything to lose by having firmware that supports the new DRM.

Edit: Personally I will avoid buying any ebooks if I can't strip them of DRM, but that won't affect my Kobo purchases because I can strip DRM from the kepub version if I can't from the epub version. And if my local library uses the new DRM scheme then I would want my ereader to support the new DRM so that I can read the books I borrow.

[Lynx-lynx]

I'm a bit lost on your points Geoff. My understanding (albeit limited) is that Kobo's firmware will need to be upgraded to support the new ADE3.

As we know Adobe Reader will also need to be upgraded to support the new ADE3 DRM.

If ADE3 has been applied to a book and the book is opened in the current version of ADE (2.x) or Sony Reader for PC then the book will be able to be read on the device (and put through Calibre and cleaned).

If however, one buys and opens their new Kobo ADE3 encrypted ebook directly onto their device and the device firmware has been updated then their ebook will download as an ADE3 encrypted book and not be able to be imported into Calibre and cleaned (until Alf's logic has caught up).

[GeoffR]

Originally Posted by Lynx-lynx

If however, one buys and opens their new Kobo ADE3 encrypted ebook directly onto their device and the device firmware has been updated then their ebook will download as an ADE3 encrypted book and not be able to be imported into Calibre and cleaned (until Alf's logic has caught up).

That would only be the case if Kobo firmware had the ability to download Adobe DRM books directly to the device, like the Sony firmware has, and assuming you downloaded the books directly to tre device rather than downloading it with ADE and then transferring it to the device as we do now.

If you download the book with ADE and then transfer it to the Kobo device in the normal way, then after it is downloaded to ADE but before you transfer it to the device it either has the old DRM (which can be stripped) or the new (which may not be able to be stripped, at least for a short time).

If it has the old DRM then there is no change. But if it has the new then you are no worse off by having a firmware version that supports the new DRM, because if you had an old firmware version that didn't then you wouldn't be able to read the book at all.

Basically what I think is that having new firmware that supports the new DRM would only affect whether you can read books with the new DRM or not (until it can be stripped at least). It wouldn't affect whether the book has the old or new DRM (since I can download the book with ADE whether or not I own a Kobo device).

[Lynx-lynx]

My way of dealing with it is by not upgrading Sony Reader for PC (which is the program that I download all my epubs into) then into Calibre and then onto my device.

I'll maintain that strategy until the formula for cleaning is available and usable in Calibre.

[GeoffR]

Originally Posted by Lynx-lynx

My way of dealing with it is by not upgrading Sony Reader for PC, which is the program that I download all my epubs into, then inot Calibre and then onto my device.

I'll maintain that strategy until the formula for cleaning is available and usable in Calibre.

Yes I agree, I won't be upgrading from ADE 1.7.2 and if I accidentally buy a book from a retailer that only supplies books in Adobe DRM format and it won't download in ADE 1.7.2 then I'll be asking for my money back (I can't get later ADE versions to work in Linux anyway).

But this is a different issue from the one of upgrading to Kobo device firmware that supports new DRM. I'm happy to do that, if for no other reason so that I can read Adobe DRM library books.

[Josieb1]

Originally Posted by Lynx-lynx

I'm a bit lost on your points Geoff. My understanding (albeit limited) is that Kobo's firmware will need to be upgraded to support the new ADE3.

As we know Adobe Reader will also need to be upgraded to support the new ADE3 DRM.

If ADE3 has been applied to a book and the book is opened in the current version of ADE (2.x) or Sony Reader for PC then the book will be able to be read on the device (and put through Calibre and cleaned).

If however, one buys and opens their new Kobo ADE3 encrypted ebook directly onto their device and the device firmware has been updated then their ebook will download as an ADE3 encrypted book and not be able to be imported into Calibre and cleaned (until Alf's logic has caught up).

I never download a kobo purchase directly onto my device. It isn't even authorised for Adobe. I always download directly to my pc using ADE 2 then load into Calibre and send to my Kobo using Calibre. For anyone else who does what I do what matters seems to be not downloading ADE3.

[soulfuldog]

Not specifically related to Kobo, but considering the discussion in the news forum seems to suggest that library books are the most likely to be affected by new ADE3 DRM, does that mean Kobo, Sony etc will be forced to provide updates for their old ereaders so people can continue to read library books, or is there a danger that if you own ereaders that are no longer sold (like Kobo Wifi, Sony 350) you will end up not being able to read library books on them?

[Josieb1]

Originally Posted by l_macd

Not specifically related to Kobo, but considering the discussion in the news forum seems to suggest that library books are the most likely to be affected by new ADE3 DRM, does that mean Kobo, Sony etc will be forced to provide updates for their old ereaders so people can continue to read library books, or is there a danger that if you own ereaders that are no longer sold (like Kobo Wifi, Sony 350) you will end up not being able to read library books on them?

I very much doubt any maker of ereaders will treat an update to an old ereader so it can read library books any kind of priority. It's more likely they would expect the reader to by a new ereader.

[soulfuldog]

That's my concern, and you are probably right.... personally I'd just hope the Kobo Mini will still be available at £30 if that was to happen and I'd just buy it to replace my Sony 350, but you can imagine there might be quite a few disgruntled customers out there if it did happen.