We haven’t had a question for Does Anybody Know for a while, so while I’m publishing this question I’m also taking the opportunity to remind our readers that they can feel free to send their questions to me for publication – and hopefully for an answer.
I received the following question from Justin Loutsch:
I took my laptop with me to Borders the other day to try out the Kobo device with ubuntu linux and caliber, and it worked great. I was able to transfer 3 books with no problems, but when it came time to view them I had some trouble with PDF files. The PDF file was an ebook with no DRM at it whatsoever, yet when I opened the file the reader told me I had to activate it with adobe digital editions.
I find it completely unacceptable that I have to activate the device with adobe to read a normal PDF file with no DRM. What I’m wondering is if you have heard this complain from others who have used the kobo? I have not seen this mentioned in reviews on the site so far. This was going to be my next ebook reader but now I have changed my mind.
I know someone who claimed a similar problem but the screenshot they shared had a lightningsource.com url in it. Does Kobo use lightningsource or is this some legacy Boarders deal?
Comment so I can receive updates on this post.
You don’t have to comment to get updates, you know. Just enter your e-mail address in the “Subscribe without commenting” field at the bottom, check “Notify me of comments via e-mail,” and click “subscribe”.
I will read closer and will remember that for next time 🙂
In order to use the current version of Adobe Digital Editions it must activated. This is enforced during launch.
If the PDF file was truly not encrypted, then you could of course use any other PDF viewer to view the file, and not use ADE at all.
If however you tried to view the file in Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat and it moved you over to ADE, then the file was encrypted (and the encryption handler was for the Adobe eBook DRM), and in order to view the file you will need to use ADE.
The PDF appears to be a scanned copy of the book. I run linux, and therefore would not have viewed it in any adobe software. If the person who created it did, and then viewed it in ADE, would it be possible that encryption carried over?
I just find it strange that I don’t need any special software to view it in linux if the file is in fact encrypted.
Not sure why Kobo software requires Adobe activation for non-DRMed PDF files (if it is truly not DRMed). Certainly this is not something that Adobe SDK requires them to do.