[GtrsRGr8]

My 2 cents' (it may not be worth that much) worth about Barnes & Noble's recent actions. I am assuming that what has happened is not some temporary glitch (I don't think that it is) but is something intentional on their part . . . .

Yes, it is infuriating. I am really ticked off.

I have to wonder about the legality of it. We have bought these books with them having certain features, download-ability being one of them. B&N has taken away from us something that we have purchased. IMHO what they've done is tantamount to theft. If it's not illegal, it should be.

If it is illegal, I hope that someone will bring a class-action lawsuit against them.

Unfortunately, digital things are still relatively new, and the laws still have not caught up to the realities of the digital experience. They're in a state of flux. Maybe what they've done is not illegal--yet.

But then there is this little matter of the "terms and conditions" that I'm sure that all of us had to agree to for the privilege of giving B&N our money. I don't remember there being an agreement, but I'm sure that there was one. Can you remember a piece of software that you downloaded/installed, an account on a website that you established, et al. where there wasn't one to which you had to agree? Yeah, that's what I thought.

Did anyone in here actually read what you were agreeing to? Has anyone gone back and read the terms and conditions since then? Yeah, I thought not. I haven't either. I bet you dollars to donuts that there is something in the terms and conditions that allows B&N to jolly-well do about anything that they want to do. Taking away our download option on the books is bound to be one of them.

I'm not a lawyer, and I haven't even played one on TV (you might have to be pretty old to understand the reference there). But, I'm sure that even if the law(s) give us the right to keep the download-ability, we may be giving up our rights by virtue of something that we agreed to with B&N at the outset of our relationship with them.

The dust needs to settle a bit--maybe quite a bit--before there is clarity on this matter. What we can do in the meantime is to pester B&N to no end. That has caused companies to change their minds many times before! I hope that everyone in here will write emails (real letters if they can bring themselves to do it. ack!) and call B&N's customer service, at least. As soon as I'm finished with this post, I'm planning to see if their customer service is open (it's late where I'm at in the U.S.) and, if it is, let them know what I think.

Thank you for reading.