Israeli dude hacks Kindle DRM
An Israeli hacker responding to a message board challenge has cracked the DRM protections on Kindle for PC, allowing users to convert books to a more portable Mobi format.
Amazon is expected to find and patch the security hole, likely to set off a long game of DRM Whack a Mole. The Kindle has been hacked before, but hacking Kindle for PC could open up a lot more content for sharing. I recently wanted to lend my aunt a few of my Sookie stories to read while she’s laid up in bed recovering from surgery- hardly black market stuff of DRM nightmares. Since all my Southern Vampire series books are on my Kindle for iPhone, there was no way to do that short of giving her my iPhone, and I need it for phone calls. (Theoretically.) Consumers are already really tired of artificial limitations placed on the content they’ve purchased to protect profits. (And by “consumers,” I mean me and by “tired of artificial limitations,” I mean that I wanna lend my books out.)
What Amazon is probably not considering is that more manageable content will likely only help the e-book/e-reader market. Consumers are still wary of entrusting their content to a device or a retailer once it’s purchased, (rightly so) and assurances that content is theirs with which to do what they wish could go a long way in getting people to shell out in the lukewarm e-reader/e-book market. We already know pirates buy the most music legitimately– so how do you think this will wind up? Will Amazon realize more flexible content means more dollars or will they go futilely hole patching against an army of Israeli hackers?
