Adobe Digital Editions
| Adobe Digital Editions | |
|---|---|
| Basic data
|
|
| developer | Adobe Inc. |
| Current version | 4.5.11.187303 ( April 14, 2020 ) |
| operating system | Windows , macOS , iOS and Android |
| programming language | .NET (Windows) |
| category | Viewer |
| License | Proprietary software |
| German speaking | Yes |
| Adobe Digital Editions | |
Adobe Digital Editions is software from Adobe Inc. for viewing e-books , which are protected from unauthorized distribution by digital rights management (DRM). The software is suitable for reading and managing electronic books, newspapers and magazines on devices that are authorized by an identification feature (Adobe ID).
File formats
The file formats PDF , XHTML and EPUB are supported (from version 4.0 also EPUB3). Up to version 1.7, content based on Flash technology was also supported. From version 2.0, which is no longer based on Flash technology for Windows, Flash content can no longer be accessed. Digital Editions is able to open ACSM file formats (ACSM = Adobe Content Server Manager) as they are used on German commercial platforms such as Thalia , Libri and others. ACSM files contain information about copy protection (DRM) and download servers ( Adobe Content Server ) that allow the software to download the protected formats.
Digital rights management
The digital rights management serves to control the use and distribution of digital media. It is used in e-books, but is best known for its use in music, film and software. DRM enables commercial providers to sell licenses for the use of the protected works. The end user pays for the usage rights of the data and not for the data itself.
A way of circumventing the ADEPT DRM (ADEPT = Adobe Digital Editions Protection Technology) integrated in Adobe Digital Editions was published in February 2009. The copy protection itself was not cracked, but only the personal key was extracted. With this, all EPUB files protected with this key can then be completely decrypted and re-saved without digital rights management. These new files are no longer subject to the restrictions of digital rights management. Any personal identification data that may be present remain available.
Availability
The software is available free of charge for the Microsoft Windows and macOS ( Apple ) operating systems. The originally announced version for Linux systems, however, never appeared and Adobe has removed all reports on this. However, it is possible to run Adobe Digital Editions under Linux using Wine . In the absence of official USB support in Wine, you should first activate an e-reader under Windows or macOS, then DRM-protected e-books can also be downloaded under Linux and copied to the reader.
Security issues
In October 2013, there was a hacker attack on Adobe user databases , in which, among other things, identification data of digital editions customers were stolen. Affected email addresses and their passwords were published on the Internet.
In October 2014 it became known that version 4 of the software was monitoring the use of e-books and sending unencrypted information to Adobe. This was basically confirmed by the manufacturer. According to a report by Heise online and Digital Book World from October 8, 2014, this information includes the IP address , date of purchase, date of download, author, title and duration of use. The accusation that e-books not managed by the software itself were read on users' systems and reported to Adobe was rejected by Adobe. Nor is there any evidence that older versions of the software transmit user data in a similar way. Version 2 is not affected; for version 3, Adobe has at least given the right to use data transfer.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Release Notes. Adobe Inc. , accessed August 15, 2020 .
- ↑ System requirements. Adobe Inc. , accessed March 30, 2020 .
- ↑ How is version 2.0 different from Adobe Digital Editions 1.7? (English)
- ↑ Circumventing Adobe ADEPT DRM for EPUB (English)
- ↑ Adobe Forum: How do I copy my DRM books from adobe DE to my BeBook as of February 19, 2011
- ↑ Hackers have stolen 38 million customer data. Die Zeit Nr. 45, October 30, 2013, accessed on November 17, 2013.
- ↑ Adobe hacked - many eBook readers affected. read.net, October 7, 2013, accessed on November 17, 2013.
- ↑ Adobe hack affects at least 38 million accounts. heise online , October 29, 2013, accessed on November 17, 2013.
- ↑ Adobe Digital Editions exposes e-book readers. Heise online, accessed on October 10, 2014.
- ^ Adobe Confirms It's Gathering Ebook Readers' Data. ( Memento of October 7, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Digital Book World, accessed October 10, 2014.