Bezos may have apologized, but the stink of Amazon’s unprecedented act of cyberburglary is still strong enough that people aren’t likely to forget any time soon. It’s a good thing, then, that Amazon has struck while the iron is still slightly hot by announcing the terms under which they will consider themselves justified in making your book an unbook.
Nobody likes the idea of having a corporation forcefully take back something they legitimately purchased (whether it was legitimately offered is not their concern), but the truth is that e-books and other “virtual property” will have to be subject to some of the same laws and restrictions as real property. I can’t think of many situations where the police would be justified in entering my house and removing an item I had purchased, without my consent, but that’s what judges and warrants are for. Amazon is, for the most part, its own judge (and extraction team), but they haven’t left too many doors open for more Orwellian tomfoolery.
As part of a settlement (pdf) with the high school student who sued Amazon following the event, they issued the following guidelines:
Amazon will not remotely delete or modify such Works from Devices purchased and being used in the United States unless
(a) the user consents to such deletion or modification;
(b) the user requests a refund for the Work or otherwise fails to pay for the Work (e.g., if a credit or debit card issuer declines to remit payment);
(c) a judicial or regulatory order requires such deletion or modification; or
(d) deletion or modification is reasonably necessary to protect the consumer or the operation of a Device or network through which the Device communicates (e.g., to remove harmful code embedded within a copy of a Work downloaded to a Device).
(via TechFlash and All Things D; carriage returns mine)
The guidelines seem perfectly straightforward, although they do leave open to interpretation what “reasonably necessary” and “protect” mean. Bookmark this page in case one of your books gets sucked out of your Kindle, and see if you fall under any of these circumstances. Note that they don’t “stack,” i.e. you don’t need to consent for them to take the book off if your card is rejected. However, if you keep it disconnected, they’ll never know — you outlaw you.
It’s good to have these regulations in place, but they’re merely internal Amazon rules and only apply to e-books; expect further skirmishes of this type as real and virtual property (and property lines) overlap further.
Interesting article. I think in general because of all this talk about cloud computing (accessing datacenters to pull your data instead of saving things on your computer) will undoubtely create more talk about security, sharing, accessability, etc. It is kind of scary in some ways like in future sci-fi movies where the whole world information is cloud computed and stored in some high tech underground gigantic data center and someone knows all the information in the data center on basically anyone that uses the datacenter. One security risk and monitoring system monitors basically what’s going on (logging in, out, file transfers, who is pulling info from what location). It is kind of scary. I think this cloud computing will reach the stage where there is centralized location of all user’s data and that is pretty scary to me without getting too cynical. It just reminds of like I-Robot, Minority Report movies. This Microsoft cloud computing (Azure) is definitely heading towards that direction. By giving you flexibility (access your data fast anywhere), we have to store your data in our centralized server for your convenience.
Well, at least they are attempting to rectify the situation and they’ve apologized. It’s incredible how many CEOs and companies are never willing to just say they are sorry for making mistakes. I hope Amazon doesn’t continue with this Apple-like brazened behavior towards its users.
And people call me crazy for still buying books and CDs. I’ll keep my media thankyouverymuch.
” I can’t think of many situations where the police would be justified in entering my house and removing an item I had purchased, without my consent, but that’s what judges and warrants are for.”
This is exactly the issue for me. I won’t say I’d never buy a Kindle, but these shenanigans really hurt their chances with me. Someone better figure the legalities of this out sooner rather than later.
Wait, so none of the reasons listed for future removal would have removed “1984,” or would that have fallen under the “regulatory order” clause?
That is the point. They have said that the “1984″ removal was a mistake and they have apologized for it. They have changed their policies and this recent release was an explanation of the very limited circumstances when they might have to remove a book.
I think that it a refreshing thing to see some contrition and a clearly communicated policy.
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Nice astroturfing, ass clown.
Under section a “the user consents to such deletion or modification;” *this* user consents to allow Devin to delete your turfing.
I guess there is no moderator of this web site to remove spam? Shouldn’t a site like this have someone who reads the comments and removes spam?
+1
Very simple…… no need to buy such device
Sorry guys, I keep control of my own destiny …. as much as I can :)
I would simply buy a reading device which *can not* be updated or controlled remotely, and which supports DRM-free pdfs.
Give me a device like that, even with a black&white ePaper screen, with a decent resolution, and I’ll buy it now.
“I would simply buy a reading device which *can not* be updated or controlled remotely, and which supports DRM-free pdfs.”
How would that help, exactly? An iPod cannot be updated remotely. But Apple could have iTunes delete your library the next time the device is synced. Sure, it may seem possible to simply transfer files to the device using the OS, but the problem remains in that the device needs to open the file. What if there were code embedded in the e-book to check your device as soon as it was opened for reading?
The far reaching possibilites and power of modern technology is becoming an increasing concern. The steps Amazon have put in place will suffice for now, but something else will come along and no doubt our personal possessions will be altered, robbed or replaced all over again. With technological advancement going the way they are at the moment, society is opening its self up for a magnitude of concerns.
“I can’t think of many situations where the police would be justified in entering my house and removing an item I had purchased, without my consent, but that’s what judges and warrants are for.”
Huh? If you buy stolen property – even if you don’t know it’s stolen – not only can the police take it from you they can charge you with a crime. The issue here is that Amazon is acting with all the integrity of a seedy pawn shop by allowing people to sell stolen content in the first place. That is getting lost in the irony of Amazon deleting “1984″.
Hm, interesting. I stopped buying things from Amazon long ago (and prefer to read books in, uh, book form). It’s kind of worrying that it’s OK for Amazon to reclaim stuff. Like that kid’s homework. So screw Amazon – I’m moved over to DubLi now.
“Unbook”…ooch.
That was doubleplusgood.
The capability is what is offensive to me combined with the precedent of them having demonstrated it. Very Ironic that it was done on 1984. Their intent can change at any moment; their lack of integrity has been shown in even having this capability designed into the device. Amazon’s rights to the material ended when it came into my possession; I will do what please with MY books.
I will NEVER utilize this device. I believe the Sony E-Reader does not have this capability. PDF files and E-Books are added via a datacard not an e-link
FWIW, you can avoid remote deletions by downloading Amazon books to your hard drive and manually transfer them to your device. The only way they can delete your book remotely is if you do a wireless sync.
This is much ado about nothing. If you think that you get to keep stolen property just because you bought it, you are an idiot.
Everyone is so self-righteous about any little old thing. No where is anyone commenting about the rights of the original author(s).
And here I am wasting my time with a bunch of shrubs. Shame on me!