The Amazon Kindle line of e-readers is at war against e-book piracy. They are doing everything that they can to make it impossible for users to download purchased e-books and download them to their computers. It is now impossible for the average user to back up e-books to download them or use tools to break the encryption and share them on piracy websites.

Virtually every method for downloading an e-book purchased from Amazon has either been discontinued, patched, or rendered inaccessible due to software updates that have locked everything down. You have heard of the Kindle walled garden? The walls are now taller than the Tower of Babylon.

A week ago, all 11th and 12th-generation Kindle e-readers, as well as the Kindle Scribe 1 and Scribe 2, and all versions of the Kindle Colorsoft received a software update. Amazon has revised its DRM system, and this new DRM uses an account secret stored in an inaccessible location on the Kindle, and the key needs to be unlocked to decrypt an e-book. Essentially, if you download a Kindle book, it cannot have its encryption broken, regardless of the tools used.  It remains to be seen whether Amazon will update its 10th- and 9th-generation e-readers with this new DRM encryption system.

The 15.18.5 update is also having an adverse reaction to sideloaded books. If you deliver a book using Send by Email or copy it to your computer via USB, a critical issue may arise, where a pop-up appears with an ‘Invalid ASIN‘ number. The new DRM system is attempting to locate the book in the Amazon store to decrypt it, but since it can’t find it, it reports that the book is invalid. Amazon claims they are working on the issue, but preventing sideloading would be downright tyrannical.

Earlier this year, Amazon removed the download and transfer options via USB, one of the last ways to download any book to their computer. Kindle for PC was updated to disallow people with older versions of the app from downloading Kindle books. The app must be updated to even read purchased books, and they can now longer be downloaded. Kindle for PC, Kindle for Mac, Kindle Web Reader, Kindle for Android, and Kindle for iOS are all designed for reading only.

Amazon is also at war with developers who release software to jailbreak the Kindle. Every year, a new darling emerges that promises users more flexibility and control over their Kindle e-reader, only to have Amazon patch the underlying code, rendering it ineffective. Amazon is betting that they will lose interest and give up, which most do, or they focus on older devices, which no longer receive software updates. One of the most popular ones, WinterBreak, has been the most recent casualty.

Draconian measures are being taken to prevent Kindle books from being downloaded and having their DRM busted open with tools. This could possibly convince self-publishers and their major publishing partners that Kindle takes security seriously, and this could lead to more books being published on the Kindle Store, ultimately resulting in increased sales.

Is the war against piracy only alienating a small subset of users? The average user just wants to read books, not deal with anything overly complicated. I think this is the customer that Amazon wants: people who buy from their store and simply don’t care about anyone else.