Amazon is making it much harder to remove DRM from Kindle books

Typically, when Amazon releases a Kindle update, it introduces new features or enhances the device in some way. For example, earlier in the year, Amazon added new text spacing options for e-books to its Kindle e-readers, a new Assistive Reader tool, and a larger font setting for the user interface. However, it seems that with the latest Kindle update, Amazon has focused on locking down its Kindle e-readers even more, rather than improving them.

According to Good E Reader, Amazon’s latest firmware update (version 5.18.5) for its 11th and 12th-generation Kindle e-readers, the Kindle Colorsoft, and the Kindle Scribe, has added a new DRM system that makes it even harder for Kindle users to back up any of their e-books.

The existence of a new DRM system was first discovered on the MobileRead community forum, with a lead developer of a Kindle jailbreak method reportedly stating that the new DRM system employs an “account secret” stored in an “inaccessible location” on Kindle e-readers, which is used to unlock the encryption of an e-book when you go to read it.

To remove the new DRM method, you’d have to gain access to the new storage location of this account secret, which is only possible if a Kindle device was jailbroken before the update. What this means for Kindle enthusiasts is that connecting your Kindle to a PC or Mac and backing up a Kindle e-book you’ve recently purchased and downloaded using DRM removal tools, and storing it in an e-book management app like Calibre, is now nearly impossible.

The update affects the majority of Kindle e-books

Earlier this year, Amazon made it harder to back up your Kindle library to your PC

The new DRM system appears to affect most newly downloaded e-books purchased from Amazon’s Kindle Store, regardless of the date of publication or the date of purchase. Reportedly, the new DRM is not applied in only one instance: when the publisher has requested it not be used. In such cases, the book’s Kindle Store page will display “Simultaneous device usage: Unlimited” under product details.

According to a user on the MobileRead forums, they found it was “impossible to remove the DRM from 99% of the ebooks” they had purchased from Amazon. So if you’re a Kindle enthusiast who frequently backs up your books onto your PC, the latest update will undoubtedly affect your ability to do that.

It comes as no surprise that Amazon is locking down its Kindle e-readers even more. Earlier this year, Amazon controversially removed the ability to use the “Download and Transfer via USB” option for its Kindle e-readers, making it even harder for people to back up e-books they’ve purchased and potentially switch to another e-reader brand, such as Kobo.

Additionally, after this update was released, users began encountering an Invalid ASIN error when attempting to open an e-book that had been sideloaded or transferred through the Kindle email system. Considering a new DRM system seems to be in effect now, I wonder if that’s what triggered the Invalid ASIN error in the first place, but that’s entirely speculation on my part. Amazon has stated that it’s investigating the Invalid ASIN error users are experiencing, and you can read more about it in another Pocket-lint story here.

If your Kindle isn’t set to automatically update, then the new DRM system shouldn’t affect your e-reader. However, be warned that if it updates to 5.18.5 or later, backing up e-books you’ve recently purchased and downloaded will become even more challenging than it already is.