From: Jonah, Jim <Jim.Jonah_at_compuware.com>
Date: Mon, 12 May 2003 12:15:06 -0400

Right.

That's why I asked the question.

The bookmarking feature covers one of the requirements.

Since Audible states they give away their toolkit I would assume that their
toolkit unecrypts the file, which could then be played as a MP3 file. I also
would assume their toolkit would expose the markers within the file, which
could be turned into bookmarks.

Since their toolkit is not open source, I would assume that it could just be
"linked" at compile time, so that they wouldn't have to freely distribute
the source.

Given those assumptions, I think that it might be possible to pull this off.

thoughts?

-----Original Message-----
From: ajf [mailto:ajf_at_midmaine.com]
Sent: Monday, May 12, 2003 11:34 AM
To: rockbox_at_cool.haxx.se
Subject: Re: Audible.com mp3 decryption?


This is from the Audible web site FAQ:

In order to ensure a pleasurable listening experience for spoken-word
programs that typically are several hours in length or longer, as well as
for Audible to obtain the distribution rights to the brand-name audio
programs we have available, Audible requires that AudibleReady digital
devices meet a certain set of minimum standards. These standards apply to
digital music players and other audio-enabled devices, such as PDAs.

Audible offers a formal specification of these minimum requirements to all
digital device manufacturers. Following are some of the key elements in this

specification:

An AudibleReady device MUST be able to remember the position last heard for
each Audible audio program on the device - so if there are 3 different
programs on the player (as tracks 1, 2 and 3), the player must remember the
listener's 3 current play positions in each of the programs. This memory
must be maintained when the device is switched off or loses power (e.g.
battery runs out). It would be impractical to expect a listener to
reposition at the last listening point each time the device is turned on
turned on. We use this playback position memory to update the device
contents with more of a long title that doesn't fit into the device's
storage.

An AudibleReady device MUST not allow an unencrypted copy of the audio
program to be easily copied off the device. To do this, the device must
support some form of Rights Management, or otherwise encrypt the audio when
it is placed on the device. This capability is required by the majority of
Audible's content providers, who are providing the audio through Audible
with the understanding that they and their "artists" (writers, in this case)

will be paid royalties for each program distributed.

AudibleReady devices MUST provide some means to navigate sections of audio
within a single Audible program. For example, Audible inserts "section
markers" at the start of each article in a newspaper or magazine
publication's Audible edition. Most players consider a single Audible file
to be like a "track" of a CD - so special logic is required to have the
player move forward or backward to "sections" within a track, versus moving
forward and backward between tracks.

Lastly, while not an "absolute" requirement, most AudibleReady devices
support one of the voice-specific audio compression formats that Audible
uses. These voice formats allow for high quality spoken-word audio to be
created with much smaller file sizes than would be required for the MP3
format (used for music). However, Audible does produce an MP3 format to
support those manufacturers that are unwilling or unable to support one of
our other formats (e.g. Philips Rush).

Audible has discussed the manufacture of AudibleReady devices with most
major electronics manufacturers. Audible charges no fee for AudibleReady
functionality. It is our goal to make as many players AudibleReady as
possible.

 

Jonah, Jim writes:

> Thoughts on approaching audible.com to see if rockbox can playback their
> encrypted .mp3s?
>
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The contents of this e-mail are intended for the named addressee only. It
contains information that may be confidential. Unless you are the named
addressee or an authorized designee, you may not copy or use it, or disclose
it to anyone else. If you received it in error please notify us immediately
and then destroy it.
Received on 2003-05-12