Type in ‘Adobe Digital Editions DRM’ in Google and the entire first page (apart from one for the Adobe site) is covered with instructions on how to easily remove it.Type in ‘Kindle DRM’ in Google and the first page of results is full of instructions on how to remove it easily (using a Calibre plugin, converting Kindle to PDF, etc.).However, all these DRM protection schemes are really easy to remove: The MOBI, AZW and KFX formats use Amazon’s DRM, whereas EPUB and PDF ebooks are DRM protected using Adobe ADEPT / Adobe Content Server. Kindle readers support five different file formats: MOBI, KFX, AZW, EPUB and PDF. The user or owner password is then used to recover the encryption key from the dictionary and decrypt the file’s contents, making it viewable again.Īs we’ll cover below, however, the poor implementation of most DRM solutions has led to them becoming trivial to remove.Īmazon Kindle, Google Play, and Adobe DRM (epub & PDF) Standard Adobe PDF protection encrypts an ebook with a unique encryption key which is stored in its encryption dictionary.

The DRM also attempts to stop users from opening the file on unauthorized devices by requiring their device to hold the correct key or be linked to an account with the purchase registered to it. Most of these viewer applications also try to stop the user from printing, copying, and converting the ebook.

Amazon designed this modification to stop the user from opening the ebook in anything other than authorized viewers (whether that be on a PC or an e-reader). Kindle and similar protections work by either wrapping the ebook in DRM code or adding code to the ebook package itself. How does ebook DRM work?ĭRMs vary in their protection mechanisms. More advanced DRM solutions additionally prevent screen grabbing, allow publishers to revoke use after a certain date, and more. Ebook Digital Rights Management (DRM for short) refers to a series of controls that, at their most basic level, are used to prevent the unauthorized copying, editing, and sharing of content.

Drm removal tools for ebooks