Amazon Kindle users surprised by 'Big Brother' move

Amazon Kindle users surprised by 'Big Brother' move

www.guardian.co.uk

Owners of Amazon's Kindle electronic book reader have received a nasty surprise, after discovering that copies of books by George Orwell had been deleted from their gadgets without their knowledge.

The books - downloaded from Amazon.com by American Kindle users - were remotely deleted after what the US company now says was a rights issue regarding the publisher, MobileReference.com.

"These books were added to our catalog using our self-service platform by a third-party who did not have the rights to the books," spokesman Drew Herdener told the Guardian. "When we were notified of this

(visit the link for the full news article)

The article clearly states the customers had paid for the book. Amazon should just have made arrangements to license the books, after all what type of company turns down revenue for old books in an electronic format?

What is even stranger, Amazon quietly accessed customer's Kindles to delete the books. Does not the irony of Amazon's actions strike one like a wet halibut smartly across the face?

How can it be that a retailer takes back something it has already sold in good faith without first seeking permission from the buyers. The only authority that can take back anything without permission in a situation like this is the police or through the court if the estate of the aurther decides upon this tack.

I suspect that the manufacturer of Kindle may sue Amazon for rendering their product unreliable. I know I will never buy one.

www.guardian.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 053131p://pm3110 by masonwatcher]

Please see the existing thread on this topic:

Big Brother Amazon Remotely Deletes Purchased Copies of 1984 and Animal Farm From Thousands of Kindles