Amazon's Kindle has copyright protection hacked

An Israeli hacker claims to have broken the copyright protection on Amazon's Kindle e-reader, reports say.

The hack will allow the ebooks stored on the reader to be transferred as pdf files to any other device.

The hacker, known as Labba, responded to a challenge posted on Israeli hacking forum, hacking.org.

It is the latest in a series of Digital Rights Management hacks, the most famous being the reverse engineering of iTunes.

The Kindle e-book reader has been very successful since it was launched in the US in 2007.

Amazon hopes to have sold a million devices by the end of the year.

It leaves it to individual publishers whether they want to apply DRM but books in its main proprietary format .azw, cannot be transferred to other devices.

It did not immediately respond to the news but it is likely it will attempt to patch its DRM software.

DRM has long divided opinion. While rights holders regard it as a crucial tool to protect copyright, consumers tend to hate it because it limits what can be done with content.

"DRM is not an effective way of preventing copying nor is it a good way of making sales. There isn't a customer out there saying 'what I need is an electronic book that does less," novelist and co-editor of the Boing Boing blog Cory Doctorow told the BBC when the Kindle was launched.

As soon as a new DRM system is active, hackers begin to try and break it.

Most famously Jon Lech Johansen, known as DVD Jon, cracked the copy protection on DVDs in 1999.

He went on to break the copyright protection on iTunes, leading Apple to offer DRM-free music.

DVD Jon now runs a company with an application to take the pain out of moving different types of content between devices.

Map Found in $10 Box at Estate Sale Sells for $23,400 at Auction

FALLS CHURCH, Va. – A map that was purchased for $10 at a northern Virginia estate sale has guided its owner to a profitable destination at auction, where it sold to an anonymous bidder for $23,400.

The 1827 map of the State of Virginia, drawn by Herman Boye and engraved by H.S. Tanner and E.B. Dawson, had been tucked inside a box of 10 assorted books and offered at an estate sale for a group price of $10. The buyer, a Virginia attorney who dabbles in books, suspected the map might be valuable and took it to Quinn’s & Waverly Auction Galleries in Falls Church, where experts entered it in a Dec. 3 sale with an estimate of $2,500-$4,000.



“There was tremendous interest in it. Every phone line was occupied by a major book or ephemera dealer,” said Matthew Quinn, co-owner of Quinn’s & Waverly. “It was a challenge to settle on a presale estimate for the map because there hasn’t been another one available in the marketplace in the last 35 years. There’s barely even a reference to it on the Internet.”

Comprised of 40 sections, the map is one of only 800 printed for distribution to Virginia’s state senators in 1827, with each map representing one of nine geographic regions. The auctioned map depicts the state before the territorial split that resulted in the formation of a new state, West Virginia, and does not include Arlington County, which was still part of Washington, D.C. at the time of the map’s publication.

Based on an inscription inside the cover of its slipcase, the map was originally the property of John Randolph (1773-1833) of Roanoke, Va., who served seven terms in the Virginia House of Representatives.

Linen-backed and hand-colored, the map details the rivers, roads, towns, county seats, ferries and other natural and man-made points of interest of northwestern Virginia in the 1820s. A population table provides data from the first four U.S. Censuses and lists the number of whites, slaves and free blacks then living in Virginia. Its statistics indicate that at the time of the map’s publication, there were 36,889 freed blacks in the state – less than 10 percent of the number of slaves – out of a total population of 1,065,366 people.

“The map is like an illustrated time capsule of what life was like in Virginia in the 1820s,” said Quinn. “You can see from the symbols on the map how important churches and universities were to the people, and how the state’s fledgling industries were developing.”

Scotland’s oldest book a medieval Celtic psalter goes on display for first time

Scotland's oldest book, a medieval Celtic psalter with vivid illustrations in green, red, purple and gold, will be put on public display on Friday for just the second time in 1,000 years.



The pocket-sized book of psalms dates from the 11th century and has been described as Scotland's version of the celebrated Book of Kells in Dublin.

It contains hand-written psalms in Latin, with Celtic and Pictish illustrations of dragons and other “beasts” and is normally only available to scholars, although it was exhibited in 1967.

It is thought to have been produced at the monastery on the island of Iona and although the original binding has been lost, the script is clear and the text can still be read today.

The psalter will go on display in the main library at the University of Edinburgh for the next three months, with other items including an edition of Romeo and Juliet that was published during Shakespeare's lifetime.

Joseph Marshall, the university's rare book librarian, said people had been reluctant to show the book in the past, but its special display case now allowed it to be put on display.

He added: "It is a riot of colour. You would think someone had gone over it with a felt-tip pen."

It is thought to have been commissioned for a figure of great importance, possibly St Margaret, Queen of Scotland.

It will part of a new display in the library's refurbished exhibition room

Charles Dickens manuscript for A Christmas Carol

Charles Dickens left behind one, and only one, manuscript for “A Christmas Carol,” the tale he wrote in 1843 of an unfeeling rich man and the boy who pricked his conscience.

Kept under lock-and-key for much of the year at the Morgan Library and Museum, the manuscript is not widely available, one reason, perhaps, why it has been all but impossible to track the many revisions Dickens made to the manuscript as he struggled to get his story right.

A high-resolution copy of the manuscript's 66 pages, which you can examine by clicking HERE may finally change that.

New York's Street Booksellers

An facinating introduction to some of the sidewalk booksellers on West 4th Street in Manhattan. From Jason Rosette's movie BookWars

Valuable children's literature collection up for auction

A valuable collection of children's literature, including Alice's own copy of "Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There," a first edition of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" and Beatrix Potter's personal copy of "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" will be presented for auction Dec. 16.

It is the collection of NFL player Pat McInally, a Harvard grad who was a punter and receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals from 1976 to 1985. After completing his turn as a professional football player, he started a successful line of football action figures.

The auction, held by Southern California auctioneer Profiles in History, includes an original drawing by John Tenniel of the Gryphon from "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" (pictured). Two copies of "Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There," the Alice sequel, are for sale: One has a pair of original pencil drawings by Tenniel and is estimated to sell for $40,000 to $60,000; the other, expected to sell for at least twice as much, is signed by Alice Liddell, who as a young girl inspired Lewis Carroll to write "Alice."

Other first-edition children's books for auction include "Stuart Little" signed by E.B. White; "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien; "Watership Down" by Richard Adams; and "Mother Goose in Prose," L. Frank Baum's first book, in which Dorothy makes her debut. A copy of "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" is accompanied by a letter about Narnia written and signed by C.S. Lewis. There are also limited editions of "Winnie the Pooh," "The House at Pooh Corner" and "Now We Are Six," all inscribed by author A.A. Milne and illustrator Ernest H. Shepard, as well as a limited edition of the first four Harry Potter books inscribed by J.K. Rowling.

There are a few bookish collectibles for adults too, including a first edition of "The Time Machine" signed by H.G. Wells. James Bond fans should be happy: In addition to a first edition of "Goldfinger" signed by Ian Fleming to William Plomer, to whom the book is dedicated, there are first editions of "Thunderball," "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" and "For Your Eyes Only."

Although bids will be accepted by the old-school methods of mail, fax and in person, online auctioneers icollector and LiveAuctioneers also will be taking bids.

A Blast From The Past : Eldras's Ebay Auction Of His Folio Copy Of William Shakespeare's Pericles

Snippet From The Camden New Journal 2004

Is he making a folio out of me?

COMPUTER buffs of my acquaintance told me this week of intriguing goings-on on the internet auction site eBay.
There an eccentric, 90 page stream of consciousness from a seller based in London NW3 and calling himself Eldras invited bids for “the greatest 21st century rare book stampede, a first folio appearance of Pericles by Mr William Shakespeare”.
The seller, who is apparently well known to eBay watchers and bibliophiles, claimed other very rare early copies of the 1609 romance had been destroyed in the Great Fire of London of 1666.

He set just a one penny reserve, but added: “I’m looking for £100,000 for this.”
Naturally, I made enquiries. One Hampstead resident claimed to have seen the merchandise. He described what appeared to be 20 authentic pages of extracts from the play, between more modern covers.



I managed to track down a phone number purporting to belong to Eldras, but despite leaving several messages, my calls were not returned.
Then the trail went cold.

I heard rumours Eldras had inherited the folio from his book-dealer father and that he had sold it on Saturday for £250,000.

Even more beguiling was the tale that he is to be found regularly, late on Tuesday nights, in the internet café in McDonald’s burger joint on Finchley Road.
Whatever the truth of the matter, Hampstead would clearly be a much duller place without Eldras’s contribution, to say nothing of cyberspace.

Historic Thomas Paine deed falls out of 18th century novel

A torn sheet of 18th century paper which tumbled out of a novel by Tobias Smollett found in a cellar, has proved to be the legal document which not only dissolved the marriage of Thomas Paine, but gave him cash in hand to buy his ticket to America - where he would become one of the most famous radical pamphleteers in the world, author of Common Sense and a leading figure in the American revolution and the founding of the United States.

The document, missing for well over a century, will return this week to Lewes, the town where Paine worked as a customs officer, and married his publican landlord's daughter, Elizabeth Ollive.

The document, referred to in standard biographies but not apparently actually seen since 1892, turned up again during the town's first Thomas Paine festival this summer.

Paine's fortunes, always precarious, were at a particularly low ebb in 1774. He had been sacked from the excise service on a trumped up charge, the tobacco shop he had started with his late father in law had failed, he had to sell most of the household goods to avoid a debtor's prison, and his marriage to the much younger Elizabeth was in tatters.

The deed formally separated them, "whereas certain unhappy Quarrels and dissensions have arisen", and provided that Elizabeth should keep the money she inherited from her father, but hand over £45 she had in cash – in return stipulating that Paine "shall not nor wil at any time hereafter slander or defame his said wife".

Paine spent the money on his ticket to the America, arriving in Philadelphia too seasick to stand on November 30 1774, and the rest was history.

The document was hanging in the home of John Hughes, at Cowfold, West Sussex. His brother took over as manager of a new jeweller's in Hastings in the late 1970s, where in clearing the cellar when he found a load of old books, and asked the owner of the building if he could have them.

The document fell out of an early copy of an 18th century novel by Smollett, and they thought it interesting and attractive enough to frame. It was only when the festival revived local interest in Paine that they realised its significance.

It has been bought for almost £13,500 at a Bloomsbury auction by the East Sussex records office and Lewes town council using external grants. Donors include Paul Myles, who organised the festival, and who now wonders if the book, holding one third of the original document which would have been kept as proof by one of the parties to the agreement, could have belonged to Elizabeth.

Appropriately, given the importance of drink and taverns in Paine's time in the town, the local Harvey's brewery also contributed.

First-edition Anne of Green Gables expected to set auction record

One of the books most coveted by collectors of Canadian literary history — a first edition copy of Anne of Green Gables — is to be sold at auction next week in New York for what could be a record price.

The vintage edition of the classic novel by P.E.I.-born author Lucy Maud Montgomery, first printed in April 1908 by the Boston publishing house L.C. Page, is expected to fetch up to $25,000 U.S. at Sotheby's Dec. 11 sale of rare books and manuscripts.

A top hammer price would just surpass the $24,000 record set in 2005 for another inaugural copy of the famous work.

Only eight first-run editions of the book have been sold in the past 35 years, Sotheby's said.

"First-edition copies of this book are rare on the auction market," spokesman Blair Hance told Canwest News Service. "This example is in nice condition with minimal wear."

He said the book — nearly identical to the copy sold in 2005 — emerged from the holdings of a private collector who wishes to remain anonymous.

Described as "one of the most sought-after children's books" for North American bibliophiles, the novel spawned seven sequels, two Hollywood films, various stage adaptations, a hit Canadian TV series and a tourism jackpot for Canada's smallest province.

And last year, an authorized "prequel" to the Anne story by Nova Scotia children's author Budge Wilson was published in celebration of the original's 100th anniversary.

Before the 2005 sale, Sotheby's apologized for what it admitted was an "obnoxious" error after listing the Anne of Green Gables first edition as a beloved "American" children's book.

Montgomery's novel was, in fact, first published in Boston, and it would be 35 years before a Canadian edition appeared. But the author, the character of Anne Shirley and the island setting in which her adventures unfold are all icons of Canadian culture.

The book has been translated into 17 languages and thousands of Japanese tourists travel each year to Green Gables House in Cavendish, P.E.I., a testament to Anne's widespread and enduring appeal.

Previous first editions of Anne of Green Gables have fetched as much as $20,000 at auction, but the 2005 sale set a new benchmark for the book.

It had belonged to the late George Cosmatos, an Italian-Greek film director and book collector best known as the maker of the 1985 action hit Rambo: First Blood II and the 1993 western Tombstone.

The cover of the 1908 edition features gold lettering and a striking profile portrait of Anne.

Library and Archives Canada has several 1908 copies of the book. In 1999, Ottawa-area book collector Ronald Cohen donated 300 Montgomery titles to the national library, including an autographed first edition of Anne of Green Gables.