Amazon Rethinks Its George Orwell Removal Policy
by Peter Kafka
Posted on July 17, 2009 at 6:28 PM PT
Amazon has explained why it has been deleting some novels from its customers’ Kindles: It shouldn’t have been selling them in the first place.
Amazon (AMZN) says the copies of George Orwell’s “Animal Farm” and “1984″ it removed without warning from some Kindles this week are “illegal” because the publisher didn’t have the rights to sell them.
Won’t happen again, the e-commerce giant says. Sort of:
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. When we were notified of this by the rights holder, we removed the illegal copies from our systems and from customers’ devices, and refunded customers. We are changing our systems so that in the future we will not remove books from customers’ devices in these circumstances.
Here’s the thing: I refrained from making any Orwell references when I wrote about this earlier today. But doesn’t this statement have a hint of Newspeak to it?
If Amazon wanted to reassure customers worried that digital media they buy from the company might disappear, unannounced, it could do so very easily. It could just say: “We won’t be taking away stuff we sell you ever again. You buy it, you own it. Doesn’t matter if it’s a book, a CD, or a collection of bytes.”
Because, as I noted before, that’s basically what the Kindle license already says: Amazon says it “grants you the non-exclusive right to keep a permanent copy of the applicable Digital Content.” The company doesn’t seem to add any caveats that I can see.
I’m hoping Amazon’s language here is just an awkward bit of PRspeak, and not a lawyerly way of reserving the right to pull stuff off Kindles sometime down the road. But I’ve asked, and will let you know if I hear back.
Comments
We have always been at war with Eastasis.
This is why I just don’t see the point of e-books.
Only Ray Bradbury can take away my paper copy of Animal Farm.
Posted by Dave Barnes at July 18th, 2009 at 7:02 amThis story reminds me of the situation that exists today with movies purchased on DVD. You buy it, you own it, but then again… You are forbidden from copying it in any way, even for your sole enjoyment on another type of player. To say that digital asset copyright holders are walking down a very slippery slope here is definitely an understatement. I feel those slithering tentacles sliding across the floor, trying to sneak up on me even as I write these words. Time to break out the fire axe!
Posted by Alan Sanders at July 18th, 2009 at 9:11 amKafka writing on Orwell… Looks like Amazon is going “Fahrenheit 451″ on its customers… http://bit.ly/nzzqg
Posted by Dom Einhorn at July 18th, 2009 at 1:13 pm