DRM removal kits make it easy to free ebooks so that they can be read on other devices and lent to friends.

Following up on the story Kindle DRM removal made easy it seems that DRM removal kits are becoming popular just like easy exploit kits are lowering the bar for wannabe attackers. It seems Wired magazine has reported the contents of a "How to" at Apprentice Alf's Blog.

This basically tells you how to remove DRM from a range of different publishing formats. However what isn't quite as obvious and its far less sensational is that the blog post is actually very informative about publishing formats and protection methods. It also brings to the reader's attention a really nice open source ebook reader called Calibre.

This will open and let you read a wide range of formats. Its connection with breaking DRM on those formats is that many of the encryption removal tools are made available as Calibre plugins. So what you have to do is - install Calibre, install the plugins you need, load the ebook you want to "free", enter details so that you can read it and then save it without DRM.

The exact details vary according to the format but it is this simple. Once the DRM is removed you can use Calibre to convert to other formats so that you can read

Of course no piracy is encouraged by this software and no profits were harmed in its use... You have to own the book before you can remove the DRM and being honest you would never put the book up for sale on a website - but you might lend it to a friend on more equitable terms than the publishers allow.

It is surprising that book publishers haven't learned the lessons of the music industry .. but then it can be argued that the music industry hasn't learned the lessons either.

DRM is just a challenge.

Related articles:

Kindle DRM removal made easy

Copy protection and DRM

A book's worth...

Pricing ebooks

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