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.
Issue 264/2022
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