[stinkyboy]

I just downloaded a PDF eBook from my local library that I was on a waiting list for and I had to "check out" the book.

Can I just save this and keep it forever or is it going to "self destruct" after a certain amount of time?

 

[binary visions]

Is it an eBook or is it a PDF file?

I don't think PDF has built-in content licensing restrictions to "self-destruct" the file. If it's another format, though, it may have content restrictions (like music or video files) that will render the file unusable after some days.

 

[LordOpie]

^ what he said.

Find out for us

 

[stinkyboy]

It's a PDF file.

I can only open it if connected to the net.

Even though it would be too much of a pain to rasterize each page in Photoshop, I tried one page and got this message:

ad:

 

[stinkyboy]

Hmmm, even ImageReady won't let me open it. I thought it might be like currency which Photoshop somehow recognizes and won't let you save a scan, but you can save it as an ImageReady image.

 

[binary visions]

It's a PDF file.

I can only open it if connected to the net.

Ahh, there you go... I wasn't aware that PDFs could have licensed content, that's good to know.

I don't know much about cracking eBooks, but if you have any kind of OCR software, most OCR will do the character recognition directly from an electronic file... so you could try importing the PDF into that.

 

[syadasti]

Can you print it? Try printing it to PDF with a third party freeware PDF printer (I use cute PDF which uses ghostscript). I think those output PDF v3 files which probably wont support the content protection features and you'll be able to open it anywhere you want to.

 

[LordOpie]

can you select the text directly?

If so... copy-paste to your favorite word program, format, save-as new PDF.

 

[stinkyboy]

Acrobat won't let me do much of anything.

 

[syadasti]

Try the emailing the document to a gmail account and opening it using the viewer - hopefully the PDF was created before the DRM was fixed:

http://www.pdfzone.com/article2/0,1895,1959518,00.asp

 

[LordOpie]

well, 'hacking' is only partly about code. Why not try the con-artist side...

call the library, tell them you're going on a trip, bringing laptop, won't have internet, but would like to read it... how can I do it?

 

[syadasti]

Opening it in gmail isn't exactly hacking...

 

[LordOpie]

Opening it in gmail isn't exactly hacking...

I wasn't talking to you.

 

[Ciaran]

Start here.... http://elcomsoft.com/

Then run a few searches for PDF DRM bypass, or just PDF DRM.

Adobe's built in security is a joke and third party systems can be undone with the right tools.

It all depends how much the bookis worth to you. Might be cheaper and easier to just buy a copy.

 

[stinkyboy]

I don't see a viewer. My options are to download or view as HTML, which it won't let me see.

 

[syadasti]

Start here.... http://elcomsoft.com/

He doesn't have a PC (at least the screenshot isn't from one)

 

[syadasti]

I don't see a viewer. My options are to download or view as HTML, which it won't let me see.

View as html was the bypass work around before they fixed it:

"Google's implementation of Gmail Web-based e-mail was not accurately interpreting particular permission bits via its PDF-to-HTML conversion," Landwehr wrote in an e-mail to PDFzone. "As an aside, the Google.com search engine does interpret these bits correctly."

 

[binary visions]

I don't see a viewer. My options are to download or view as HTML, which it won't let me see.

He means "View as HTML"

 

[stinkyboy]

Start here.... http://elcomsoft.com/It all depends how much the bookis worth to you. Might be cheaper and easier to just buy a copy.

I agree. The book is a software training manual with many screen captures, and I'd like to have it wherever I am, and have the time to absorb it.

Also, I had to download a map today that was password protected which was cracked with a little app but the map was on the 2nd page of the PDF and it will only crack the first page. No rearranging pages, etc.

 

[Ciaran]

He doesn't have a PC.

No wonder he has so many problems!!!!

 

[stinkyboy]

No wonder he has so many problems!!!!

This thread was going so well...

 

[syadasti]

I was just noting your screenshot and the fact you probably would not be able to use that tool:

Warning: APDFPR APDFPR Pro do NOT work on Mac computers with Virtual PC; unfortunately, it seems to be a problem of Virtual PC itself. Also, PDF files protected with any 3rd party security plug-ins such as FileOpen (FOPN_fLock) are not supported.

 

[Ciaran]

This thread was going so well...

I'm just pullin ya chain. Don't get your iPanties in a bunch.

 

[stinkyboy]

I'm all Mac and no VPC.

Also, I ain't looking to steal stuff, it's just strange that I could go to the library, get the book and there's a copy machine right there.

 

[stinkyboy]

I'm just pullin ya chain. Don't get your iPanties in a bunch.

Oh, I know, it's just that some monkeys react poorly when faced with the knowledge of Apple's superior hardware and software.

oster_oops:

 

[LordOpie]

Also, I ain't looking to steal stuff...

what you want is no longer relevant... we must now crack it for the challenge irate2:

Call the library and ask them how

 

[syadasti]

I'm all Mac and no VPC.

Also, I ain't looking to steal stuff, it's just strange that I could go to the library, get the book and there's a copy machine right there.

Even Bill Gates says content with DRM sucks and told everyone to buy the traditional format:

Gates didn’t get into what could replace DRM, but he did give some reasonably candid insights suggesting that he thinks DRM is as lame as the rest of us.

Gates said that no one is satisfied with the current state of DRM, which “causes too much pain for legitmate buyers” while trying to distinguish between legal and illegal uses. He says no one has done it right, yet. There are “huge problems” with DRM, he says, and “we need more flexible models, such as the ability to “buy an artist out for life” (not sure what he means). He also criticized DRM schemes that try to install intelligence in each copy so that it is device specific.

His short term advice: “People should just buy a cd and rip it. You are legal then.”

He ended by saying “DRM is not where it should be, but you won’t get me to say that there should be usage models and different payment models for usage. At the end of the day, incentive systems do make a difference, but we don’t have it right with incentives or interoperability.”

 

[Ciaran]

what you want is no longer relevant... we must now crack it for the challenge irate2:

Call the library and ask them how

Yes! Spoken like a true geek! Go reverse engineering! irate2:

 

[stinkyboy]

Success!

I found a little Mac app called Combine PDFs that allows you to place the "locked" PDFs into them creating a new and clean duplicate.

Written by MonkeyBreak Software!