# DRM, PID & secured file



## Shizu (Oct 27, 2008)

I know Amazon kindle book is in a DRM so I could only read from my kindle. And I can only read the one I purchased from my account. 

I'm wondering about other ebook stores. Some of them are in a DRM or a PID. I always try to find out which store's ebook has a DRM or a PID. And avoid those files but sometime it is hard to find out. (I'm terrible with search...) 

It seems Mobipocket.com ebooks are in PID? You can use different device with these PID ebooks?

Some pdf files are in secured format but seems I can convert to mobi format using mobipocket creator. So what does this secured mean? What I understand before was that with the secured pdf file, you can only open with the pc you use in the beginning so if you can't read with different pc. If you re-install the OS, you won't be able to read those secured pdf files that you purchased.

I'm confused about how this whole DRM, PID, secured files will affect me if I purchase one.

I'm sure many of you are purchasing ebooks from various ebook stores. Can you tell me which store's ebooks are in a DRM, a PID, or secured?

Thanks

Shizu


----------



## TheJohnNewton (Nov 2, 2008)

The above post is THE reason that drm should either be fixed or scraped.  Why should a customer have to work so hard just to buy and use a product?  There is an opportunity here for a smart retailer.

I pretty much avoid buying files with drm on them so I can't say who sells with what drm format.  I do use my library however so I know for Adobe Digital Editions books you need that software installed on whatever device you want to read your book on.  I know they will work on pcs and Sony ereaders.  I don't think there is any other way to access these books.

For mobi format drm books you need to register your the PID of the device you want to read the book on with the source of the book.  My library for example allows me to register three PIDs with them so I can read books from them on three different devices.  You'll then need software that understands how to open the book, Mobipocket Reader for example.  These books can be made to work on Kindles as well though it is not officially supported.

My advice, avoid DRM'ed books if at all possible.  If you must purchase a DRM book then make sure it is compatable with whatever device(s) you want to read it on.  Unfortunately not all retailers make it clear as to which books have DRM.  In those cases I would send feedback to the specific retailer in question.


----------



## Shizu (Oct 27, 2008)

TheJohnNewton said:


> My advice, avoid DRM'ed books if at all possible. If you must purchase a DRM book then make sure it is compatable with whatever device(s) you want to read it on. Unfortunately not all retailers make it clear as to which books have DRM. In those cases I would send feedback to the specific retailer in question.


That's what I thought. Thanks, TheJohnNewton.


----------



## SusanCassidy (Nov 9, 2008)

Your terminology is a bit off, but I'll try to clarify.  "Secure Mobipocket" format uses DRM.  Mobipocket format, or non-secure Mobipocket, has no DRM.  

Mobipocket.com uses Secure Mobipocket format, which uses DRM.  It is my understanding that their web site will not accept a PID generated for a Kindle (there is an asterisk, which they will not accept), so you cannot use the Igor scripts (kindlepid.py, kindlefix.py) to convert the file for use with a Kindle.

Fictionwise.com will accept a PID generated by kindlepid.py.  You can then run kindlefix.py on the file to create a file readable by the Kindle.  Fictionwise.com also has what they call multi-format, which allows you to download in "Kindle-Compatible (MOBI)" format, among other formats.

I have not tried other sites using Secure Mobipocket format.

It is kind of a pain to run the scripts to get a book to work, so I avoid it.  I did have a couple of older books that I had bought for my Palm Pilot, that I converted so that I could read them on my Kindle.


----------



## amacd (Nov 27, 2008)

There are lots of places to obtain DRM free books.  BaenBooks has hundreds, mostly in the SciFi and Fantasy genres.  Feedbooks.com has thousands, but most are out of copyright so are older classics although there are some new Creative Commons books on there and all are DRM free.  SteveJordanBooks sells over a dozen DRM free books for very reasonable prices with one free to try to see if you like his writing style.  ManyBooks also has DRM free books if I remember correctly.  I have read over 180 books on my Kindle, most of them DRM free, so most of them were not obtained from Amazon.  Some of my Amazon book downloads were free, so I feel that I am not losing much if I lose those books.  There is at least one Romance site that has DRM free books but since that is not my interest, I cannot quote the site.  Project Gutenberg has many DRM free books, all in TXT format.  When I get those I import them to my word processor and strip off the line feeds so they wrap correctly.  Unlocked PDF files can be saved as TXT files, but the pictures are stripped off and tables get severely trashed.  Lots and lots of options here.  Richard Herley also has shareware books but he is not getting a lot of feedback on those, money wise.  There are whole sites just dedicated to free or nearly free books all of which are not crippled with DRM.  I got really hooked on e-books when I read the Baen book "1632" on my Palm T|X and then followed up on the Kindle when I got that.  I have read quite a few, some free and some inexpensive, but all DRM free.  Look for books with the *.prc format.


----------

