[Athen] Breaking Security in a PDF

Dan Comden danc at uw.edu
Thu Sep 6 22:40:30 PDT 2018


I don't (regularly) do accessible text conversions.

I'm with Susan. Publishers (punishers?) will lose that fight. Bring it. The
truly awesome number of crappy content that students are asked to deal with
is staggering. Publishers should be helping this, not making it worse. If
they really wanted to fix this, they would. (personal opinion begins) but
they're in denial over the model of printed textbooks continuing to be the
rule. Yes, students still prefer printed books, (and some of our own
research supports that) but someone is going to figure out how to make
digital versions work well and they will own the space.

And where I depart from many is the idea of the print page number...give it
a rest. Give headings (unique) instead. These kids are used to dealing with
digital delivery in formats like Kindle. Absolute position is what matters,
not a print page number that is irrelevant for someone using screenreader
or magnifcation.

Likely we need a new method but print page numbers are going to really
passe soon.

-*- Dan


On Thu, Sep 6, 2018 at 3:04 PM, Susan Kelmer <Susan.Kelmer at colorado.edu>
wrote:


> George, perhaps you have time to hound publishers about removing DRM and

> other protections.

>

>

>

> I take in over 500 requests for textbooks a semester, more than half of

> those in the first two weeks of classes (I crossed the 300 mark today).

> Having ongoing arguments with publishers is a waste of my time, and I do

> what needs to be done to get the job done (and files out to the student).

> We turn around most books (even ones we have to scan or the bookshare files

> we have to correct) in four days. Our max stated goal is two weeks. I am

> not messing around. A student without their reading materials is dead in

> the water, and I cannot and will not allow that to happen.

>

>

>

> It is, actually, quite legal to crack DRM, using whatever tools are

> available. And I will continue to do it, for the betterment of my students.

>

>

>

> No student should have to wait an extra week while I have a back-and-forth

> argument with a publisher about whatever DRM they attached or whatever

> password they put on it or whatever watermark they put on and think we

> cannot remove.

>

>

>

> I crack it, produce the files in the needed format, and move on. I

> literally do not have time to educate a publisher, who should really know

> better, that they are making our lives difficult. They can choose to do

> what they are going to do. I, too, can choose to do what I’m going to do

> to circumnavigate whatever roadblocks they have thrown up.

>

>

>

> *Susan Kelmer*

>

> *Alternate Format Production Program Manager*

>

> *Disability Services*

>

> *University of Colorado Boulder*

>

> *303-735-4836*

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

> *From:* athen-list <athen-list-bounces at mailman12.u.washington.edu> *On

> Behalf Of *George Kerscher

> *Sent:* Thursday, September 06, 2018 3:21 PM

>

> *To:* 'Access Technology Higher Education Network' <

> athen-list at u.washington.edu>

> *Subject:* Re: [Athen] Breaking Security in a PDF

>

>

>

> Hi,

>

>

>

> Yes, you do have the right and obligation to make educational materials

> accessible.

>

>

>

> I would think that the publisher made a mistake by sending you a protected

> PDF. I suggest you recontact them and ask for an unprotected version.

>

>

>

> Also, the DMCA makes it illegal to produce software intended for defeating

> DRM. The promotion of cracking tools is also a violation, but I am not a

> lawyer.

>

>

>

> We have been working hard with publishers to make their publications born

> accessible, and we have seen many advances, and we still have a long way to

> go. Starting to crack protected content is not something we should promote.

>

>

>

> I removed the link to the cracking software from the original post below.

>

>

>

> Best

>

> George

>

>

>

>

>

> *From:* athen-list <athen-list-bounces at mailman12.u.washington.edu> *On

> Behalf Of *Susan Kelmer

> *Sent:* Thursday, September 6, 2018 10:41 AM

> *To:* Access Technology Higher Education Network <

> athen-list at u.washington.edu>

> *Subject:* Re: [Athen] Breaking Security in a PDF

>

>

>

> You have a legal right to crack the PDF to do what you need to do. My

> favorite cracker is this one:

>

>

>

>

>

> *Susan Kelmer*

>

> *Alternate Format Production Program Manager*

>

> *Disability Services*

>

> *University of Colorado Boulder*

>

> *303-735-4836*

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

> *From:* athen-list <athen-list-bounces at mailman12.u.washington.edu> *On

> Behalf Of *Robert Spangler

> *Sent:* Thursday, September 06, 2018 10:31 AM

> *To:* Access Technology Higher Education Network <

> athen-list at u.washington.edu>

> *Subject:* [Athen] Breaking Security in a PDF

>

>

>

> Hello, if I receive a secured PDF from a publisher, how can I circumvent

> this to be able to break it into chapters?

>

>

>

> Thanks,

>

> Robert

>

>

>

>

> --

>

> Robert Spangler

> Disability Services Technical Support Specialist

> rspangler1 at udayton.edu

> Office of Learning Resources (OLR) - RL 023

> Ryan C. Harris Learning & Teaching Center (LTC)

> University of Dayton | 300 College Park | Dayton, Ohio 45469-1302

> Phone: 937-229-2066

>

> Fax: 937-229-3270

>

> Ohio Relay: 711 (available for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing)

>

> Web Site: http://go.udayton.edu/learning

>

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>



--
-*- Dan Comden danc at uw.edu <danc at washington.edu>
Access Technology Center www.uw.edu/itconnect/accessibility/atl/
University of Washington UW Information Technology
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