The Topaz DRM Creator has a Blog!

[daffy4u]

At least someone who says he created Topaz. The blog is called Plaidophile.

Found this comment on the Dark Reverser Blog.

By: fluffy
from DarkReverser Blog Comments by fluffy

I just have to say that, as the person who designed the Topaz format to begin with, I’m pretty pleased with what you guys are doing here.

http://beesbuzz.biz/blog/e/2010/01/0...evelopment.php

I’d be happy to answer questions about the history of the Topaz format, although of course I don’t want to get sued by Amazon by revealing anything about the technical stuff inside (but it looks like you guys have that all pretty well in-hand at this point anyway).

From the blog:

Earlier today, someone (who I will of course keep nameless) asked me about a bit of Python code (which I will of course not link to) that he'd found which ostensibly would strip the DRM from a Topaz file as downloaded by the KindleForPC app. I looked at it, and yes, it looked like a plausible DRM stripper; presumably it was developed by someone who had run a disassembler on KindleForPC. It did require being run on the same PC as the Topaz file was provisioned for, however. But of course, this enterprising experimenter did not stop there: he analyzed the (again, pretty trivial) encryption algorithm and found a weakness in it (one which I will not name, but which I was aware of as a possibility even when I wrote it), and after not too much time, he'd written a C++ program which would very quickly brute-force the underlying encryption key and completely strip the file of all DRM.

He said that he wasn't interested in releasing it himself (he mostly did it as an intellectual challenge), and for obvious reasons I won't be releasing it either (or even describing the nature of the exploit), but yes, Topaz DRM has been completely compromised at least once, and it wouldn't surprise me if someone else has also figured out the flaw in the algorithm.

[rcuadro]

Bravo!
I am still waiting for just one big arse program to incorporate all the little binaries to make it a one stop shop for removing the DRM. Until then I will avoid topaz as much as I can

[kennyc]

Hee-hee....Love it.