Amazon deletes legally purchased Kindle books

[PepperElf]

http://gizmodo.com/5317180/big-broth...nds-of-kindles


yep. Amazon changed their minds about letting people read Orwell books on the kindle and decided to revoke the purchases and just remotely delete the books and refund the customers.


like the writer of the article this is why i won't buy a kindle
i don't like the idea that amazon can just decide that they don't want you to have something you legally purchased and just take it away from you after the fact.

that's really sucky, even if they refund the customers.

in fact... i'm wondering if it's even legal.

i mean if someone came into my house and tried to take away a physical book i bought and claim it was OK because they're refunding me... that wouldn't be legal, so why should it be legal for a kindle book?

[BroomJockey]

It wasn't Amazon, it was the publisher. They decided against allowing electronic versions, and leaned on Amazon to delete it. Amazon folded rather than pissing off a publisher.

[PepperElf]

it's still, for me, a perfect reason to not get a kindle.
cos once i've downloaded something i sure as heck don't want a company rooting around inside my electronic book to take it away.

that's why i have the sony version that doesn't go online. ... i just stick rtf books on it normally

[BroomJockey]

Fair enough. I just want outrage directed to where it should be. It's a dick move, but I can't really blame Amazon over it.

[Flyndaran]

Did my first post from this thread get erased or was it some kind of board hiccough? I don't have a reply saying that it was taken out for content.

[BroomJockey]

was it some kind of board hiccough?

Unless Boozy or another mod knows differently, it must have been a hiccough. I haven't seen any posts from you in this thread previously.

[Flyndaran]

Unless Boozy or another mod knows differently, it must have been a hiccough. I haven't seen any posts from you in this thread previously.

Weird then.

My previous post was just about how if all those people that want to consider things like copywright theft just as real as theft of physical objects, then they better do so even when it isn't in their favor.

Edit: Oops. I actually posted to another forum. I so rarely post there I completely forgot about it.

[BroomJockey]

then they better do so even when it isn't in their favor.

They claim it's "different" because they refunded the purchase price.

Still an asshole move by the publisher.

[Flyndaran]

They claim it's "different" because they refunded the purchase price.

Still an asshole move by the publisher.

They don't get to take my physical book and repay me, so it isn't different in that way. Illegal move by the publisher.

[BroomJockey]

No arguments here.

[Pedersen]

My take on it, if I owned a Kindle (which, after this and a couple of other stories, I never will):

I bought the electronic version of the book from Amazon. I entered into a contract to buy the product. I gave them money, they gave me a copy of the book. What happened with the publisher is not my concern or problem. Once the sale is done, unless the product is defective, it is now mine to control. The fact that Amazon has removed something from my property that was legally acquired by me is, at best, reprehensible.

A useful analogy would be something in my home. I buy products from Target. Some time later, they come by my house in the middle of the night, enter, and remove my property, all without waking me. However, they're nice and hand over all the money I gave them for the product on the kitchen table. They do this on the grounds that the manufacturer decided they did not want to sell that product ever.

I'd be able to sue Target for any number of legal violations. Trespassing, unlawful entry, theft (since I did not agree to sell them my property, and them leaving money is effectively them trying to buy it back), and probably several others (depending on local laws).

Now, since this is electronic access, we don't have trespassing or unlawful entry. But there is misuse of a computer system (possibly, would have to read the specific laws on that), and theft.

Amazon is in the wrong here. They screwed up. I hope they get taken to the cleaners by the people who did get shafted. I also hope the publisher gets taken to the cleaners by Amazon. After all, Amazon now gets the loss of business (people who won't buy a Kindle now, where they might have before), loss of reputation, loss of goodwill, and the loss of how much money they paid out to their customers who are now short a book on their devices.

Both of them deserve to lose out. I'm just not sure which one deserves it more.

[AdminAssistant]

Doesn't ITunes do the same thing sometimes with music?

I stare at a computer screen to write papers and read forums and do e-mail....and that's plenty. Call me old-fashioned, but when I want to read a book, I want to be holding something made of paper. I print out practically all of my research articles. Partially to prevent eye strain, but also because I like to make notes as I read, and...my pencil won't work on the computer screen.

[BroomJockey]

Ya know, a decent pen or highlighter would solve that problem.

[AdminAssistant]

Ya know, a decent pen or highlighter would solve that problem.

Which problem?? Yes, I highlight as I read, but also make notes in margins (and here I'm mostly talking about stuff for school). Because my memory ain't that great, and that's pretty much the only way I'm going to make it to the end of the collection of Foucault and remember anything about it.

[BroomJockey]

The problem of not working on your monitor.