Amazon Remotely Deleting Books From Kindle

Beware of Big Brother.

Those who have adopted the Amazon e-book way of reading today discovered something that they surely weren't counting on – having their books remotely deleted from their Kindles.

In what is glaring irony, George Orwell's 1984 and Animal Farm were the two books that the publisher decided it no longer wanted Kindle owners to have access to. Instead of just pulling the book from the store and stopping any further sales, it had Amazon send out a kill notice to delete all those books from any device that they were purchased on.

Amazon said that this occurrence is rare, but for those who purchased the books and were halfway through reading them – even once is too many times, even if they were issued refunds.

If there was any argument for owning physical media – and books, out of all possibilities – this would be a prime example.

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There are 60 Comments.

Top Comments

29

Raid3r , July 18, 2009 5:59 AM

wtf
24

FilthPig2004 , July 18, 2009 6:08 AM

Way to destroy fledgling consumer confidence in digital distribution, Amazon. No wonder so many turn to piracy.
14

jsloan , July 18, 2009 6:17 AM

wow, i almost bought one of those things, came real close, didn't because unlike mp3 you really don't own the books you get and now i see just how much you don't really own the books, not only can't you sell them later on, like you can with regular books, or give them away, like you can with other books, but they can take them away from you at anytime they and the copyright owners are fighting with each othr.

yeap, even after people pay for them. wow, and they give lawyers a bad name, sounds like a class action lawsuit is what is needed.

customer is poorly represented in this new electronic world...

Other Comments

8

Hitokage , July 18, 2009 5:56 AM

What.
29

Raid3r , July 18, 2009 5:59 AM

wtf
12

Ramar , July 18, 2009 6:00 AM

What on earth are they thinking?

There's usually a "good" reason for this, and if there isn't, someone start the Anti-Amazon petition.
-14

Ramar , July 18, 2009 6:06 AM

Sorry for the double-post, but after reading the article, owners were refunded. The publisher pulled the book, not Amazon. So not quite so creepy.
24

FilthPig2004 , July 18, 2009 6:08 AM

Way to destroy fledgling consumer confidence in digital distribution, Amazon. No wonder so many turn to piracy.
14

jsloan , July 18, 2009 6:17 AM

wow, i almost bought one of those things, came real close, didn't because unlike mp3 you really don't own the books you get and now i see just how much you don't really own the books, not only can't you sell them later on, like you can with regular books, or give them away, like you can with other books, but they can take them away from you at anytime they and the copyright owners are fighting with each othr.

yeap, even after people pay for them. wow, and they give lawyers a bad name, sounds like a class action lawsuit is what is needed.

customer is poorly represented in this new electronic world...
9

ricardok , July 18, 2009 6:30 AM

This is the proof that no one really cares about things you BUY!! If you bought the ebook than you can still have it. Oh, I don't want anyone to have my printed book, let's call the police and search every single house for a copy of the book and burn it (a little bit nazi for you? ) So, the big brother is taking a different approach. Instead of the governments it's companies.

Congratulations America. This is the so called FREEDOM..
5

Regulas , July 18, 2009 6:31 AM

WTF, I will stick with good old paper and guess what, no batteries required.
This is another reason I don't do DRM that requires a internet connection to activate the game and download games like Steam. You can argue that steam would never block a game but I bet a week ago no one would say they would books (I guess they rent/lease) deleted off their kindle.
8

socrates047 , July 18, 2009 6:42 AM

lol.. irony indeed...
Big brother really is watching!
8

knutjb , July 18, 2009 6:54 AM

That is morally wrong, legally too, I would imagine. If they put a book up for sale electronically it should be treated just like the paper copy. I certainly have lost interest in this kind of technology regardless of how rare the occurrence.
9

Regected , July 18, 2009 7:05 AM

Four legs good. Two legs bad.
4

NuclearShadow , July 18, 2009 7:05 AM

So are those who lost the books due to this getting refunds? If I as one of those effected by this I certainly would demand one.
5

maigo , July 18, 2009 7:08 AM

Yeah, I like owning my books. I can't lose them all at once or delete them... oh and I can lend them (old-school piracy)
5

anonymous@guest , July 18, 2009 7:39 AM

I have been purchasing ebooks through EReader.com for several years now (they are part of Palm One). No activation, I have the books on several devices, and never had a problem. I cannot remember the last time I actually purchased a paper book. This is a really bad business move on Amazon's part.
3

smithereen , July 18, 2009 7:54 AM

Why George Orwell?
13

Greg_77 , July 18, 2009 8:12 AM

So, basically, this is one of those "you don't own the software, you only license it" deals, except it isn't software, it's a book. Well, at least I can rest in peace knowing Amazon or a book publisher won't walk in my house and STEAL my books from my shelf. In my eyes this is stealing, even if their is a refund. How is this different from the publisher asking for its book back from your shelf with a full refund. This makes the Kindle that much more unappealing.
0

belardo , July 18, 2009 8:25 AM

This is WHY:
- Digital Downloads of movies are NOT secure. Why BluRay or other solid-state future storage for movies will still be better.

- Windows XP and newer MS-OS kind of suck. The EULA states that MS has the rights to: modify or delete ANYTHING on YOUR computer. Remember, Windows caches and stores all kinds of personal information... that other OSs don't seem to "need" to do.

- This is not good for Kindle, Amazon. Another idiot media company, not understanding the future. Lets see... anyone can lend a friend a book or DVD, etc. I just lent a work-buddy my box-set of Fire Fly (which I've done 6 times before), he'll be buying his OWN box set now.
5

San Pedro , July 18, 2009 8:50 AM

I would never buy kindle. I rarely buy books at all, even though I read a lot. There's a thing called a library where I can go to borrow a book free of charge, and then take it back once I'm done. It's really great. I highly suggest them for people who read a lot.
0

WheelsOfConfusion , July 18, 2009 8:57 AM

The article linked to has an addition:
"EDITOR’S NOTE | 8:41 p.m. The Times published an article explaining that the Orwell books were unauthorized editions that Amazon removed from its Kindle store. However, Amazon said it would not automatically remove purchased copies of Kindle books if a similar situation arose in the future."
So these ebook sales weren't legal in the first place, because the real rights holder apparently didn't approve. Amazon says the remote deletions were a bad idea and won't be doing that again, even if the same situation pops up.
Still, now way am I getting a Kindle now.
4

ira176 , July 18, 2009 9:07 AM

Tantamount to a larceny.

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Amazon Remotely Deleting Books From Kindle

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