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Self-terminating e-books from Palm Digital Media
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By Larry Garfield, Thursday 5 December 2002  
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Palm Digital Media will soon be offering time-limited eBook servers to libraries, allowing users to "borrow" eBooks that cannot be transfered and will self-terminate after a fixed period of time.
Palm Digital Media, a subsidiary of PalmSource responsible for the Palm Reader eBook format and reader, has announced a new version of the Palm Retail Encryption Server Software. The software provides libraries with a way to let patrons check out Palm Reader eBooks.
The software's Digital Rights Management (DRM) process uses a hardware identification number assigned by the Palm Reader eBook application to a handheld or desktop computer. The server uses this ID to lock an eBook to a specific device and assign an expiration date to the eBook, after which the Palm Reader program will refuse to open it. Since the file uses as propretary format and is encrypted, it cannot be read by any other programs.
A user simply opens a library-enabled version of the Palm Reader eBook application, and taps or clicks on About Palm Reader. There the user will find a device ID number that he or she must provide to the library system. The user is then able to download a book, but it will be locked to the device with the specified ID, and the Palm Reader application will refuse to beam it, and will reject the book after a number of days specified by the library. The software and service will be available early next year.
The Palm Reader format is one of a number of proprietary encryption-based formats that are designed to allow content providers to exercise an increased degree of control over the way users use and transmit purchased information. It can be read only by the Palm Reader application, not by any other eBook readers. The format itself offers limited text formatting ability, image support, and internal links.
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| Hands-on impressions, news, reviews, prices and release dates; now all-in-one-page: |
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