Amazon redacts Orwell on Kindle like it’s ‘1984’
Another big book blunder reveals dystopian reality of bad customer service
By Helen A.S. Popkin - msnbc.com
"There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment. How often, or on what system, the Thought Police plugged in on any individual wire was guesswork," George Orwell wrote in his 1949 tale of a totalitarian regime “Nineteen Eighty-Four.”
On the bright side, we've now identified the system. It’s Amazon!
Last week, flummoxed Kindle owners came upon the group realization that Amazon went and deleted their downloads of George Orwell’s “Nineteen Eighty-Four” and “Animal Farm” … and the story just keeps being funny. Seriously. Of all the downloaded books in all the InterWebs, how can it be that these two dystopian classics are the ones that are mysteriously removed.
“I've received e-mails today notifying me of refunds for $.99 for 'Animal Farm' and '1984,' and both have disappeared from my Kindle archived items,” Caffeine Queen reported Thursday, July 16 on the Amazon discussion boards. “I didn't request refunds, and I also don't remember purchasing the titles.”
Spooky! According to the blanket press release posted after the fact, “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.” Therefore, what choice did Amazon have but to crank its “Whispernet” download highway into reverse, thus removing any circulated copies? Why ever should anyone complain?
“I liken it to a (Barnes & Noble) clerk coming to my house when I'm not home, taking a book I bought from them from my bookshelf and leaving cash in its place,” wrote Sunny Lady, invoking the Internet Age-old argument about digital rights management (DRM) technology that limits use of content and devices. “It's a violation of my property and this is a perfect example of why people (rightly) hate DRM.”
“I was annoyed that the e-mail announcing the refund gave no explanation or indication that the books were being deleted,” Caffeine Queen pointed out later in the discussion.” “It's the same e-mail they send if the buyer initiates a refund.”
Soon after the Orwellian George Orwell recall went public, Amazon issued a statement claiming that, “We are changing our systems so that in the future we will not remove books from customers’ devices in these circumstances.” Still, it’s hard to trust a two-time loser that fails to see the irony in its own Orwellian FAIL.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32014285
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I would use this source as an example of what I consider to be the scariest aspect of the current trends in books (and vooks, graphic novels,etc.). This trend is that e-books are a fundamentally different kind of property than a normal book. Amazon's actions, although legal through a DRM agreement, illustrate how little control a buyer has over what they believe is their property. With a normal book, this could never happen. In addition, you could legally share, sell, or donate your copy of a book, but not an e-book. If you were to meet one of your favorite authors, you could have him sign your book, but not an e-book. This whole article just demonstrates how scary the big-brother control of e-books by companies like Amazon is.
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