The Kindle is pretty, and sleek, and invitingly Linux-based. But underneath that alluring exterior, right alongside that hackable code, is a body of laws: terms of service, DMCA, and DRM, saying “Oh no, don’t touch me!”

To keep providers like the Author’s Guild happy, Amazon has restricted features and talked about uses being prohibited, as with its famous update taking away much text-to-speech functionality. But in a world where everything gets hacked, Amazon doesn’t have to do much more than make a reasonable effort at DRM—the legal burden is on the user. The Kindle is not very well-locked-down, and often hackers take that as winking permission.

Jesse Vincent is among the Kindle customers to create a “user-generated update.” His native ebook converter for the Kindle, called Savory, lets you convert ebooks from open formats (EPUB and PDF) to the Kindle’s format. He did it because, he says, “I’m in love with my Kindle.”

He wanted to make his beloved Kindle more useful, and he has. Law students have mailed him to say they read briefs using Savory; D&D players use it to read their manuals.

He doesn’t know if he’s allowed to do it, and he was never able to get any kind of permission from Amazon. This leaves the company free to shut down Savory at any time. “Amazon has taken a very strong pro-publisher stance,” says Vincent, but he later notes that “the actual Kindle platform is very tinkerer-friendly.”

According to Library Journal.com, the Howe Library called up Amazon to ask about lending the Kindle to patrons and was told, “Sure, go for it.” But when the LJ spoke to someone official, they said Amazon’s policy bars lending the Kindle. Howe and other libraries have been happily lending them out since then, with nary a peep from Amazon. A crackdown on libraries seems as likely as an Amazon puppy-kicking division, but the fact that it’s even remotely possible is disturbing enough.

Devices like the Kindle and the iPhone are honey pots for hackers who love them. It’s safer to demand open formats, where no one can take away what you’ve bought or invested in.

Quinn Norton writes about copyright for Wired News and other publications. Her work has ranged from legal journalism to the inner life of pirate organizations.