Apple dropped its FairPlay DRM system for music back in 2009, but the remaining segments of the iTunes ecosystem — apps, videos, and iBooks — still utilize versions of the copy-protection scheme. Ways to circumvent the first two have existed for some time, and now the DRM for iBooks has been cracked as well. A post on the MobileRead forums first called attention to an updated version of an OS X and Windows app called Requiem, which had previously been known as a common way to strip FairPlay from iTunes movies and music. We were able to confirm that the app is indeed able to remove the DRM from iBook's ePub files, allowing them to be opened and read on multiple non-iOS devices.

Requiem already has an established cat-and-mouse relationship with Apple, with the DRM-stripping app prompting iTunes updates that stop it from working, only to be followed by additional updates to Requiem, and so forth. While some argue that users should be allowed to create unencumbered copies of digital works that they have purchased, in this case the fact remains that tampering with security mechanisms like FairPlay is a violation of the iTunes Terms and Conditions, and we have no doubt that Apple will be responding with an updated version of iTunes sooner rather than later.