Could it be really possible? No system is foolproof, so you are not going to have a digital right management system that is “unhackable.” But the news that a hacker has managed to get through Amazon’s copyright protection system won’t be good news for Amazon. Apparently, an Israeli hacker has managed to get around Amazon’s DRM, essentially making it possible for Kindle owners to take their Kindle books and transfer them to other devices. Even if the news is true, Amazon can probably address the issue. But the move is a warning to Amazon and other companies that hold DRM technologies dear.
Amazon has two choices here. It can either fix the issue with a security patch (or a complicated solution for that matter). Or it can go the way Apple went and work its way towards getting rid of its DRM scheme. Apple is a company that has practiced both approaches. While the company got rid of its DRM a while ago, it still fights of jailbreakers on a consistent basis. Amazon can save itself all these headaches by adopting a more open policy, but it’s not know whether the company is prepared to do that.
Amazon and Apple both like to be in control. That’s certainly not a big negative as that approach has allowed them to develop and grow their gadgets to superstardom. At the same time, digital right management schemes are not only annoying for customers, they are not 100% foolproof. No scheme is. The book and music industries are very different, so Apple’s approach may not be adopted in the e-book industry right-away. But let’s hope the future of e-books is DRM-free as well.
Your take: should Amazon gets rid of its DRM scheme and open it all up?
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5 Responses to “Kindle's DRM Hacked. The Beginning of the end?”
There are two things to understand here.
1) Amazon’s DRM was broken a while ago, this isn’t new news.
2) Unbreakable DRM is theoretically impossible. If you give someone encrypted data, unless it’s encrypted with a “one time pad”, a method unfeasible for DRM application, the person can eventually break the key. If you expect them to be able to view the data (such as reading the ebook) it’s worse, because that means they MUST ALREADY HAVE the key, you’re just hoping the key will remain hidden from them. Consequently, DRM isn’t really a method for preventing access to the raw data or preventing the copying of the data, it’s just a method of making these things inconvenient.
Apple’s people are smart enough to understand these things, so they must have used DRM only because the studios made them do so in order to sell music. I’m sure Amazon’s people are smart enough to realize the futility of DRM as well, so I’m confident that Kindle’s books, like Apple’s music, will go DRM-free as soon as Amazon is able to get the publishers to wake up and smell the futility of DRM.
You are absolutely right Tom. Nothing’s unbreakable. Amazon will learn. Let’s see if things change with Kindle 3
Hopefully what “Amazon will learn,” or more accurately, what the publishers must learn, is that DRM is NOT a tool against piracy. Lets look at the details…
1. DRM is usually easy to break.
2. Printed book and Audio-CD have been pirated long before DRM (those methods still exist)
3. Nothing stops a pirate from getting what they want except lack-of-availability.
What is DRM? It is a tool to limit what the end-user can use the purchase for. The publisher doesn’t want text-to-speech enabled because they also sell the Audiobook for $50? DRM. Amazon doesn’t want the file used on a Sony E-Reader? DRM.
I think in the end we’ll find that DRM is neither desired by the end user, useful in stopping piracy, nor entirely legal. I also think we’ll find that the removal of DRM is perfectly legal for personal use.
I agree. DRM is just a way of frustrating legit customers while giving hackers something to play with. If I buy an ebook, I should be able to read anywhere I choose (I should also be able to lend and sell it but that is another issue). Limiting me is not the way to make/keep me as a happy customer.
People who make their decisions from fear usually make bad decisions and the publishing industry is no different. Notice the recent news that those who pirate music online end up spending more money annually purchasing music than those who don’t pirate music.
The issue is not protecting yourself from the crooks. The issue is getting more people to know about what you have to offer so they will pay to access it.
Nobody wants authors to work for free but crippling what we are buying is not the solution. It’s like flattening the tires on a new car so the customer cannot drive to another dealer.