Adobe Digital Editions (ADE) is a "traffic cop" that enforces DRM embedded into copy-protected EPUB files from distributors. Customers sign up for an online account with Adobe, and the username and password are used to "authorize" a particular PC with that account.
This morning I noticed that I had authorized the two computers with the same account, but on the second one, I had typed it in uppercase letters. The authorization had worked on both machines, so obviously Adobe didn't care that the logins didn't exactly match.
But perhaps the DRM used by Overdrive (which handles e-book lending for thousands of public libraries, including mine) did actually care. To test this, I de-authorized the second PC and then re-authorized it, typing in the account name to match how I had typed it on the first.
After re-connecting my Reader to the second PC, I still got the "not authorized" message when attempting to access the copy of the library checkout on the Reader. This was expected, as Overdrive's DRM "rules" claim that only one PC -- the one that originally did the download -- can access a library checkout. But happily, the software didn't freak out and wipe them off the Sony Reader this time.
Lesson learned. But I still despise DRM.
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