Unswindle: Israeli Hacker Breaks Kindle's DRM Format
Amazon's Kindle is well and good. But what if you want to read a DRM-protected ebook on other devices? Simple: set up a hacking contest.
The unswindle.pyw Python program is under GPLv3 and circumvents DRM protection in Kindle ebooks to make them free reading in the Mobi format. As The Register reports, the program developed out of an open hacking challenge. It took eight days for a hacker with alias Labba to concoct a Python program that converted Amazon ebook files into the free Mobi format.
Amazon hasn't responded, but is unlikely to give up its proprietary and encrypted format so easily. What could develop, however, is a cat-and-mouse game such as Apple has been playing with its iTunes users for some time.
Tag Cloud
News
-
FSF Outs the World Wide Web Consortium over DRM Proposal
Richard Stallman calls for the W3C to remain independent of vendor interests.
-
Debian 7.0 Debuts
The new release supports nine architectures, 73 human languages, and zero non-Free components.
-
Alpha Version of Fedora 19 Released
Fedora developers release the first alpha version of Fedora 19, known as Schrödinger’s Cat, for general testing. The final release is expected in July 2013.
-
ack 2.0 Released
ack is a grep-like, command-line tool that has been optimized for programmers to search large trees of source code.
-
SUSE Studio 1.3 Released
New features in SUSE Studio 1.3 include enhanced cloud integration, VM platform support, and lifecycle management.
-
Xen To Become Linux Foundation Collaborative Project
The Linux Foundation recently announced that the Xen Project is becoming a Linux Foundation Collaborative Project.
-
RunRev Releases Open Source Version of LiveCode
Open source version of LiveCode is now available for developing apps, games, and utilities for all major platforms.
-
OpenDaylight Project Formed
OpenDaylight is an open source software-defined networking project committed to furthering adoption of SDN and accelerating innovation in a vendor-neutral and open environment.
-
Gnome 3.8 Released
The new Gnome release includes privacy and sharing settings, allowing more user control over access to personal information.
-
Mozilla and Samsung Collaborate on New Browser Engine
Mozilla is collaborating with Samsung on a new web browser engine called Servo.

