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Amazon Kindle Proprietary Format Broken
An anonymous reader writes "The Register reports that the proprietary document format used by the Amazon online store and Amazon's Kindle has been successfully reverse engineered, allowing these DRM-protected documents to be converted into the open MOBI format. Users of alternative e-book readers rejoice." Here are the hacker's notes on the program he is calling "Unswindle," and here is the (translated) forum where the Kindle challenge was posed and answered.
There have been a set of python scripts around for more than a year and a half that allow you decrypt Kindle files to mobi. The challenge has always been in dealing with Topaz files and, unless I am missing something, they still haven't been cracked.
Bad analogies are like waxing a monkey with a rainbow.
Wait, I've been using MobiDeDRM for a while with my Kindle's Mobi serial number to strip the DRM and leave me with Mobi files. How is this different, exactly?
STOP . AMERICA . NOW
I'd suggest converting every book you own really fucking quick. No telling how long it will take Amazon to make a similar format that will take another year or so to break. You can bet that once they do, they'll remotely switch everyone's ebooks over to that new format and then push a firmware upgrade to ensure compliance.
-1 disagree is not a modifier for a reason. -1 troll, flaimbait, redundant, overrated are NOT acceptable substitutes.
DMCA notification in 3, 2, 1...
I've been walking around with DRM-free files for over a year. Anyway, after stripping of them of DRM, I changed the filenames, and added prefixes to the titles (my real goal) to "categorize" them, which is why I wanted to unDRM them in the first place--adding text prefixes to the titles to indicate category makes it easier to use a Kindle without folder capability.
STOP . AMERICA . NOW
Better to have waited a couple of years more, till much more books had been published in the DRM'd format. Publishers were starting to warm to the Kindle, and now they will retrench like timid snails.
Rome taught me patience and assiduous application to detail. Virtues which temper the boldness of great, general views.
.. from the forum that was linked into from Slashdot (well done for that btw kd)...
"Wow, you're a little scary! Well done." - I will use this the very next time one of my developer colleagues finally does a decent job.
"If Guy says you gun, you cannon. No arguments about!" - I will use this the next time one of my project manager "colleagues" puts his/her foot down about something technical that they don't know anything about.
"Already finished rope hook" - I will use this the next time I am telling a colleague that their code or document was so bad that instead of a review I had to re-write the whole thing.
The best quote of course is the new term "Open DRM" that one of the posters has coined. Genius! We should use that as a tag for all similar posts.
No more getting Jeff Bezos'ed 1984 style.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/07/18/amazon_removes_1984_from_kindle/
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
One would have thought, given your ID, that you were worried they'd do it to Brave New World next.
Users of alternative e-book readers rejoice.
More like; "Amazon-dot-com and shareholders rejoice, as more people can now read your files, therefore you make more money from increased e-book sales."
... and then they built the supercollider.
Just like with music, the publishers have to be convinced that DRM is worthless (as it actually is for the vast majority of text) so that we will eventually be able to buy non-DRMed ebooks.
This is just one tiny step on that path. The publishers haven't even gotten to the "if we sue them piracy will be controlled" stage yet. One wonders if they will understand its futility and skip it.
More like; "Amazon-dot-com and shareholders rejoice, as more people can now read your files, therefore you make more money from increased e-book sales."
You really think so? You figure the hackers were disgruntled Amazon shareholders working to increase their quarterly dividends? My perception is that this will result in increased piracy, i.e., distribution through non-authorized channels from whom the authors of the books are not compensated.
If you want a pirated book it's easy enough to get a hold of, there are ebooks all over torrent sites and usenet. Even private ebook only trackers. And they are more likely to be in plain-text formats or epub making them better than the amazon equivalents.
You really think so? You figure the hackers were disgruntled Amazon shareholders working to increase their quarterly dividends?
I'm not sure where you get that idea from. I'm pretty sure most Amazon shareholders aren't hackers, and wouldn't support the idea of hacking the Kindle - until they see they increase in revenue that results.
My perception is that this will result in increased piracy, i.e., distribution through non-authorized channels from whom the authors of the books are not compensated.
Why would pirates need to hack the Kindle in order to pirate books? There are already plenty of unprotected sources available to them. To get the content via hacking Kindle files, they would need to buy the Kindle file in the first place, resulting in a sale that Amazon wouldn't have otherwise made.
... and then they built the supercollider.
You are, of course, aware that with the exception of the first quote, the quotes are simply mangled automatic-translations (from Hebrew) by Google-Translate? For example, you may be disappointed to find out that the (excellent) new term "Open DRM" was not even used in the original text. In fact, it was something along the lines of: " I come back and see that you already managed to crack open the DRM".
If DRM is not locked inside of a closed black metal box, with anti-tamper seals, then it can always be reverse engineered. Once Kindle readers became available on the PC I knew it would be a matter of time before the DRM format was broken and utilities made available. What did surprise me here was that much headway had already been made by the ones hacking the Kindle hardware/OS already. The DRM had long been defeated. The sad part is that the people that pay for all that DRM 'technology' (the people who buy the DRM'ed books) are never going to be able to easily use the great software such as Calibre, which could make managing all these devices so much easier, sans the DRM. The legal aspects with circumventing DRM will always prevent the ability to have a ubiquitous software platform capable of reading any format that happens to be available from any publisher. I for one would buy much more from any publisher who would publish 'real books' (i.e. not best sellers list only) in a format I can really use. One day they will realize that all the money was wasted on DRM technology, and was merely passing for modern day 'snake oil'. DRM is a loosing battle that need not be fought because it only takes one disgruntled geek to undo all the millions spent on that failed technology. DRM will never increase sales, as the market forces are still just a matter of supply and demand. There is no upside to DRM except for those selling the technology itself. Everyone else, including the content providers themselves, loose in the long run.
Is the crack for SD Flash cards available and current? Because "SD" stands for "Secure Digital". The storage end of the digital chain has DRM in its hardware. It's only a matter of time before it gets used to control us, now that it's everywhere. And it's only a matter of time before it's cracked, if it's not already. But if it's not, there will be some time where our actual rights are suspended. And rights delayed are rights denied.
--
make install -not war
I'm not quite sure you are correct there -- I was not in the market for an e-book reader (I like the dead tree editions, personally), but if I were, I would specifically seek out one that did not use DRM. For something that I am interested in -- I would have been on board with iTunes years ago had they not used DRM. As someone who spends a LOT of money on music, I can say with 100% certainty that the time they had DRM on their files, they lost literally thousands of dollars in sales from me alone. I know that there are not many people that are knowledgeable enough (or care enough) to do this, but I am also sure that I am not alone. I am also fairly certain that the types of people who are inclined to care are also people that would invest a great deal in a quality collection -- so they are in effect turning away a large amount of really good customers. This is the main problem with DRM -- it significantly lowers the value of your product. When the only way to obtain a product is with DRM, the pirated version is by default the better product. Even if removing the DRM would increase piracy, it would also drastically increase sales, as I'm sure there are a great deal of people on the fence, as I was with iTunes, going on to purchase rival e-Book readers and picking up books from different stores to ensure that they can still access the books that they paid for 5 years from now.
To the haters: You can't win. If you mod me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine
Call me a ludite but I just don't see the point in paying $300AU for a device (DRM'd or otherwise) to read e-books that cost virtually the same as a real book. With real books I save $300 in up front costs and will never experience the frustration of batteries running out on the last chapter. And when I'm finished I can go to the seconhand bookshop and swap it over for another book for pennies. What's the attraction?
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
Which is exactly what amazon desire. The more content (ebooks) in the wild, the more kindles will be sold. This is no different to games consoles. Those that are simple to mod to enable copied games to run are the units that sell the best. There's a simple reason the DS and various incarnations always outsells the vastly superior PSP, it's unbelievably trivial to run copied games. Likewise with the Wii. It's only after they've had huge unit sales do they start to pretend to tighten up on piracy. Same for the original playstation. Once the 5 wire chipping was easily available, the playstation wiped the floor with the opposition.
The public are not stupid enough to buy ebooks for more than a paperback, which itself has considerable distribution and manufacturing costs. ebook are tiny files, the smallest of all media, you can't give them away, sell them or loan them. Costs should be tiny, 10 cents a book or less. Should publishers learn this, they will start seeing a lot of sales. But like other old media, they cannot see beyond their old limited business methods.
Exclusive Kindle releases are only available on the Kindle, and there are certainly a few.
Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091223/wl_sthasia_afp/pakistanunrestnorthwesteducation
Merry Christmas, you fucking diaper-heads.
P.S. - I don't live in Nebraska, but I am sure going to love paying their MediCare bills! Woo hoo, let's hear it for health care reform! Hooray for economic imperialism!
You mean that they are likely to have been processed by someone who doesn't care for formatting, so emphasis and paragraphs are more likely to be lost than in the Amazon version.
Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
More like; "Amazon-dot-com and shareholders rejoice, as more people can now read your files, therefore you make more money from increased e-book sales."
You really think so? You figure the hackers were disgruntled Amazon shareholders working to increase their quarterly dividends? My perception is that this will result in increased piracy, i.e., distribution through non-authorized channels from whom the authors of the books are not compensated.
Not necessarily. I prefer to read my books on my iPhone, using BookShelf. I've been burned a couple of times by DRM, so I won't buy an eBook unless I can strip the DRM. That way, once I've paid for the book, I won't have to worry about it being either taken away or rendered useless by a company going under.
I *want* to purchase my ebooks. I *don't* want to pirate them or give away books I've purchased. But I also *require* that I have the ability to read my purchases on whatever medium is convenient to me.
Once piracy take off and a lot of people start to be itnerrested into eBook, then real usage and real sale will pick up. until then it is a niche market.
C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
visit randi.org
We had a start back in the 1980s with MacGyver. So successful was he that his name became part of the language, and his signature use of duct tape still echoes through the culture. (I sometimes call it McGyver tape).
We need another McGyver.
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
Did anyone else notice this line in the code:
". text: 00414436 call BadBoy "
I wonder if the complimentary call is named "SpankMe".
EvilCON - Made Famous by
With e-books you aren't "lending", you're merely making a copy...
Fuck you, Amazon!
"The paperback is interesting, but I find it will never replace the hardcover book. It makes a very poor doorstop."
What if you read a paper-based book over your friend's shoulder?
Well I tried on a free ebook I downloaded to the Kindle for PC (too cheap to buy a book just to test this out) and got the error message
failed to determine book PID
Does anyone actually care about this? Of course I understand the "importance" of open formats, but guess what, just because a format is open doesn't mean it'll be readable 100 years from now... which is really the crux of the argument. Everything can read JPEG now, but what about in 100 years? The very basis of digital goods is that they are not as permanent. They are, however, much more convenient. Trade off, etc, etc, etc. Feel free to flame away, it's Christmas, Slashdot. ;)
>The labels required it.
Yeah, and they fucked themselves by doing it. I tend to side with the OP that the reason why DRM is falling out of favor is because the content providers are realizing that the protection DRM offers (which is negligible) is not worth putting all your market share at the control of the DRM provider.
No doubt the music labels originally required it. That's because they 1) thought it would work and 2) didn't realize the control they were giving up.
A work that expires before its copyright never enters the public domain and thus enjoys eternal copyright protection.
All proprietary formats are inherently broken.
reading helps:
"that's a human right to share your own stuff with anybody you want if you don't keep a copy yourself"
of if this is still too long for you:
"_if_ you _don't_ keep a copy"
hope you now understand the point, if i give you my ebook, and at the same time delete my copy, this _is_ legal but was not possible until now.
regards,
Jan Kechel
> The addiction to DRM came as a response to piracy
No, I rather think it came as a response to widespread change in the form of technological advancement. This change includes making piracy much easier (it never was impossible, just harder), but also includes equally important, if not more important changes:
DRM is a response to change. A stupid and ineffective response. The content industry will have to change and perhaps will need to downsize dramatically and/or change its marketing and sales models. Up to now, instead of learning to swim, the content industry has been flailing like someone hysterically afraid of drowning, and the waves it's been producing have been affecting society only negatively (in the form of bad laws which are another futile attempt to prevent change).
Amazon Kindle Proprietary Format fixed
Have noticed that this news has not affected at all Amazon stock value? On the contrary, the stock went up of almost 5 bucks today.
What should hackers do to affect a company stock?
His abilities were discussed, but a description of the actual violence was relatively rare.
Perhaps because descriptions of fights in books are almost invariably boring, inadequate and contribute little to nothing towards advancing the plot of the story. It's rather like reading a description of a dance. I don't care how good you are with prose, you're never going to capture the beauty and grace of the movement satisfactorily, so what is the point of trying? Good authors know this and so they don't waste a lot of time trying to describe fight scenes in minute detail
Maybe people didn't want to pay $100/hour to argue with you?
For $10/hour, arguing might be entertainment for some of them...? :-)
Stripping the DRM so you can use it on a different device than the manufacturer intended is a pretty clear cut and dried violation of the DMCA. Every single time you do it, you are facing a fine of $250,000 and jail time.
Not where I live. Here in Switzerland the disability organizations pushed a law which make cracking DRM for personal use legal.
My point is, if you have this session with someone lying off moderately to the right of the Gaussian center -- say, 120 or so -- most, possibly all, of those subjects will yield intelligent, interesting responses and you're likely to be taken off point into other interesting subject matter.
Because many subjects are "under the hat", as it were, they all benefit from cross synthesis of ideas, of understanding, of interaction (or lack thereof.)
Here on slashdot, where technical people tend to congregate, and the environment is a bit harsh when you don't know what you're talking about, the part of the curve you're talking to, as it were, is strongly biased to the right side. These people - me, probably you, almost everyone else here - are not middle or left Gaussian types, nor do we tend to work with them. Programmers, engineers, technicians, scientists... they are not middle/left folk. Period.
So I'm suggesting -- with 55 years of social experience with many people to back me up -- that if you drag your optimistic butt out and actually do what I said, that you will learn something about who the masses are in terms of their understanding of the world they live in, and the types of contributions they are likely to make to it.
If that's not clear enough for you, or can't overcome a perception you have, then there's nothing more to say about it. Doesn't affect me either way; the world is what it is, political correctness doesn't magically make people smarter or more informed.
The short version is: We're only as equal as we are. We are not all created equal, and even with the best intent to offer equal opportunity to all, equality is a myth and will remain so until/unless we get a lot better handle on genetic engineering than we have now. And guess what... that's not going to be coming from the middle or left of the Gaussian, either.
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
Then they should go next door. For 10 bucks an hour, what they get is abuse.
Hey, call it compensation for a low salary :)
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.