Can't remove DRM

[SirWelRed]

I have been using caliber for several of my other books right now I'm trying to get it to remove DRM from Amazon books so I can convert them into ePub but there are several books I just cannot remove it from. I am using the latest DRM removal, but I just cannot remove it do any of you other people have books that you just can't remove it from or is it just me?

[theducks]

You should really take this Q to where you got your tools.
MR Policies say we can't help with remove, only point you to DeDRM.

[jhowell]

Answering in general, there are some categories of Kindle books that Amazon always delivers with the latest unbroken DRM. Some examples are textbooks published by Pearson and some English language books published in India. Nothing can be done with those books unless a copy was downloaded before Amazon last updated their DRM.

As stated previously for details about specific books it is best to raise an issue at NoDRM’s GitHub.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by SirWelRed

I have been using caliber for several of my other books right now I'm trying to get it to remove DRM from Amazon books so I can convert them into ePub but there are several books I just cannot remove it from. I am using the latest DRM removal, but I just cannot remove it do any of you other people have books that you just can't remove it from or is it just me?

Your problem is in using caliber instead of calibre.

You want to make sure you are running the latest DeDRM. Here is the URL for the latest version.

https://github.com/noDRM/DeDRM_tools_autorelease/tags

[Inquisitive_Ram]

I suspect at some point Amazon will withdraw their support for older devices and only allow books to be transferred to kindles, or downloaded from the website, in KFW format.

At that point, it would not be possible for DRM to be removed.

At that stage I would hope Amazon's own library app improves to offer a more sophisticated way of categorising books etc

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Inquisitive_Ram

I suspect at some point Amazon will withdraw their support for older devices and only allow books to be transferred to kindles, or downloaded from the website, in KFW format.

At that point, it would not be possible for DRM to be removed.

At that stage I would hope Amazon's own library app improves to offer a more sophisticated way of categorising books etc

It is entirely possible to remove the DRM from the KFX format even right now.

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by Inquisitive_Ram

I suspect at some point Amazon will withdraw their support for older devices and only allow books to be transferred to kindles, or downloaded from the website, in KFW format.

I am surprised that Amazon still allows Download & Transfer via USB. These days a Kindle user is more likely to have access to wifi than to a PC. Doing away with downloads for newly published books is more likely than completely banning old devices.

Originally Posted by Inquisitive_Ram

At that stage I would hope Amazon's own library app improves to offer a more sophisticated way of categorising books etc

I doubt it. The more Amazon is able to lock customers into their platform the less incentive they have to improve the service. Their efforts in recent years have focused more on selling books than on what happens after they are bought.

[Quoth]

But a Kindle user is most likely to be using an App, not a Kindle eink.

I'll stop buying ebooks from Amazon if they discontinue Download and Transfer.

There are also scenarios where WiFi isn't allowed, but a browser works.

[Sirtel]

I'll stop buying from Amazon if it's no longer possible to remove the DRM from their books by any means. At the moment it's possible to deDRM KFX files downloaded via the Kindle app, as well as the files acquired via Download & Transfer. Hopefully at least one of these methods will continue to work.

[Inquisitive_Ram]

All online bookstores ultimately want to prevent piracy (they'll be less bothered by people stripping DRM for own personal use even though that also against their T&C's I suspect).

And within 10 years I predict it won't be possible to strip DRM from any new book. I think it isn't possible to strip DRM now for any KFX books post Jan23 and the workarounds just deliver an earlier file version via 'download via usb' or an older Kindle, and the DRM is stripped from that older file.

The vast majority of ebook users don't use calibre or even think about DRM. They just sign up to an ebook ecosystem (Kindle, Kobo, nook, Google whatever) and don't think about it. People who are aware of these issues are a tiny majority of users I think

So I suspect long term the choice will be to choose an ecosystem or buy a physical book; and workarounds will be stopped by preventing download via usb and removing support from old Kindles. Kobo and others will likely do the same. I do hope they then invest in their library tools

I may well be wrong but I don't see how it is in online book sellers interests to allow a workaround that allows for abuse. Time will tell

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Inquisitive_Ram

I think it isn't possible to strip DRM now for any KFX books post Jan23 and the workarounds just deliver an earlier file version via 'download via usb' or an older Kindle, and the DRM is stripped from that older file.

You're wrong. As I already said, it's possible to remove the DRM from new KFX books.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by Inquisitive_Ram

And within 10 years I predict it won't be possible to strip DRM from any new book. I think it isn't possible to strip DRM now for any KFX books post Jan23 and the workarounds just deliver an earlier file version via 'download via usb' or an older Kindle, and the DRM is stripped from that older file.

You're wrong about everything, except that many do sign up to one walled garden.

Ebooks predate eink by maybe 10 years.
Amazon did ebooks before they had the Kindle and at various stages used Mobipocket DRM and Adobe DRM.

DRM has never stopped commercial piracy, and won't. Commercial pirates can scan an ARC before any ebook or paper book published and OCR it.

You can automatically page turn and photo an ereader or screen capture a tablet all automatically and OCR.

KFX is defeated.

All video and audio DRM is easily defeated. Easier than it ever was.

Commercial ebooks with DRM are at least 25 years old. The ebook is over 50 years old. Nothing much will change in the next 10 years. It will get easier to photo every page and OCR, so eventually that can easily be done at home instead of mostly commercial pirates, so people might not bother breaking the DRM which will ALWAYS be breakable as the reading device or app has to have the key!

Also DRM might even become illegal, as it's more about a walled garden and controlling consumers than genuine anti-piracy. It's anti-consumer and anti-competitive and doesn't stop commercial piracy.

[JSWolf]

The 7th Harry Potter book was out and about before it was officially released in hardcover because somone got a hold of the hardcover before it was due. So it got scanned/OCR and released.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The 7th Harry Potter book was out and about before it was officially released in hardcover because somone got a hold of the hardcover before it was due. So it got scanned/OCR and released.

You mean the images that were photographed with a Canon EOS Digital Rebel 300D serial number 0560151117 and the images released as a massive package? No OCR was done since you could see the fingers holding the pages and the drab carpet the book was laying on in many of the images.

[slm]

I thought the pirating of the fourth Harry Potter book was more interesting.

I had ordered two physical copies from Amazon which arrived at my mailbox about 2PM.

Meanwhile a group had gotten the UK edition a 6 AM GMT, scanned it and ocr'd and set separate groups to proofing individual chapters. I got my complete proofed copy at noon.

Since we had three people in the house who all wanted to read the book, that worked out very well.

Of course, my copy didn't have all the silly changes into American English.