Amazon pulls more books from people's kindles...

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Amazon pulls more books from people's kindles... (Page 1 of 3)

Posted: 12/15/2010 11:24:35 AM EDT

Amazon may be in the process of stirring up some more trouble for itself
thanks to reports that the company is deleting certain kinds of erotica
from both the online store and users' devices. The erotica in question
is controversial: it talks about certain acts of incest. Judging from
Amazon's most recent bouts with book "censorship," users who have
already paid for the deleted content are likely to get fired up.

...

On top of the book removal from Amazon's store, Kitt's readers
reportedly found that her books had disappeared from their Kindles as
well. "When one reader called to get a refund for the book she no longer
had access to, she was chastised by the Amazon customer service
representative about the 'severity' of the book she’d chosen to
purchase," Kitt wrote.

link

Forgetting what the content is, if you buy an e-book from amazon you dont "own" it...

Posted: 12/15/2010 11:26:54 AM EDT

[#1]

Thats downright Orwellian

Posted: 12/15/2010 11:27:14 AM EDT

[#2]

Not offering automatic refunds for this is insane.

Posted: 12/15/2010 11:28:04 AM EDT

[#3]

Quoted:
Not offering automatic refunds for this is insane.

Talk about opening up yourself to a lawsuit.

Posted: 12/15/2010 11:28:34 AM EDT

[#4]

Trying to increase iPad sales?

Posted: 12/15/2010 11:30:32 AM EDT

[#5]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Not offering automatic refunds for this is insane.

Talk about opening up yourself to a lawsuit.

Yep..taking money for a product and then deleting said product off the user's equipment because you decide later you don't like said material, and refusing refund.

Posted: 12/15/2010 11:30:38 AM EDT

[#6]

This type of bullshit is why I don't do ebooks.

Posted: 12/15/2010 11:32:00 AM EDT

[#7]

Shit like this is exactly why publishing on paper will never go away.

Posted: 12/15/2010 11:33:03 AM EDT

[#8]

Real books FTW.

Kindle's may be convenient, but they aren't permanent and offer a way for others to monitor what you read, when you read it, how often you read it, etc etc etc*

*not saying that is currently in practice, just that technology permits it.

Posted: 12/15/2010 11:35:41 AM EDT

[#9]

Well IIRC correctly when they pulled 1984, it was because of when the purchased the licensing rights for it, they purchased it from an authority who did not have authority to sell it. So amazon then pulled it and then refunded customers.

this appears to be a different case, but customers should be automatically refunded.

Posted: 12/15/2010 11:36:57 AM EDT

[#10]

"taking something back" / deleting it, w/o the owners consent IS WRONG, IT'S THEFT!

bring them up on multiple charges and then take 'em to court!

Posted: 12/15/2010 11:36:59 AM EDT

[#11]

Quoted:
Real books FTW.

Kindle's may be convenient, but they aren't permanent and offer a way for others to monitor what you read, when you read it, how often you read it, etc etc etc*

*not saying that is currently in practice, just that technology permits it.

Yep. I'll stick with paper, thanks.

Posted: 12/15/2010 11:37:42 AM EDT

[#12]

Quoted:
Real books FTW.

Kindle's may be convenient, but they aren't permanent and offer a way for others to monitor what you read, when you read it, how often you read it, etc etc etc*

*not saying that is currently in practice, just that technology permits it.

you realize, it is possible to use books that are not purchased from amazon. and you can own a kindle with books without ever touching amazon.com. you can manage your collection from your computer much like you would with an MP3 player.

Posted: 12/15/2010 11:52:07 AM EDT

[#13]

Quoted:
Real books FTW.

Kindle's may be convenient, but they aren't permanent and offer a way for others to monitor what you read, when you read it, how often you read it, etc etc etc*

*not saying that is currently in practice, just that technology permits it.

Another reason I own an Aluratek. No communication abilities at all.

Posted: 12/15/2010 12:01:26 PM EDT

[#14]

Amazon must really be trying to surrender their dominance of the online book market.

Posted: 12/15/2010 12:05:55 PM EDT

[#15]

Quoted:

Amazon may be in the process of stirring up some more trouble for itself thanks to reports that the company is deleting certain kinds of erotica from both the online store and users' devices. The erotica in question is controversial: it talks about certain acts of incest. Judging from Amazon's most recent bouts with book "censorship," users who have already paid for the deleted content are likely to get fired up.
...
On top of the book removal from Amazon's store, Kitt's readers reportedly found that her books had disappeared from their Kindles as well. "When one reader called to get a refund for the book she no longer had access to, she was chastised by the Amazon customer service representative about the 'severity' of the book she’d chosen to purchase," Kitt wrote.

link
Forgetting what the content is, if you buy an e-book from amazon you dont "own" it...

I don't believe it, based on personal experience.
I own a Kindle, and I purchase a lot of books from them. Apparently two books I had purchased somehow weren't "authorized" to be sold by Amazon via Kindle, so I got an email from Amazon indicating which books weren't supposed to be sold.
Amazon told me that as such, they would be refunding the money they charged me for these two books, and that I could keep the books on my devices that I had them on.
This all sounds like a bunch of shite based on my personal experience with Amazon.
My $0.02, for what it's worth.
ETA: Here's the body of the original email. I received one email for each of the two books.

Hello,

We are writing to inform you that we need to refund your purchase of the book 'XXXXXXXXXXX'. 
This book was added to our catalog by a third-party who we now believe did not have the rights 
to make the book available for sale.

We will be removing the book from our servers, making it unavailable for re-downloading from your 
archived items. Any copies you already have on your Kindle devices will not be removed, but you may 
choose to remove any such copies yourself.

The total refund amount of $3.33 will be credited to your account in 3-5 business days.

We apologize for the inconvenience. Any information and assistance you might need on your Kindle 
can be found here: www.amazon.com/kindlesupport

Sincerely,

Customer Service Department
Amazon.com

Please note: this e-mail was sent from a notification-only address that cannot accept incoming 
e-mail. Please do not reply to this message.

ETA2: Formatting Charlie Foxtrot fixed

Posted: 12/15/2010 12:08:57 PM EDT

[#16]

Quoted:
This type of bullshit is why I don't do ebooks.

Yeah. It'd be a pain in the ass to periodically check to see if Leaves of Grass was still on the page.

Kindle- one EMP (or Amazon brain fart) away from being a neat coaster.

Posted: 12/15/2010 12:24:32 PM EDT

[#17]

Quoted:

Shit like this is exactly why publishing on paper will never go away.

Not to worry, the mass book burnings are scheduled to begin next summer.

Posted: 12/15/2010 12:33:11 PM EDT

[#18]

Posted by tc556guy:

"Thats downright Orwellian."

Big Brother sees what you did there.

Posted: 12/15/2010 12:35:10 PM EDT

[#19]

but they still sell the pedophile books

Posted: 12/15/2010 12:36:22 PM EDT

[#20]

this is the shi* i worry about when i see people get all orgasmic about the "cloud".

ceding that kind of control to a third party over what might be considered personal data is not a good idea.

Posted: 12/15/2010 12:39:51 PM EDT

[#21]

Quoted:
this is the shi* i worry about when i see people get all orgasmic about the "cloud".

ceding that kind of control to a third party over what might be considered personal data is not a good idea.

Cloud computing is fucking dumb at this point.

It makes sense when storage is expensive and broadband internet is cheap, fast, and reliable - pretty much the opposite of the current situation. You can buy a 2 TB HDD for like $70. That's not much more than a broadband internet bill for one month.

Posted: 12/15/2010 12:41:15 PM EDT

[#22]

That is pretty fucked up. If you paid for it, its yours. I'm sure someone will get a lawyer for this.

Posted: 12/15/2010 12:41:30 PM EDT

[#23]

Quoted:
Real books FTW.

Kindle's may be convenient, but they aren't permanent and offer a way for others to monitor what you read, when you read it, how often you read it, etc etc etc*

*not saying that is currently in practice, just that technology permits it.

Can't agree more.Even if it's not the case here, the POTENTIAL exists for all kinds of abuse.Our society/culture has a real bad habit of mass adoption of new technology without considering all the ramifications.

Posted: 12/15/2010 12:46:41 PM EDT

[#24]

And this is why I don't buy e-books...

Posted: 12/15/2010 12:48:05 PM EDT

[#25]

Quoted:
That is pretty fucked up. If you paid for it, its yours. I'm sure someone will get a lawyer for this.

Is windows "yours?" How about any other software? Or do you just purchase the rights to use it in a very narrow set of circumstances?

Don't buy a kindle unless you value convenience over all else, including intelligence. After the first time they removed/deleted books from user's devices, I figured that it was a non-starter because they couldn't help not doing it again.

Posted: 12/15/2010 12:49:09 PM EDT

[#26]

Pirated books can't be deleted...

Posted: 12/15/2010 12:52:03 PM EDT

[#27]

It ppears that the three erotic books in question (which dealt with incest) have been pulled from sale but persons who previously bought them can (now) still access them.

Amazon Kindle Customer Service says:

Due to a technical issue, for a short window of time three books were temporarily unavailable for re-download by customers who had previously purchased them. When this was brought to our attention, we fixed the problem and those books were once again made available for re-download. We apologize for the inconvenience.

If the books are removed from Amazon's server and you have your wireless on, they disappear from your Kindle when your Kindle syncs because the books are Amazon content but they don't "exist" on Amazon. It appears Amazon fixed that.

So, the people who bought these erotic books about incest can still read them, but they are no longer for sale on Amazon.

My non-Amazon books don't disappear when my Kindle syncs.

Posted: 12/15/2010 12:56:22 PM EDT

[#28]

Quoted:

Quoted:

That is pretty fucked up. If you paid for it, its yours. I'm sure someone will get a lawyer for this.

Is windows "yours?" How about any other software? Or do you just purchase the rights to use it in a very narrow set of circumstances?

Don't buy a kindle unless you value convenience over all else, including intelligence. After the first time they removed/deleted books from user's devices, I figured that it was a non-starter because they couldn't help not doing it again.

There was an appeals court ruling that you do NOT own software and that the owners can set any terms they want on their EULA(I think it was the 9th Circus that ruled this)

It is only a matter of time until large corporations like Microsoft start charging a monthly fee for the privildge of using their software. It was save them lots of money if they no longer had to release new legacy incompatible office suites and operation systems every few years and force people to buy it.

Just wait until Hollywood finds away to charge you $30 for a Blu-ray movie + a yearly use fee.

Posted: 12/15/2010 12:59:32 PM EDT

[#29]

Quoted:
Pirated books can't be deleted...

But most of us aren't thieves.

Posted: 12/15/2010 12:59:48 PM EDT

[#30]

I'll be waiting for more information on this story. Something seems to be missing.

Posted: 12/15/2010 12:59:56 PM EDT

[#31]

Amazon sells stuff that violates it's terms and conditions, and then removes it. Fine. I have no problem with that.

How does payment for the ebooks work? Does the payment go directly to the author? I understand that it is handled with the amazon.com account, but does a portion go directly to the author?

If so, the author should also have to refund their portion of the proceeds, not just Amazon.

Posted: 12/15/2010 1:02:44 PM EDT

[#32]

Quoted:
this is the shi* i worry about when i see people get all orgasmic about the "cloud".

ceding that kind of control to a third party over what might be considered personal data is not a good idea.

They want everyone to put their dossiers, er, I mean, data, where they can go through it with a fine tooth comb.

Posted: 12/15/2010 1:02:53 PM EDT

[#33]

Quoted:

It is only a matter of time until large corporations like Microsoft start charging a monthly fee for the privildge of using their software. It was save them lots of money if they no longer had to release new legacy incompatible office suites and operation systems every few years and force people to buy it.

Motorola does this.

Want to program your own radios instead of going to pay the /\/\ dealer to do it? You can ask to get a software license, and if they deem you worthy, you get a license for 2 or 3 years.

Use past that is illegal.

When /\/\ stops supporting a radio, they stop issuing licenses for the software as well. So that city with a fleet of thousands of still working radios can't legally program them anymore.

Posted: 12/15/2010 1:03:40 PM EDT

[#34]

Welcome to the digital age of control.. SUCKERS!

Buy into that business model.... haha

Posted: 12/15/2010 1:06:32 PM EDT

[#35]

Quoted:
It ppears that the three erotic books in question (which dealt with incest) have been pulled from sale but persons who previously bought them can (now) still access them.

Amazon Kindle Customer Service says: [div style='PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 15px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px']<a href="http://http/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=cm_rn_bdg_help?ie=UTF8&nodeId=14279681&pop-up=1#AO" target="_blank">http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/x-locale/communities/reputation/c7y_badge_ao_1._V192249975_.gif</a>

style=exist" on Amazon. It appears Amazon fixed that.

So, the people who bought these erotic books about incest can still read them, but they are no longer for sale on Amazon.

My non-Amazon books don't disappear when my Kindle syncs.

So it really isn't- at this point- a big deal.

Posted: 12/15/2010 1:07:32 PM EDT

[#36]

Quoted:
Amazon sells stuff that violates it's terms and conditions, and then removes it. Fine. I have no problem with that.

How does payment for the ebooks work? Does the payment go directly to the author? I understand that it is handled with the amazon.com account, but does a portion go directly to the author?

If so, the author should also have to refund their portion of the proceeds, not just Amazon.

I am pretty sure Amazon will refund the whole price, then go after the author for repayment.

Posted: 12/15/2010 1:11:41 PM EDT

[#37]

this happened before and I thought they swore they would never do that again
so now adults are being censored to what they can read

Posted: 12/15/2010 1:11:55 PM EDT

[#38]

I do e-books from Baen but that's an actual stand alone file. I buy the book and download a set of HTML files, a Word document.... there's a variety of options. I can go back and redownload later if I want, in whatever format... I have multiple copies on multiple devices just in case. My phone has a not so small library on it which is handy when stuck somewhere waiting for someone or something.

Posted: 12/15/2010 1:24:23 PM EDT

[#39]

Quoted:
Real books FTW.

Kindle's may be convenient, but they aren't permanent and offer a way for others to monitor what you read, when you read it, how often you read it, etc etc etc*

*not saying that is currently in practice, just that technology permits it.

Right. And you could also buy a nook from B&N for cheap e-books and free public library downloads.

Posted: 12/15/2010 1:26:04 PM EDT

[#40]

Quoted:
It ppears that the three erotic books in question (which dealt with incest) have been pulled from sale but persons who previously bought them can (now) still access them.

Amazon Kindle Customer Service says: [div style='PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 15px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px']<a href="http://http/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=cm_rn_bdg_help?ie=UTF8&nodeId=14279681&pop-up=1#AO" target="_blank">http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/x-locale/communities/reputation/c7y_badge_ao_1._V192249975_.gif</a>

style=exist" on Amazon. It appears Amazon fixed that.

So, the people who bought these erotic books about incest can still read them, but they are no longer for sale on Amazon.

My non-Amazon books don't disappear when my Kindle syncs.

so much to do about nothing?

Posted: 12/15/2010 1:26:56 PM EDT

[#41]

Quoted:
this happened before and I thought they swore they would never do that again
so now adults are being censored to what they can read

Incorrect, read the whole thread

Posted: 12/15/2010 3:18:13 PM EDT

[#42]

Quoted:
this happened before and I thought they swore they would never do that again
so now adults are being censored to what they can read

This did happen before and it hasn't happened again....show where adults have been censored? (BTW, can a private company "censor" adults?)

Posted: 12/15/2010 8:20:58 PM EDT

[#43]

Quoted:

Quoted:
This type of bullshit is why I don't do ebooks.

Yeah. It'd be a pain in the ass to periodically check to see if Leaves of Grass was still on the page.

Kindle- one EMP (or Amazon brain fart) away from being a neat coaster.

Posted: 12/15/2010 8:22:41 PM EDT

[#44]

Quoted:

Thats downright Orwellian

No. Orwellian would be the government producing the erotica to keep the proles happy. Orwellian would be removing Orwellian novels.

Posted: 12/15/2010 8:25:08 PM EDT

[#45]

why I am I not surprised?

One reason why I will stick with paper books.

Posted: 12/15/2010 8:26:17 PM EDT

[#46]

I have an ipad and the newest kindle.
Guess what I read the most?

Real books.

Posted: 12/15/2010 8:27:19 PM EDT

[#47]

Quoted:

Quoted:

This type of bullshit is why I don't do ebooks.

Yeah. It'd be a pain in the ass to periodically check to see if Leaves of Grass was still on the page.

Kindle- one EMP (or Amazon brain fart) away from being a neat coaster.

Don't say it can't happen because it did to T-Mobile's sidekick. The could crashed and burned like a Mig at a Russian air show. No one could access their data for days and some never got their data back.

Edit: Before you say "Well the customers should have made their own backups" well they couldn't because that ability was never implemented into the could and devices.

Posted: 12/15/2010 9:45:29 PM EDT

[#48]

Quoted:

Quoted:
This type of bullshit is why I don't do ebooks.

Yeah. It'd be a pain in the ass to periodically check to see if Leaves of Grass was still on the page.

Kindle- one EMP (or Amazon brain fart) away from being a neat coaster.

Don't say it can't happen because it did to T-Mobile's sidekick. The could crashed and burned like a Mig at a Russian air show. No one could access their data for days and some never got their data back.

Edit: Before you say "Well the customers should have made their own backups" well they couldn't because that ability was never implemented into the could and devices.

My books are stored locally on my Kindle

ETA: and in the impossible event of an emp blast, I have more things to worry about than my electronic copy of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" being gone.

Posted: 12/15/2010 9:49:11 PM EDT

[#49]

Hook your kindle to your computer, download a copy of each of your books onto your computer. Amazon pulls one off, you'll still have it on your computer.

Thumb nose at Amazon vigorously

Posted: 12/15/2010 10:09:51 PM EDT

[#50]

Just wait until .gov can remove content from your device because it isn't politically correct. Obama would love that.

Next step after that is for .gov to change the content, without telling you why or what they changed.

Steve

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Amazon pulls more books from people's kindles... (Page 1 of 3)

General » General Discussion

Warning

Confirm Action

About AR15.COM

Stay Connected

Newsletter

Contact Us