Improving PixelMelt's Kindle Web Deobfuscator
12 comments
·October 19, 2025mft_
edent
(Author here) There used to be a GitHub repo - but it has subsequently been removed.
Normally, I'd be comfortable sharing snippets under the UK's copyright "Fair Dealing" exemption - but my changes are so tightly integrated into the original code that it doesn't seem right.
Additionally, as I say, my changes are fairly trivial. Read a JSON file, scale an image, stitch it together. It's the sort of thing you can throw together in an afternoon.
As for how much you need to change for it to be reasonable to share, it does rather become a "Ship of Theseus" problem. You'll need to be guided by your own ethics and the laws of your country.
crtasm
Here's the code that was on github, it's GPL3: https://gofile.io/d/Bdw7Vv
Retr0id
It used to have a link to the full codebase, but the author removed it, perhaps due to legal concerns.
JLO64
> Personally, I've just stopped buying books from Amazon. I find that Kobo is often cheaper and their DRM is easy to bypass.
Anyone have any advice on how to bypass Kobo DRM? I can only buy ebooks without DRM (typically through ebooks.com) for my kindle running Koreader so this would be amazing.
edent
There's good advice on https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=370350
Basically, install Calibre, install the correct plugin, give it your Adobe ID, done. You can load a purchased .ascm file into Calibre and the plugin will download and decrypt the ePub.
JLO64
Thank you so much!
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lagniappe
This website is so awesome. The theme switcher has a drunk mode and a nude mode :D
sdoering
One of my favorite blogs in my RSS reader
0x073
That the Kindle web is still supported by Amazon after all the Kindle changes surprises me.
I'm intrigued by this statement: The original code didn't come with an open source software licence, so I am unable to share my changes.
The original blog post[0] doesn't share a link to a full codebase that I can see, and I can't find anything with a quick google. (Although it may have been removed subsequently?)
I assume code snippets in a blog post, and/or a repository without an explicit license, are covered by copyright, hence the caution; can anyone advise when/how it would be reasonable to take someone's concept, rework the code (as appears to have been done here) and then reshare?
[0] https://blog.pixelmelt.dev/kindle-web-drm/