Amazon Secretly Removes “1984” From the Kindle

[Locutus]

Thousands of people last week discovered that Amazon had quietly removed electronic copies of George Orwell's 1984 from their Kindle e-book readers. In the process, Amazon revealed how easy censorship will be in the Kindle age.


In this case, the mass e-book removals were motivated by copyright . A company called MobileReference, who did not own the copyrights to the books 1984 and Animal Farm, uploaded both books to the Kindle store and started selling them. When the rights owner heard about this, they contacted Amazon and asked that the e-books be removed. And Amazon decided to erase them not just from the store, but from all the Kindles where they'd been downloaded. Amazon operators used the Kindle wireless network, called WhisperNet, to quietly delete the books from people's devices and refund them the money they'd paid.


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http://io9.com/5317703/amazon-secretly-removes-1984-from-the-kindle

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

As a Kindle reader you agreed to this when you said OK to the 256 page terms of service at the start.

In this case, they gave full refund so no issue. They were selling effectively stolen books since they did not have the rights.

 

[petros]

As a Kindle reader you agreed to this when you said OK to the 256 page terms of service at the start.

In this case, they gave full refund so no issue. They were selling effectively stolen books since they did not have the rights.

So much for the censorship BS eh?

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

So much for the censorship BS eh?

It would be easy but that was not the case here from what I have read. Why woud Amazon wish to censor anything? They want more people to give them money to download.

 

[Zipperfish]

Thousands of people last week discovered that Amazon had quietly removed electronic copies of George Orwell's 1984 from their Kindle e-book readers. In the process, Amazon revealed how easy censorship will be in the Kindle age.


In this case, the mass e-book removals were motivated by copyright . A company called MobileReference, who did not own the copyrights to the books 1984 and Animal Farm, uploaded both books to the Kindle store and started selling them. When the rights owner heard about this, they contacted Amazon and asked that the e-books be removed. And Amazon decided to erase them not just from the store, but from all the Kindles where they'd been downloaded. Amazon operators used the Kindle wireless network, called WhisperNet, to quietly delete the books from people's devices and refund them the money they'd paid.


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Amazon Secretly Removes “1984” From the Kindle

1984 disappeared from Kindles? They should have an Irony Award, like the Darwin Awards. I'm pretty sure this one would be a good contender.

 

[Kreskin]

Another book banned in America.

 

[petros]

Another book banned in America.

How did you get that out of a copyright infringement?

 

[karrie]

lol! 'censorship'. Wow.

 

[L Gilbert]

Meh. Pete's right. Amazon was just protecting iit's *** from litgations coming from whomever owns the copyrights to the book. It's got SFA to do with censorship.

 

[petros]

lol! 'censorship'. Wow.

Yeah well that what the jaded types want you to believe. Oh and Amazon had nothing to do with. It was under direct order from Obama and Trudeau.

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

How did you get that out of a copyright infringement?

You have facts. Kreskin has Da Troof!

 

[L Gilbert]

Kinda gives me the idea that Amazon doesn't pay much attention as to where and whom it gets books from. Pretty shoddy, IMO.

 

[Corduroy]

With a lot of technology and software nowadays, you essentially don't own it. You have a license to use it.

 

[L Gilbert]

With a lot of technology and software nowadays, you essentially don't own it. You have a license to use it.

Legally, the owner (s) of a copyright own the copyright. And Orwell's 1984 won't be in the USA public domain until 2044.

 

[Corduroy]

If you bought a pirated paper copy of 1984, the store you got it from can't go "whoops we made a mistake", go into your home and take it back. But Amazon can go into your Kindle and take items off of it because you don't really own the Kindle.

In fact, normally any store that sells copyrighted material illegal can be charged for violating the law, but apparently not Amazon. They have a business model with which they pass the theft onto consumers.

 

[L Gilbert]

If you bought a pirated paper copy of 1984, the store you got it from can't go "whoops we made a mistake", go into your home and take it back. But Amazon can go into your Kindle and take items off of it because you don't really own the Kindle.

In fact, normally any store that sells copyrighted material illegal can be charged for violating the law, but apparently not Amazon. They have a business model with which they pass the theft onto consumers.

I'd like to see this "policy". Why would they bother with citing copyright infringements and pull 1984 then, if they could say it was consumers' fault that Amazon allowed the pirated copies into its stores? Can't see it, sorry.
Anyway, as far as I can tell, the owner(s) of the copyright can take sellers and distributors to court. That's besides he criminal issue. Like I said, Amazon was covering its butt.

 

[Walter]

Another book banned in America.

It's still in the book stores.

 

[Sons of Liberty]

Amazon Secretly Removes “1984" From the Kindle

Blogs are considered sources of credible news? :roll:

1984 is still available for kindle on amazon, just check it yourself.

Another book banned in America.

Another? Name one book please that is banned from the U.S.

Since this appears to be a topic of interest to you, perhaps you need to refer to this link;

"Freedom to read can never be taken for granted. Even in Canada, a free country by world standards, books and magazines are banned at the border. Books are removed from the shelves in Canadian libraries, schools and bookstores every day. Free speech on the Internet is under attack. Few of these stories make headlines, but they affect the right of Canadians to decide for themselves what they choose to read."

Freedom to Read — Raising Awareness. Celebrating Freedom of Expression. Encouraging Participation.