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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)

digitalist
Posted on October 30, 2012 at 6:41pm
This is what consumers that don’t bother to read the fine print get. How can the rest of you “raise a stink” about it? Ignorance is no excuse for the law. Read the fine print and agree/abide by it, or be bit in the a$$ by it.

If enough of us read the fine print and refuse to agree to it and abide by it, then eventually corporations will have to change the wording of the fine print in order to get new customers.

The masses would do good to wake up and put in the extra effort to read the fine print and make educated decisions. The corporations are not here to improve your lives, they are not here to provide you with the latest and greatest goods, they are here to take your money and do so on their terms.

To think that you, as a consumer, will not be held to that fine print at a later date when it’s most inconvenient for you – is simply folly.

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merik59
Posted on October 30, 2012 at 4:10pm
This is why I prefer the actual book in my hands at time of purchase. Then I own it & I can read it anytime I want & no one can just arbitrarily erase it. I don’t know what to think about this particular scenario. Replacing new Kindles with used Kindles & expecting warranty service? Where does it end… If she accidentally loses a download, will she expect another download for free? How long do the rights to read last? I can’t imagine it would be indefinitely & what about people who copy to other Kindles for other people? Is her mother a beneficiary of her downloads because she ended up with the original Kindle purchased? I think Amazon got wind of something improper & shut her off, which they have the right to do, but they should have lined it out for her & explained that she violated their rules & forfeited her rights to their materials. Milking the system is not the same as following the rules. Some things are missing from this story & it sounds like the Norwegian woman may not have been telling the whole truth. You can’t just sub a used Kindle in place of your original & expect the original coverage. That’s a form of fraud & I’ll bet she knows that. You can’t sub a computer under a warranty or anything else that I know of, otherwise warranties would never run out since they start from date of purchase. All I’m sure of is that if you misuse someone else’s property, they have the right to take it back.

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jasgorsky
Posted on October 24, 2012 at 3:45pm
This makes me remember a blurb of a story I heard somewhere, something about how your media can not be “willed” to your family when you bite it. I know people that have media libraries beyond imagination, it is really sad to think they invested so much money and time to collect stuff that is not tangible and the next generation will not be able to appreciate unless they self out the cash themselves.

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neoconpunk
Posted on October 24, 2012 at 3:31pm
Buy and read a real book. There’s nothing like going to a bookstore and perusing the selections. To have the actual book, turn the pages…it’s therapeutic. My daughter bought me a Kindle Fire for my birthday. It’s still in the box. The kids today are missing out on lifes greatest pleasures. Real books, real people and real conversation.

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jmray1948
Posted on October 24, 2012 at 1:21pm
go to this web site for free books: http://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Kindle-Store-eBooks/zgbs/digital-text/154606011/ref=zg_bs_fvp_p_f_154606011?_encoding=UTF8&tf=1
then burn them on a cd

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Catherine A.
Posted on October 24, 2012 at 11:48am
So many comments here suggest that the choice is either/or — digital or traditional paper. It isn’t either/or, it’s both/and. I enjoy being able to travel with a digital library, even if my “traveling” is to the doctor’s office waiting room. But that doesn’t mean I no longer appreciate using a traditional book. I have bookcases full of books at home, and I don’t expect to ever get rid of my favorites, including a collection of classics, that I’ve had since my youth.

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DrunkGOP_Hack
Posted on October 24, 2012 at 8:24am
I quit using A$$AZOM a long time ago.
Their customer service sucks!

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florida123
Posted on October 24, 2012 at 7:47am
i will not pay full price for a kindle book, if its not free or heavily discounted i buy the real thing! I havent bought a kindle book in many many months, the actual books are so much cheaper even with shipping!

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christianUSA
Posted on October 24, 2012 at 3:23am
Opinion whether it is digital books, software (even if you have a cd or dvd of it), music, or cloud storage dvd, if there is any dispute or problem the buyer loses and company takes it back without any court or legal due possess and you lose; this is core problem with all such; considering cost of paper, printing, store and distributing costs they make as much or more but unlike a real book or music cd/dvd or chair it can at any moment at the whim of company disappear or be unusable from software up dates. These almost universal corrupt practices should be outlawed; such contracts are imbalanced unfair for if they force demand back the product you pay money for they should have to return your money but they take back the product but keep the money! Farther it contractual corrupt that if they want to void the deal at any time they can but you can not; farther more it corrupt that they control product use so you can only use it on devise they control and specify! It is long past time for government to make consumer protection laws and rights and software format standards to stop the plan destruction by updates or company whim of these “rented” media.

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CulperGang
Posted on October 23, 2012 at 11:15pm
Corporotocracy is the new “government” of the 21st century VIA technology. If you let it. DON’T BUY KINDLE, until everything you buy is yours to do as you wish..AND you can ensure that they will not spy and collect data on you. Kindle is a perfect ‘profile tool” that can be used against you by a paranoid government……….which is exactly what is becoming of most 21st century governments as they continue to abuse their powers and the people that gave them that power. THEY ARE AFRAID OF THE MASSES so they have to spy on all of us for the day when we decide to jack them up.
AX Jones comfirmed that the PATENT finally was made public that EEVERY cell phone, computer, cable box, any tech with camera and mic CAN BE TURNED ON by remote TO SPY on the owner and they have been doing it for a while now. IT IS CONFIRMED. Street spy cameras also contain microphones. WE CAN STOP THIS now. By demanding that out tax monies not be used as such….and that these gadgets not contain spy chips. If the public officials HAVE iron clad privacy THEN SO MUST WE. They are no better than anybody. And if they weren’t abusing the system and the people they wouldn’t have to be afraid.
Techys unite and turn their abusivness on them……….remove the spy chips……

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EL CHOQUE
Posted on October 23, 2012 at 7:15pm
I LOVE TO READ! I used to read paperbacks because I could carry them in my back pocket. All thru my 20 yr Navy career, I had a book handy. I retired & joined book clubs. I was paying 15 to 20 bucks plus S&H per book. I had a wall of books in my house. I gave them to Partners For Pets to sell to help the animals. I got a Kindle & love it. Sure, I miss my “real” books but I have over 300 books on my Kindle I’ve read since getting it. Where would I have room for them. Oh, I pay up to 15 bucks for books & no S&H. Oh, no eye strain or sore neck. I get those from working on my computer!! Anywho — to each his own. You do your thing & I’ll do mine.

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Girard1974
Posted on October 23, 2012 at 6:07pm
eReaders are just another way to enjoy reading. Those who travel a lot and have multiple books under way, it’s far more convenient to have a device like a Kindle to carry around rather than multiple hard-copy volumes. Like most book lovers I too love the feel and smell of a book – either old or new. I also love book stores for the same reasons.

Technology isn’t always meant to replace the old; as in this case my Kindle is used to augment my reading pleasure.

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burnteye86
Posted on October 23, 2012 at 5:32pm
This is why you should not buy and E Reader. The printed word is better than a bunch of ones and zero’s

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oldduffer
Posted on October 23, 2012 at 3:17pm
Our library has a used book section that when we get rid of books and magazines we give to.
They in turn resell at that section. When the tax cuts end, you will need all the deductions you can get so keep it in mind. We’re sitting on several hundred books that we’ll donate and list them all, and the jacketed price, on the pc so the IRS will have something to do. Keep it up as you go and it’s not such a pain when time to file. Used to do it before the cuts when everything legally acceptable could be deducted as it will be again.
Every library has a download area called e-media and have Kindle downloads at no cost with up to 2 weeks with a renewel download. S—w Amazon and the rest.

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Contract_Pilot
Posted on October 23, 2012 at 3:06pm
That is why you copy the files to your hard drive, find the PID for your device it is simple look at kindletools dot prestonlee dot com. Use a program called caliber, the DRM removal plugin and your PID for DRM removal from amazon AZW files. Also works on library books I travel internationally and I noticed that some books if you leave the us and have wifi/3g on it will delete the file from your kindle device in some places. when you come back to the us or an allowed country it loads again. So if you unswindle the book it will stay on your device.

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cranberry
Posted on October 23, 2012 at 2:40pm
So what is her lawyer saying?

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Dancing_In_The_Ruins
Posted on October 23, 2012 at 2:17pm
Never had much use for Kindle or Ipads, while print is dead, I perfer print.

While shopping for Christmas last year, I was looking for a VCR for my parrents, good luck there, most VCRs are gone and the two that they had wouldn’t do the trick. Looking at an alternative such as a DVR just sucks as well. DVRs have to have cable cards and then “service” fees, not to mention some blocking of programs. What happened to the free world?

One of my buddies bought an Ipod and couldn’t get music loaded to it to play, the reason? Well he didn’t buy the music from Itunes but had them ripped from CD’s ——Apple sucks. I have never bought music by download, always get it in hardcopy then spend the time to rip it and back it up. As for Ipods I don’t have one but use MP3 players that are not Applelocked.

There need to be alternatives to these “You purchase a service” bulls**t. This coming Supreme Court case should be interesting concerning Copyrights after the sale.

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Arshloch
Posted on October 23, 2012 at 2:13pm
Murphy’s law, don’t bother me with facts my minds? made up. What else can be expected from a mick?

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ncgrammie4
Posted on October 23, 2012 at 2:00pm
For me it’s all about convenience. If I decide to read a book or watch a movie I can have it downloaded to my Kindle in a minute or so. Don’t have to get in a car and drive to the store or wait for UPS to deliver it. Don’t really care about owning them or buying more bookcases to store them. To each his own.

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Kupo
Posted on October 23, 2012 at 1:51pm
And this is why I pirate all of my e-books for my Kindle. No way am I going to pay more for a digital book than I do for a physical book and no way am I going to allow Amazon the ability to restrict or deny access to my files.

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zoro51
Posted on October 23, 2012 at 1:01pm
amazons fault SUE n recover all PLUS damages

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thekuligs
Posted on October 23, 2012 at 12:03pm
I am an author, and I wanted to clarify a few points with you. One, Amazon DOES NOT set the price for their ebooks. The price is set by the publisher. If you want to be outraged over the fact that you can buy the hardback book for less; you now know where to take that anger. Publishing houses will try and reason the cost of an ebook fifty thousand ways and all of them sound insane when you look at the cost for a physical book. (Especially when you look at how much they give their authors for ebook sales)

Second, you are believing one persons account of events and they could be less than factual. It won’t matter if she bent the truth if she creates a big enough public outcry in her favor and Amazon bends to make the bad PR go away.

Using Kindles in locations where Amazon does not opperate is forbidden, not because Amazon doesn’t want to make sales in other locations; but because Publishing companies have rules–and sometimes even laws that state how and where their books can be sold. Amazon is very upfront with this. They can’t control it.

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- dusanmal
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 1:07pm
  “Using Kindles in locations where Amazon does not opperate is forbidden, not because Amazon doesn’t want to make sales in other locations; but because Publishing companies have rules–and sometimes even laws that state how and where their books can be sold. Amazon is very upfront with this. They can’t control it.” – and there is a catch. Amazon COULD , if forced by public opinion and sales negotiate with publishers universal rights. It is business, everything CAN be done. They don’t. We, The People could change archaic laws that deny ownership rights and we could mandate publishers to change their practice by elevating the right to own to its proper Constitutional standard. That is why stories like this are important. To raise awareness of what companies can do now and to start legislative process to prevent future customer abuse, particularly such that it is supported by the law. If you buy something it must be irrevocably yours and how and where you use it must be irrelevant. “Leasing” excuse by Amazon must be made illegal, their access of customer devices must be limited by implicit agreement of the customer for every action taken (this lady must have been first asked if Amazon can delete HER content on HER device as neither content nor device by common sense do not belong to Amazon after someone purchased those). Same for any other device and content maker.
  
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- thekuligs
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 1:40pm
  Oh yes, lets let Amazon fight the legal battles thus making prices increase. Go ask ebay about the publishers and their archaic laws. Ebay is currently helping in the case of a seller who sold used books on their site. These laws made what he did illegal. As far as the content goes, I think people are getting too hung up on this “lease” thing. You might own a physical copy of the book but you do not own the rights to the book. The language is specific for a reason and is no different than itunes or any other virtual service where you purchase and hold content. You can back up your books/music on your computer but if you violate the TOS of a company they can refuse you service just like any other business.
  
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Apo
Posted on October 23, 2012 at 11:53am
I don’t buy anything I can’t own from a Manufacturer.. Music, Movies, Books, Cell Phones.. Period. If I spend $$ I have a right to do with it as I please.. not as you dictate.

DRM is socialism.. creeping into everything you own. When they flip the switch you will be left wanting yet they will have all the knowledge. The sheep are going to decide your fate, vote with your wallets.

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daveyjones529
Posted on October 23, 2012 at 11:44am
It’s not any different with The Nook. Even to the point that you talk to a useless customer service expert named Susan in the Phillipines. I had to fight for a year to get my money back on a book that was a poor quality down load. That’s customer service success they p*** you off till you stop trying. I am no longer buying Nook downloads, or using my Nook. I had to go to the B&N store twice to prove to them the downlod was bad. The store couldn’t get it any better, but it still took a year. I even complained to Customer Non Service in the US, to no avail. I demanded as loud as I could on line that an American Executive call me that was to no avail either. They suck, now if I even go into one of the stores and they expect me to wait in line I just start acting like I ‘m still shopping stand in line for a few minutes and leave my purchases in a pile and walk out. It’ll take hours to straighten out what I’ve messed up. I really enjoy Half Price Books, it’s hard to find what you’re looking for but I never walk out emptyu handed.

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Spinolio
Posted on October 23, 2012 at 11:20am
I have a Kindle with 173 books I’ve read on it. I like it… it works well. I enjoy reading with it so much I ordered the new Kindle Paperwhite. Never had a problem. It make me wonder what was left unsaid by the woman? To me it a superior way to read.

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