Improving PixelMelt's Kindle Web Deobfuscator(shkspr.mobi)
shkspr.mobi
Improving PixelMelt's Kindle Web Deobfuscator
https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/10/improving-pixelmelts-kindle-web-deobfuscator/
19 comments
Glad to see iteration on top of it! I did swap the repo to GPL3 before privating it due to legal concerns, if you think it's in the clear, feel free to share. My only ask is you wipe the git history since I accidentally included the output epub from the book I was testing on.
> Personally, I've just stopped buying books from Amazon. I find that Kobo is often cheaper and their DRM is easy to bypass.
Anyone have any advice on how to bypass Kobo DRM? I can only buy ebooks without DRM (typically through ebooks.com) for my kindle running Koreader so this would be amazing.
Anyone have any advice on how to bypass Kobo DRM? I can only buy ebooks without DRM (typically through ebooks.com) for my kindle running Koreader so this would be amazing.
I made a plugin for KOReader that can download the books from the Kobo store and remove the DRM without using any external tools:
https://github.com/TnS-hun/KOkobo
Just tried it out and it works perfectly! Thank you for letting me read Kobo books!!
There's good advice on https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=370350
Basically, install Calibre, install the correct plugin, give it your Adobe ID, done. You can load a purchased .ascm file into Calibre and the plugin will download and decrypt the ePub.
Basically, install Calibre, install the correct plugin, give it your Adobe ID, done. You can load a purchased .ascm file into Calibre and the plugin will download and decrypt the ePub.
Thank you so much!
I'm intrigued by this statement: The original code didn't come with an open source software licence, so I am unable to share my changes.
The original blog post[0] doesn't share a link to a full codebase that I can see, and I can't find anything with a quick google. (Although it may have been removed subsequently?)
I assume code snippets in a blog post, and/or a repository without an explicit license, are covered by copyright, hence the caution; can anyone advise when/how it would be reasonable to take someone's concept, rework the code (as appears to have been done here) and then reshare?
[0] https://blog.pixelmelt.dev/kindle-web-drm/
The original blog post[0] doesn't share a link to a full codebase that I can see, and I can't find anything with a quick google. (Although it may have been removed subsequently?)
I assume code snippets in a blog post, and/or a repository without an explicit license, are covered by copyright, hence the caution; can anyone advise when/how it would be reasonable to take someone's concept, rework the code (as appears to have been done here) and then reshare?
[0] https://blog.pixelmelt.dev/kindle-web-drm/
(Author here) There used to be a GitHub repo - but it has subsequently been removed.
Normally, I'd be comfortable sharing snippets under the UK's copyright "Fair Dealing" exemption - but my changes are so tightly integrated into the original code that it doesn't seem right.
Additionally, as I say, my changes are fairly trivial. Read a JSON file, scale an image, stitch it together. It's the sort of thing you can throw together in an afternoon.
As for how much you need to change for it to be reasonable to share, it does rather become a "Ship of Theseus" problem. You'll need to be guided by your own ethics and the laws of your country.
Normally, I'd be comfortable sharing snippets under the UK's copyright "Fair Dealing" exemption - but my changes are so tightly integrated into the original code that it doesn't seem right.
Additionally, as I say, my changes are fairly trivial. Read a JSON file, scale an image, stitch it together. It's the sort of thing you can throw together in an afternoon.
As for how much you need to change for it to be reasonable to share, it does rather become a "Ship of Theseus" problem. You'll need to be guided by your own ethics and the laws of your country.
[deleted]
Thanks for clarifying.
Given you're in the UK, Ship of Theseus ≃ Trigger's Broom :)
Given you're in the UK, Ship of Theseus ≃ Trigger's Broom :)
Here's the code that was on github, it's GPL3: https://gofile.io/d/Bdw7Vv
It used to have a link to the full codebase, but the author removed it, perhaps due to legal concerns.
[deleted]
The same warning applies as before: this is a criminal act in the USA and so is talking about how you did it. Make sure you're well away from countries that extradite to the USA (which is most of the developed world).
That the Kindle web is still supported by Amazon after all the Kindle changes surprises me.
There are some books that you can't view in the web version but I'm not sure if that's always been the case or if those books are in a different format or publishers can disable it for extra security or something.