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.
Comments are closed on this article
Lodis4
September 01, 2009 at 4:46am
Sadly, I don't have a kindle. I think the concept is cool and may go get one soon. What I really want to know is who gave Quinn the shiner?
jrocknyc
August 31, 2009 at 9:12pm
holding out for an inevitable open & free (but slightly clunky) eBook reader, wot me
naxself
August 31, 2009 at 7:30pm
I'm not sure what Amazon is doing. On the one hand, they're being draconian about their DRM. On the other hand, hackers are allowed to produce mods without a lot of ramifications. Perhaps Amazon is taking the approach that it's better to build a customer base right now and they'll crack down later.
Hopefully the Kindle gets some competition from new e-book makers in the near future. Competition is good for everyone involved, esp. publishers.
ed6514
August 31, 2009 at 7:12pm
I am a frequent Kindle user who is becoming disenchanted with Amazon's draconian DRM approach. What I find is that I now only download books that are of direct personal interest to me and avoid downloading books that I potentially would like to share. One of the pleasures of a good book is sharing it with friends or family. Even the music industry has formally allowed reasonable sharing of music.
mesiah
August 31, 2009 at 10:09pm
I can see the reasoning for not allowing people to share, but everyone shares books. I wouldn't mind a feature that would allow me to transmit a copy of a book from my kindle to a friends kindle and delete my copy, or remove viewing permission until my copy is "returned" to me. Or possibly the ability to "share" a copy for a set amount of time (30 days maybe) after that time the shared copy self destructs. All possibilities. It just depends on what the publishers will agree to.
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