# iPad books on Kindle?



## GinnyB (Dec 19, 2009)

Can Kindle read iPad books?


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## VictoriaP (Mar 1, 2009)

If you're talking about books purchased through iBooks, no.  The DRM Apple uses has not been cracked yet, so those books can't be converted to .mobi format.

It is of course still illegal to do so anyway, but regardless, it cannot be done at this time.


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## GinnyB (Dec 19, 2009)

Oh! I didn't know it was illegal! Mea culpa!


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## VictoriaP (Mar 1, 2009)

Don't fret.  No one's coming after you just for asking!

Each of the major ebookstores uses a different DRM scheme and book format to prevent you from porting books from one device to another.  Sony, Barnes & Noble, and Apple all use variants of Adobe's ADE encryption on the epub format--Apple's is the newest, and at this point has not yet been cracked so the DRM can be stripped.  An epub file without DRM can be converted to another type of file pretty easily, even to something like .mobi, which could then be loaded onto the Kindle.  But an epub with DRM in place cannot be converted at all without removing the DRM.

Converting a DRM-free ebook isn't illegal in and of itself.  Stripping DRM for most purposes is illegal in this country (there are some exclusions, and not nearly enough case law around this subject yet to know precisely what would and would not pass through the courts).  Distributing the tools to strip DRM is also illegal.  This is why we don't discuss the mechanics of doing so here on KB.

Hope that clarifies things a bit!


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