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Why Did Amazon Close a Woman’s Account and Delete All Her Kindle Books?

Oct. 23, 2012 9:45am Liz Klimas

Amazon Deleted Norwegian Womans Kindle Content Raising Questions About Digital Rights Management and Content Ownership

Amazon’s Kindle products. (Photo: AP/Toby Talbot)

For a woman who travels a lot, you might imagine the convenience of having an e-reader to store a wealth of books while taking up minimal space in one’s carry on. Linn was just this sort of woman. Now imagine her surprise when she got a message from Amazon that her account had been closed and her Kindle wiped of all its content.

So the story goes, as explained by Martin Bekkelund — a tech and media commentator – on his blog. Bekkelund wrote that Linn is a friend who sent him an email regarding her situation.

The Norwegian woman emailed Amazon whose Executive of Customer Relations Michael Murphy sent her a message back that read:

We have found your account is directly related to another which has been previously closed for abuse of our policies. As such, your Amazon.co.uk account has been closed and any open orders have been cancelled.

Per our Conditions of Use which state in part: Amazon.co.uk and its affiliates reserve the right to refuse service, terminate accounts, remove or edit content, or cancel orders at their sole discretion.

Linn responded saying she found this message confusing and that she only had one account using Amazon.com not co.uk. Still, Murphy’s response was essentially that her information had been reviewed and that “[we] regret to inform you that it will not be reopened.”

“I appreciate this is not the outcome you hoped for and apologise for any disappointment this may cause,” Murphy ended.

Unsatisfied still, Linn sent a clarifying email in which she made an effort to confirm what Amazon was not willing or able to tell her about exactly why her account was closed. Murphy’s response was still ambiguous.

Adding a bit of a sting to the woman who had purchased many items for her Kindle using Amazon, Murphy wrote “We wish you luck in locating a retailer better able to meet your needs and will not be able to offer any additional insight or action on these matters.”

Bekkulund explained that “Linn is outlawed by Amazon.” He called this a case of digital rights management (DRM), which he has written about extensively in the past. He wrote that in this case if Amazon thinks you did something unlawful, they take away your content. He then said if you disagree with them, then you become completely outlawed.

Be sure to see the full correspondence between Linn an Amazon’s executive here.

Here’s what really happened to cause Linn to be outlawed, according to Computer World UK , which caught up with her:

Linn lives in Norway, where Amazon does not operate (Amazon.no redirects to the Amazon Europe page). She bought a Kindle in the UK, liked it and read a number of books on it. She then gave that Kindle to her mother, and bought a used Kindle on a Danish classifieds site to which she transferred her account. She has been happily reading on it for some time, purchasing her books with a Norwegian address and credit card. She told me she’d read 30 or 40 books on it.

Sadly, the device developed a fault (actually a second time, it was also replaced in 2011 for the same reason) and started to display black lines on the screen (something I’ve heard from other friends as it happens). She called Amazon customer service, and they agreed to replace it if she returned it, although they insisted on shipping the replacement to a UK address rather to her in Norway.

So although Linn’s account wasn’t erased without reason, Computer World UK’s Simon Phipps calls this reasoning “just as bad.”

This case has been generating discussion on forums like Reddit, as well as other news sites and tech blogs.

According to Amazon’s terms of use, “Kindle Content is licensed, not sold, to you by the Content Provider.” It states that “Risk of loss for Kindle Content transfers when you download or access the Kindle Content.”

Mathew Ingram on the tech site GigaOm called this “a healthy reminder of how with ebooks, we have very little actual control over something we have theoretically purchased and own.”

Phipps went on to write that while, in theory, Linn is prevented from having “freedom of choice” as to what device she reads on, even if the books were legally downloaded.

Since the Web flurry of comments regarding this story, Phipps reported Linn saying her account has been reactivated and Amazon’s public relations department has said “account status should not affect any customer’s ability to access their library.”

But the moral of the story still stands as observed in Amazon’s own terms of use. The content is “licensed,” and as Ingram puts it “we are merely renting it, or paying for access to it under a specific set of circumstances.”

(H/T: Reddit)

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Comments (108)

Secret Squirrel
Posted on October 23, 2012 at 11:08am
.
That’s why it’s stupid to pay $15.99 for a Kindle book,
when the hardcover is $16.99. Buy it.
Then, pi$$ off the publishers and give it away after you finished it.

Same with i-Tunes, you are only purchasing the right to listen to the music, you don’t own it.

I now use my Kindle for free books or one’s < $3.

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- SacredHonor1776
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 11:17am
  I use mine for textbooks, among other things… only if the textbook is less than the hardcover copy. I don’t expect to get much back for trying to resell the textbooks…
  
  Just remember to manually back up what you buy, that way Amazon can’t delete from you.
  
  Report this comment
- jcldwl
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 11:19am
  Wake up people. Don’t fall for all the technology. Buy printed books. We are slowly moving towards all digital books and all that means is they won’t have to burn books they ban us from reading, they will simply have to permanently delete them forever. Not to mention they can easily edit them without you knowing. E-books are a very bad idea.
  
  Report this comment
- OutOfTheAether
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 11:19am
  Feel the same way. Like your thinking about giving it away.
  
  Report this comment
- SacredHonor1776
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 11:20am
  Think about it, a textbooks can be upwards $100 to $300, if you buy used you will be lucky if you only get a 10 to 20% discount. These are either resellers or someone trying to sell of their own textbooks. The latter are lucky if they can sell it for that much.
  
  If you pay attention you can get the textbooks on sale for 70% off on the kindle version. So i’ve saved big time this way.
  
  Report this comment
- ButResistWeMuch
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 11:23am
  So true, Secret Squirrel! When I read recently read that the music purchased by ITunes isn’t really yours to do with what you want, I just started burning my own CD’s to my computer and uploading them to my ITunes account… Also, I buy CD’s at yard sales for .25-.50 cents and do the same with them! The music can’t be taken away from me. I hope more realize how much ITunes rips off and controls us.
  
  Report this comment
- CatB
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 11:23am
  I get free books for my Kindle Fire from freebooksey.com they have different ones daily .. and even kids books .. also I knew about the not really owning the book .. so if it is something that I would want to keep or loan out I buy the book. I do like to read on the kindle .. it is easier to hold and I can go from one book to another or check out the web easily. Also Kindle Fire is backed up … on the Cloud.
  
  Report this comment
- SacredHonor1776
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 11:31am
  By the way, Amazon doesn’t point this out, I will. But you can manually backup your Kindle books you buy, by using the USB cable and moving the books to a folder on hard drive, USB stick, external HD, etc. All you need to do is just recopy those books back to your kindle to use them.
  
  The books are linked to your kindle ID, so don’t expect handing the files over to someone else to read on their personal kindles.. But Amazon can’t delete it off your computer directly. They can’t delete it off your kindle either, if its not directly connected to Amazon. I.e. turn off your 3G/Wifi settings.
  
  Report this comment
- Pontiac
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 12:22pm
  I don’t have a Kindle but I’m fairly certain the DRM can be defeated… All you have to do is google.
  
  Report this comment
- tradcatholicgirl
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 12:42pm
  There is something to be said about the pleasure of looking at a bookcase filled with titles by favorite writers, acquired over years. OR the pleasure of reading messages written on the inside cover of those books that were given as gifts by friends. Then there is the wonderful cover art, or well-worn binding on some that shouts out that it is a beloved book because it has been read so many times.
  
  It is not just that I love to read. I love books., the feel of them, the look of them, the luxury of having them in my hands.
  
  There are just some things that come with owning a hard copy that you don’t get with ebooks.
  
  Report this comment
- Walkabout
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 5:40pm
  jcldwl You are correct.
  
  Also, we should make sure important books we buy are on acid free paper so they last longer. If this is offered.
  
  Report this comment
- RWCT
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 7:52pm
  This certainly has made up my mind, as I was considering buying a Kindle due to limited space. Betcha Kindle will be regretting this decision, as word spreads and their sales crash.
  
  Report this comment
- ObamaForward_OverTheCliff
  Posted on October 24, 2012 at 4:55am
  “Why Did Amazon Close a Woman’s Account and Delete All Her Kindle Books?”
  
  To teach us all a very valuable lesson: “Possession is nine-tenths of the law” — if you don’t have physical possession of it, you don’t own it.
  
  And if you don’t own, they control it.
  
  “The Ministry of Truth controls information: news, entertainment, education, and the arts. Winston Smith works in the Minitrue RecDep (Records Department), “rectifying” historical records to concord with Big Brother’s current pronouncements, thus everything the Party says is true.”
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four
  “Nineteen Eighty-Four”
  
  MICHELLE OBAMA: “Barack knows that we are going to have to make sacrifices; we are going to have to change our conversation; we’re going to have to change our traditions, our history; we’re going to have to move into a different place as a nation.”
  http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,580414,00.html
  “Rewriting Our History, Changing Our Traditions”
  
  Report this comment
Dismayed Veteran
Posted on October 23, 2012 at 11:06am
My son-in-law has a Kindle and bought a book on line for $11.95. I bought the same book in paper form at WalMart for $7.95. Of course, he had to buy his Kindle and I didn’t have that cost.

Either he is on the fast technical track for the future or I am a Luddite.

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mbean
Posted on October 23, 2012 at 11:04am
I read books.

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steelpanther
Posted on October 23, 2012 at 10:35am
“He wrote that in this case if Amazon thinks you did something unlawful, they take away your content.”

I don’t care what language you use, own,licensing, that’s still stealing when you take something someone has paid for or paid for access to.

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- SacredHonor1776
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 10:45am
  Technically they don’t take anything away, they eliminate it. “delete”. Tha would be more akin to vandalism if anything… Arson maybe? Destruction of property. Not stealing. Although technically even in paper books the buyers don’t own the book, they can’t make copies or backups. Check the copyright page.
  
  Report this comment
- DrFrost
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 10:47am
  I was considering a kindle fire. But the fact that I wouldn’t apparently “own” any content I paid for is enough impetus for me to look elsewhere.
  
  Report this comment
- Cavallo
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 10:51am
  Unless you are renting it. Which licensing might be more like than actual ownership. The contract and agreement upon the exchange is what needs to be examined. Maybe an alternative site to store the data could be developed? I am unsure of the legal ramifications of doing so, or if any software hacks or hardware modifications would be required. I do not use Kindle, nor Amazon.
  
  Report this comment
- SacredHonor1776
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 11:05am
  By the way, Amazon doesn’t point it out. But you can manually backup your Kindle books you buy, by using the USB cable and moving the books to a folder on hard drive, USB stick, external HD, etc. All you need to do is just recopy those books back to your kindle to use them.
  
  The books are linked to your kindle ID, so don’t expect handing the files over to someone else to read on their personal kindles.. But Amazon can’t delete it off your computer directly. They can’t delete it off your kindle either, if its not directly connected to Amazon. I.e. turn off your 3G/Wifi settings.
  
  Report this comment
BurntHills
Posted on October 23, 2012 at 10:33am
in other words, you are paying all that money to rent those books, you do not own anything but the pathetic little plastic box in your hand… which at any time can go blank whether from the action of the people holding you hostage as you pay rent to them, or by an EMP.. in which case you will never again be able to read a book unless it’s paper. sad sad that it’s come down to turning us into the Eloi in ‘The Time Machine’.

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- SacredHonor1776
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 11:09am
  You technically don’t own the physical paper books you buy, either, other than the paper the books are printed on. Read teh copyright page, and restrictions it presents, such as not being able to make reproductions/copies/backups, etc. If your book burns up you are out of luck.
  
  Report this comment
- COFemale
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 12:41pm
  Scared you are correct that the book is copyrighted and we can’t republish this book as our own. However, we can sell our book at a yard sale and get a return on our investment, where we can’t sell an e-book to get a return on our investment. We can loan it out to others to read. I own the book, I paid the author for it. The writer of the book cannot come to my home and remove the book. By them selling their book, they were paid for me to read it. I own the physical book. I just don’t own the copyright.
  
  Report this comment
- JediKnight
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 1:40pm
  @Cofe: Sure you can (resell it I mean). Back it up, print it out. Delete the original copy. There you go :P
  
  Report this comment
KickinBack
Posted on October 23, 2012 at 10:30am
“Kindle Content is licensed, not sold, to you by the Content Provider.”

That’s enough to keep me reading the old fashioned way.

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- SacredHonor1776
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 10:38am
  …and by content provider they mean the publishers themselves. This goes back to the fact thaever adhere cannot make a legal copy of a physical book they buy, and small print in the text that you are just essentially renting the rights to read the book in your hands. Obviously it’s impossible for publisher to take the book back from you, although they may try to recall or prevent second hand market (new issue comin up).
  
  Report this comment
- Angel_light
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 10:51am
  Amen. I like my real books better. they won’t crash or malfunction
  
  Report this comment
nueces
Posted on October 23, 2012 at 10:25am
Gee. Learn something new every day. I recently bought an iPad 3 (or new iPad) and downloaded the Kindle app. Guess I won’t be using it. Anyone know of a retailer that actually sells you a book and not just the tenuous ‘rights’ to a book?

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- SacredHonor1776
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 10:32am
  It’s usually controlled by the publishers not the distributors themselves. You’ll find most publishers are very stingy when it comes to user rights.
  
  Report this comment
- SacredHonor1776
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 10:42am
  Intact even paper books restrict your rights. You can’t go and make copies without permission from the publishers. So no backup copies even. Some are trying to restrict second hand market as well.
  
  Report this comment
- duckwalker
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 11:09am
  @ SacredHonor1776 But you do own the book even if you can’t make copies. Better yet, the pages won’t go blank on a paper book at the publishers/Amazons whim.
  
  Report this comment
- SacredHonor1776
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 11:25am
  Duckwalker, depends on where you live. But books can rot or fall apart. Humidity concerns and the like. Cheap paper, amount of acid in the paper etc. Bacterial.
  
  Its not a perminant medium form either. Perhaps a better than digital in that regards (although its far easier to back up digital, and in multiple locations).
  
  Remember you can still back up your amazon books you buy in places Amazon can’t get to, and then just retransfer them to your device.
  
  Report this comment
- SacredHonor1776
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 11:27am
  Technically you really own the paper the books are printed on. Some companeis have gone so cheap, that they use paper/binding that falls apart within a few years, and ink that fades over time… Poor environment will accelerate this issue.
  
  Report this comment
- BlueStarMom
  Posted on October 24, 2012 at 3:23am
  Oh gosh, use it. It’s wonderful. There are thousands and thousands of free books for Kindle. Why pay for an IPad and not take full advantage of it?
  
  Report this comment
WakeUp
Posted on October 23, 2012 at 10:23am
Private property rights is the key to freedom. It has to be destroyed so people can be controlled.

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- SacredHonor1776
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 10:40am
  Read the fine print on copyright pages of most books. You don’t really “own” the rights to Physical books. You cannot back it up or make copies.
  
  Report this comment
Pappy1776
Posted on October 23, 2012 at 10:13am
United Nations –Agenda 21…. You own NOTHING!

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- 762x51
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 2:35pm
  Would not surprise me to find out you are correct. This is exactly the kind of skull-thuggery the UN would be behind.
  
  I was considering buying a Kindle, now I would not touch one.
  
  Report this comment
RobbieTLHughie
Posted on October 23, 2012 at 10:07am
I will never own a camera because it will steal my soul.
I will never own a phone because God didn’t mean us to talk without seeing each other.
I will never own a computer because the human body wasn’t meant to talk with written words.
I will never own a TV because we’re only meant to see what is real.
I will never own a book because the written word is dangerous.
I will never listen to rock and roll music because it’s a message from Satan.
I will never own a pair of glasses because God intended me to see the way I do.
I will never own a smart-phone because some evil man might take it from me, if I don’t know how to use it right.
I will never own a car because we are meant to use our real legs.

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- marvlus
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 10:24am
  “I will never own a computer because the human body wasn’t meant to talk with written words.” oh yea…
  
  Report this comment
- ghostsouls
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 10:26am
  Then how did you put this message here? LOL
  
  Report this comment
- woodyee
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 10:32am
  @ROBBIETLHUGHIE
  
  Settle down, Robbie. Their decision to refrain from “participation” should not affect YOU so personally so as to render you a chimp-screaming banshee, tossing insults as freely as Libs toss around other people’s money.
  
  How about just posting ways they CAN participate without fear of loss of data and leaving it at that? They’re just exhibiting a healthy case of mistrust, and based on this article, who can’t see why? She may have broken a rule, but the point is she had her PURCHASES WIPED OUT – later restored, yes, but not without help.
  
  Report this comment
- vigibill
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 11:29am
  What?
  
  Report this comment
- trurl
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 12:09pm
  I don’t fear using a camera because I’m not superstitious and besides, God owns my soul.
  I own a phone because God would want me to communicate His truth through whatever tools are available.
  I own a computer because it has greatly increased my access to knowledge and truth which God calls me to know.
  I own a TV because it gives me access to programs that educate and inform and besides, I can distinguish between reality and fantasy.
  I own many books because they teach and entertain and if God didn’t want me reading, why did He give me the Bible?
  I listen to various types of music, rock and roll included, because while some use the form for evil (which I choose to avoid), the form itself is not evil and I’m intelligent enough to know the difference. Besides, Satan is incapable of creating anything so I won’t give him that much credit.
  I own a pair of glasses because God created a magnificent and beautiful world and I know He wants me to clearly see it.
  I own a smart phone because I do not fear “evil men”. If God is for me, who can be against me?
  I own a car because, while God did give me legs of my own and I use them plenty, He also provided other means to travel and used them Himself…Jesus rode a donkey.
  
  Report this comment
yiska8
Posted on October 23, 2012 at 10:06am
Nothing can truly replace the feeling of a paperback novel or a textbook. The only thing these e-readers do is give you a crooked neck and eye strain, no matter how fancy they try to make them. Too many conservative books downloaded, a company decides it’s too right-wing,then it’s erased.
Too many westerns downloaded, too violent, then erased.
Not very tolerant, so I’ll stick to the good old public library since no one is ever there, except the pervs using the public computers.

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- SacredHonor1776
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 10:49am
  No eye strains with a kindle actually, other than what you can get from paper. Since its not actually shining direct light in your eyes (apps versions excluded). It’s essentially ink (e-ink) on a non-reflective matte surface, much like paper.
  
  Report this comment
- SacredHonor1776
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 11:00am
  I actually get neck strain from reading physical books. It’s a matter of sitting in one place staring at the object for long periods of time without much movement. It’s not just books really.
  
  Report this comment
- yiska8
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 9:12pm
  I’ve used an e-reader from a friend trying to convince me it’s better, but it didn’t take. Still prefer the smell and feel of books. Physical page turning feels like your accomplishing something and for me, I retain the content better.But I’m a bibliophile, so I’m prejudiced and no one is going to delete my choice of downloaded Michelle Malkin, or Michael Savage.
  
  Report this comment
DimmuBorgir
Posted on October 23, 2012 at 10:05am
Sounds like she’s actually not being truthful.

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RobbieTLHughie
Posted on October 23, 2012 at 10:04am
It is funny though, how many plebeian chest-beating drum-circles there are on this site professing their neo-ludditeism “I WILL NEVER OWN SUCH A DEVICE”, well then you’re welcome to stay in the world you’ve built for yourself. But don’t claim capitalism is the best system in the world if you choose not to participate in innovation. There are always ways to protect yourself, even when you own an e-reader. EVEN A KINDLE – Technology ignorant people seem to abound on this site.

You can put your OWN content on a Kindle, not content purchased from Amazon and they can do NOTHING to prevent you from reading that.

Ignorance is NOT a virtue. Know your digital content rights and learn to control them, don’t be a tool and say stuff like “I WILL NEVER OWN SUCH THINGS BECAUSE THEY WILL TRY TO CONTROL ME.” The convenience of these devices is awesome and a testament to how great America’s innovations have been – choosing not to take part in it because of some backwards fantasy of you not being able to own your own content that’s flat out untrue is really ignorant of the truth.

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- moreteaplease
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 10:28am
  Why do you care what people think or say on here? And who are you to be telling other people what they should and shouldn’t say? If you don’t like what you see or read here you are free to go somewhere else. It’s still a free country…for now.
  
  Report this comment
- Al J Zira
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 10:37am
  Seems there’s more than one type of ignorance here. And there’s no “e” in ludditism.
  
  Report this comment
tbo
Posted on October 23, 2012 at 10:03am
ITune is the same. You dont own your music.

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- RobbieTLHughie
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 10:11am
  Completely and unequivocally false – This was true many years ago. Music on iTunes is DRM free now for the layman that means you own it out-right.
  
  Report this comment
- RedHotFuzz
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 10:13am
  iTunes is not the same. iTunes music carries no DRM. You can easily move your music to other computers and devices at will. You can easily convert your music to other formats. Apple cannot remotely wipe your music library nor deny you access.
  
  Report this comment
Mr.Fitnah
Posted on October 23, 2012 at 10:03am
Back up and pirate everything.
And dont use Amazon ,there is something screwy there.

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- SacredHonor1776
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 11:30am
  Ya, if you do that, you are increasing your own chances of being arrested for ‘breakign the laws’.
  
  Report this comment
- chewfatlip
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 1:43pm
  One word – usenet.
  
  Report this comment
- Edohiguma
  Posted on October 24, 2012 at 8:17am
  Yeah, sounds like a plan. How long until you won’t have any content to pirate because nobody produces anything anymore with that approach? You do realize that the people who make this content, like authors and composers, live from this, right?
  
  So you’re not only stealing, you’re also ruining the same people whose content you like.
  
  Makes perfect sense. If your IQ is room temperature.
  
  Report this comment
shadowsting
Posted on October 23, 2012 at 10:03am
She broke the user agreement and she knew she did. No matter what Amazon did in this matter they would come out looking like the bad guy. Funny how people pick what to turn a blind eye to when they want to.

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- jmorris42
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 11:35am
  Notice that a book doesn’t require a ‘user agreement’ and thus you can’t break it. Even items like DVDs don’t require any such agreement. Blurays are usually net connected though so all bets are off, if they decide to remote revoke you, your player, your individual disc, whatever, they can.
  
  It really is a fundamental difference between buying and licensing. The retailers pushing this stuff have been very careful to obscure this difference so most customers don’t know anything is different… yet.
  
  The Kindle is nothing more than a tethered viewer for Amazon content. It is even priced as such, as a loss leader to be made up on future content licensing. Close your Amazon account and it is a paperweight. Heck, if Amazon goes out (not likely) it is a paperweight. The only way to use it outside Amazon’s direct control is to break the DRM, which is technically a felony.
  
  Note that Google, B&N and Apple’s products are almost exactly the same, just a little less blunt. You can at least load open epub books onto most of the others but the business model on all of them is to make money from the content ‘store’ that doesn’t actually sell anything.
  
  Report this comment
jcizarter
Posted on October 23, 2012 at 10:03am
Bezos came out in favor of “gay marriage”. Now I have nothing to do with Amazon. I used to purchase numerous products on Amazon, now it is over.

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- RobbieTLHughie
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 10:09am
  I’m sure you enjoy the convenience of not using Amazon, no free two-day shipping, waiting weeks at a time for your things. Just cause the CEO of a company doesn’t agree with you. Why don’t you boycott the Internet, it’s creators were quite socially liberal?
  
  Report this comment
- woodyee
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 10:16am
  Bezo (in Spanish) means thick lip (not to be confused with “beso”, meaning kiss. In Woodyeestan, Bezo is a thick-lipped sphincter.
  
  Report this comment
- kpeters59
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 11:30am
  I canceled my Amazon account back then and have discovered that there are plenty of choices, for the items I’m interested in purchasing, from other sites. I can almost always find the same price, including shipping, elsewhere. I often use the Amazon reviews to make my purchasing decision and then search for alternative vendors.
  
  I’m not sure if they also support the queer agenda or not, but they haven’t told me they do, so they’re still on my list. For now…
  
  Report this comment
OldGuyNow
Posted on October 23, 2012 at 10:03am
So much for buying a new Kindle Fire! I’ll be looking for a tablet instead!

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RobbieTLHughie
Posted on October 23, 2012 at 10:00am
It’s pretty scary that a company can dictate products like that and you have no recourse what-so-ever. This is a sort of thing that will come to the supreme court one day – ownership of digital property. Keep a backup of everything you have on your computer just in case someone decides to try and take it away from you – that’s the best advice you can give really…

Too many of these companies have the right to do this and it’s not limited to Apple or Amazon, even though some might tell you that because they dislike those companies. But Google, Microsoft and many others want to control your digital content, they don’t like the idea of you owning it forth-right and they want their control. Whether for money, power or just good business they choose to hold their rights to the digital content.

I think this will change with time and many complaints but incidents like this are a scary look into the grim reality that counteracts the beautiful convenience of things like cloud computing and storage accessible from anywhere – the fact that it can be gone at any moment.

Back up the things you would like to keep, most music is DRM free now, I think the same will soon happen with apps and books as well.

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- SacredHonor1776
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 11:12am
  It’s not the distributers generally, it goes back to the publishers. They even put severe restrictions on what you can do with physical books too. Some are even trying to prevent second-hand book selling. So no more ‘used’ books if they have their way.
  
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- Brooke Lorren
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 8:16pm
  There’s always recourse. That’s what lawyers are for.
  
  I know that if I had thousands of dollars worth of books on my Kindle and Amazon decided to erase it, I’d take them to court. It helps that my husband will be a lawyer next year, but there’s no reason why companies should bully you like that.
  
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G-WHIZ
Posted on October 23, 2012 at 9:59am
Until [I] actually-OWN my paid-for books on an “e-service”, I WILL NEVER PURCHASE BOOKS IN ANYTHING EXCEPT ACTUAL BOUND AND PRINTED PAPER!! I “download” PDF’s which I then own that copy and IT WILL NEVER BE RESENDED!! Sometimes I will pay-for a PDF if it has a “labor” behind it such as a hifi-schematic. Then I OWN that copy and it will never be resended!!

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- yiska8
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 10:08am
  Let the resurgence of paper begin!!! Cut a tree down and plant another.
  
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- SacredHonor1776
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 11:22am
  Remember, Amazon doesn’t point this out, but you can manually backup your Kindle books by using the USB cable and moving the books to a folder on your hard drive, USB stick, external HD, etc. All you need to do is just recopy those books back to your kindle to use them.
  
  The books are linked to your kindle ID, so don’t expect handing the files over to someone else to read on their personal kindles.. But Amazon can’t delete it off your computer directly. They can’t delete it off your kindle either, if its not directly connected to Amazon. I.e. turn off your 3G/Wifi settings.
  
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Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on October 23, 2012 at 9:57am
So one more monsterous head reveals itself.

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mikem1969
Posted on October 23, 2012 at 9:55am
This would be why I buy a real physical book and then download a digital copy that I own so they can’t turn around and delete my content. I will never own an ereader.

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- SacredHonor1776
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 10:57am
  Read the copyright page in most books it is illegal for a book to be reproduced in any form or by any means except without publisher’s permission. You downloading a copy would be piracy on your part unless you payed for the E-book through legal means.
  
  Intact that means you technically don’t any rights to your book. You just have rights to the single published copy until it falls apart.
  
  There are some trying to ban second hand sales even.
  
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shogun459
Posted on October 23, 2012 at 9:55am
That’s why I OWN BOOKS.

They Must come to my house to take the knowledge from me (good luck with that), and it doesn’t need a battery.

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- SacredHonor1776
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 11:29am
  …or your house burns down, hit by a hurricate, tornado, earthquake, etc , destroying your physical material.
  
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- Pontiac
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 12:24pm
  Seriously? I can fit an entire library on one hard drive. I can’t stand wasting space on printed material.
  
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Gary_K
Posted on October 23, 2012 at 9:54am
I have not and will not use kindle because if I pay for something to read I will not give up my right to read it.

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denkat56
Posted on October 23, 2012 at 9:53am
big brother is watching. amazon? oops my bad big sister is watching.

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- SacredHonor1776
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 11:14am
  It’s not just Amazon, its really the publishers themselves setting book rights. Even your paperback books are restricted. Check out the copyright pages, that say you can’t reproduce, or make copies of the books either for any reason, not even backups.
  
  By the way, Amazon doesn’t point this out. But you can manually backup your Kindle books you buy, by using the USB cable and moving the books to a folder on hard drive, USB stick, external HD, etc. All you need to do is just recopy those books back to your kindle to use them.
  
  The books are linked to your kindle ID, so don’t expect handing the files over to someone else to read on their personal kindles.. But Amazon can’t delete it off your computer directly. They can’t delete it off your kindle either, if its not directly connected to Amazon. I.e. turn off your 3G/Wifi settings.
  
  Report this comment

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