![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
altivoA universal solution for the present time has been found. I fixed my B&N problem from yesterday by just plain stripping the DRM from the file.
It turns out that B&N uses its own DRM format, and is not compatible with Adobe Digital Editions at all. Their Nook readers are compatible with ADE, and can read content from ADE compatible providers such as Kobo or many public library systems, but ADE cannot read B&N/Nook epub files. The B&N desktop reader application can read those files and display them, but makes no provision for loading them to a non-Nook epub reader. So... I paid for the book, and I converted it to a readable format for my own use. End of story, and probably the end of my dealings with B&N.
The Nook DRM uses a key built from the credit card account holder's name and the credit card number used to purchase the book. This means that if you later change credit card numbers, as nearly everyone will do eventually even if they stay with the same bank, the key for your books bought with each credit card number will be different. What a stupid concept. That alone is a good reason for stripping the DRM from these files if you want to retain access to them permanently.
This also explains why B&N can't accept PayPal or other electronic transfers for the purchase of Nook epub files. They need a unique credit card number in order to construct the DRM keys. And because the system is hardwired into the thousands (millions) of Nook devices that have been sold, changing the method is well-nigh impossible for them.
The book is now installed into my ereader and displays perfectly there, as it should.
It turns out that B&N uses its own DRM format, and is not compatible with Adobe Digital Editions at all. Their Nook readers are compatible with ADE, and can read content from ADE compatible providers such as Kobo or many public library systems, but ADE cannot read B&N/Nook epub files. The B&N desktop reader application can read those files and display them, but makes no provision for loading them to a non-Nook epub reader. So... I paid for the book, and I converted it to a readable format for my own use. End of story, and probably the end of my dealings with B&N.
The Nook DRM uses a key built from the credit card account holder's name and the credit card number used to purchase the book. This means that if you later change credit card numbers, as nearly everyone will do eventually even if they stay with the same bank, the key for your books bought with each credit card number will be different. What a stupid concept. That alone is a good reason for stripping the DRM from these files if you want to retain access to them permanently.
This also explains why B&N can't accept PayPal or other electronic transfers for the purchase of Nook epub files. They need a unique credit card number in order to construct the DRM keys. And because the system is hardwired into the thousands (millions) of Nook devices that have been sold, changing the method is well-nigh impossible for them.
The book is now installed into my ereader and displays perfectly there, as it should.
no subject
Date: 2012-08-28 08:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-28 02:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-29 08:12 am (UTC)If I understand the scheme right, the moment you get a new credit card (which is what, every five years?) all your old purchases stop working, and you re-buy all the stuff you don't want to lose.
It's guaranteed future profit.
no subject
Date: 2012-08-29 11:11 am (UTC)If you don't remember the old number, then you can download it again (no charge other than time and bandwidth) and it will be automatically converted to the new number, or so they say. I haven't had to try this and I don't intend to do so.
Like most DRM schemes, it doesn't really protect anything or anyone. It's just a painful nuisance.
no subject
Date: 2012-08-28 12:16 pm (UTC)+sighs+
This does not impress me at all, given how often I use my Nook.
I would not be pleased to lose the files on it simply because I got a new credit card.
+trots off to find out how to strip the DRM+
no subject
Date: 2012-08-28 02:16 pm (UTC)You may not need to strip any DRM as long as you keep a careful record of the credit card number and name on your Nook account and the dates when you made any changes. From B&N's own garbled and relatively useless FAQs, it looks as if the Nook itself offers a way to "unlock" one of these epub files when reloading it. To do so, you have to know the credit card number and name that were used when it was purchased. Truly bizarre.