How can I play .AA DRM protected audiobooks from Audible in Linux

[any ANONYMOUS forum user]

I can't play DRM-protected .AA audiobooks from Audible on Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala as well as on Fedora 12 without emulation software. This reflects badly on Audible.

Yes, I know all about virtualbox, HYPER-V, XEN, VMWare, dual-booting, Wine, and Moonlight. What I want is to be able to take full advantage of my paid subscriptions without having to buy licenses do any special configuration, or spend money on equipment or licenses.

I've contacted Audible to politely complain, and they politely replied that they are working on the problem. Perhaps some more calls from the Linux community could help speed up the process.
Thank you.

[any ANONYMOUS forum user]

Another method to "speed up the process" is to switch to alternative companies that do support Linux. For example, eMusic has begun selling audiobooks that can be downloaded with their Linux downloader. The selection is smaller, but you'd be giving your business to a company that supports Linux-compatibility. As DRM-free, Linux supporting companies like that are more successful, the better chance other publishers will decide that the Microsoft-centric DRM isn't worth turning away whole segments of their audience.

You can try to use Audible under Wine (to download MP3 files, not audio streams) with iTunes player. Although it doesn't work well, mostly just trial and error.

You can also remove DRM protection from .AA files in Windows (if you have it installed) and then use DRM-free files in Linux.

But I support the last poster and highly recommend to use services that do offer DRM-free content and do support Linux!